Vikings defense thriving by grounding passing attacks

A year ago, the Vikings were 0-3 with a big-play problem on defense.

Now they’re 3-0 and locking down the deep ball.

The Vikings just dispatched the league’s two most efficient long ball throwers of last season — the Texans’ C.J. Stroud and the 49ers’ Brock Purdy — while holding them to 3 of 8 for 87 yards and an interception on passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. Nobody had better passer ratings on deep balls last year than Stroud (142.5) and Purdy (134.7).

Yet neither quarterback could push the ball downfield at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Vikings sent waves of pass rushers and shapeshifting coverages. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores said Tuesday that he had “never seen” an offense get flagged four straight plays for pre-snap penalties like the Texans had in the second quarter.

Flores credited the fans. But it’s the Vikings’ morphing defense that forces offensive players to talk to each other over deafening crowd noise. Blockers like Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil are forced to decipher which Vikings defender is rushing or dropping into coverage all while staying in rhythm with his fellow offensive linemen on a silent snap count. Texans second-year center Juice Scruggs appeared to struggle keeping the pace. Houston was flagged five times for false starts.

“We know it’s going to be loud for the offense,” Flores said. “That allows us to disguise and move and give the offense some pre-snap looks we think will be hard for them [and] that will force communication in a place that’s hard to communicate.”

On passes thrown beyond 20 yards, the Vikings defense has allowed just 4 of 9 passing for 112 yards and an interception. By this time last year, they’d given up touchdown passes of 25-plus yards in each of their first three games against the Buccaneers, Eagles and Chargers.

New players and a second year under Flores have made a marked difference.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell said last week that Flores no longer feels like he has to call the defense “a certain way,” in reference to the Vikings blitzing less. In 2023, the Vikings led the league in plays that sent five or more pass rushers. But now Flores appears more comfortable trusting his secondary to cover without sending the house every time. That has helped open the playbook.

“The volume, maybe, of the different packages and the assortment, maybe, has gone up,” O’Connell said.

Disguise and communication are the first two pillars mentioned by cornerback Stephon Gilmore, the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, when asked about their success in coverage.

Gilmore didn’t sign with the Vikings until Aug. 18, but he immediately became the trusted No. 1 cornerback asked to shadow top opposing receivers from the Giants’ Malik Nabers to the Texans’ Nico Collins.

His presence allows the Vikings to roll over-the-top zone coverages away from him (because he doesn’t need the help) to other sides of the field. You’ll see that in the video below. Watch this early third down where the Vikings’ four deep defensive backs, including Gilmore (#2) and safeties Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum and Josh Metellus, line up like they’re playing “quarters,” or four deep zones where each player is responsible for one-quarter of the deep field.

As the ball is snapped, you’ll see Metellus rotate into a deep single-high, Cover 1 alignment. Smith and Bynum roll into underneath zones near the first-down marker. Smith and Bynum are also aligned over the Texans’ two vertical routes, shading away from Gilmore’s side.

Gilmore (#2) appears to have a man-to-man assignment on Collins (#12), which is where Stroud wanted to go with the ball. In the end zone copy of the video, you’ll see edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (#43) with a double spin move that pressures Stroud and forces him to flee. Rush and coverage working in harmony.

“Honestly some coordinators just run the same plays the whole game and say beat it,” Gilmore said. “But we can change things up. You can’t really game plan for stuff, so it makes it hard on offenses. ... Anybody can scheme you up if you’re in the same coverage the whole game.”

The Vikings secondary isn’t exactly young: Smith is 35, Gilmore is 34, and cornerback Shaq Griffin is 29.

And you’ll see them give A LOT of cushion at times to receivers. That’s by design. Former Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty recently explained that sometimes when Vikings defensive backs play off coverage, which can be a sign of zone, they’re actually playing man to man while keeping eyes on the quarterback like it’s zone. We haven’t seen a ton of jamming or bumping and running at the line of scrimmage.

To keep a veteran secondary healthy, the Vikings pulled Gilmore and Smith off the field for drives in the second half against the Texans. That requires adaptability by the play caller, which you’ll see in the video below, and the depth to rest your best players. However, the Texans’ biggest play — a 34-yard strike to Collins — came when Gilmore was on the bench.

“Just picking your spots for guys to maybe get a few less snaps,” O’Connell said. “It’s not often, especially during my tenure here, not often we’ve been in that situation [with a blowout win].”

In the video below, you’ll see how a Gilmore-less Vikings secondary covered deep routes by Collins and Stefon Diggs. Watch how both safeties Smith and Bynum align nearly 20 yards off the ball and hover over vertical routes as they develop. The outside corners, Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr., shadow the outside shoulders of both receivers, knowing they have coverage help toward the middle of the field.

The Vikings blitzed the Texans early, then blended their minds with fake rushers.

Stroud faced seven blitzes on his first 12 dropbacks, including the opening third down when eight Vikings defenders hoarded the line of scrimmage. A six-man blitz forced Stroud to throw quickly to Diggs underneath. Quick checkdowns were a theme of Houston’s offense, attacking the soft underbelly of the coverages.

But Vikings defenders plant themselves inside the heads of quarterbacks by frequently showing blitz even when they only rush three or four. In the video below, you’ll see an eight-man front turn into just a three-man rush. Outside linebacker Jihad Ward (#52) aligns over center and perfectly jumps the snap. Despite the Texans keeping seven blockers to protect against a three-man rush, Ward forces Stroud to scramble into eight defenders awaiting in coverage.

“The threat of the bomb is just as scary as the bomb itself,” defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said. “Doesn’t matter if we’re bringing six or not, they’ve got to be ready for it.”

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