Brian Flores twisted another quarterback into a mental pretzel with a labyrinth of disguised blitzes, real blitzes and coverage schemes so unconventionally complex that even his own players marvel at the sheer absurdity of it all. “I keep telling people, the way this defense is ran, you’ve got to have a crazy person at the head of it,” cornerback Shaq Griffin said. “We want it to look crazy,” safety Harrison Smith said.
“It doesn’t feel crazy to us — most of the time.” “The threat of the bomb is just as scary as the bomb itself,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said. Bombs and crazy talk were themes inside the locker room after the Vikings put the Houston Texans in a vise grip on defense and didn’t release until a 34-7 victory was complete.
The undefeated Vikings have grabbed the NFL’s attention by concocting a defense that induces night terrors. C.J.
Stroud took his turn in the BFlo spin cycle Sunday. The Texans’ young quarterback is going to have a wonderful career, but he looked downright miserable trying to decipher what was happening on the field. Stroud threw two interceptions, was sacked four times and posted a passer rating of 68.
6. He never looked comfortable at any point because Flores’ defense is designed to create confusion. The pre-snap movement by Vikings defenders looks like organized chaos.
Players run up and back and sideways. They’re constantly signaling to each other in their own language. Sometimes they all hug the line a.