Brian Flores Has Officially LOST His Mind...

Brian Flores has officially lost his mind after taking a deeper look at these new stat releases that show just how dominant this defensive unit has been as a whole, while also showcasing individual standout performances that are setting the NFL on fire this season. We're going to break it down all that in this episode of Vikings Digest, but first, we're trying to hit a new goal this week of trying to hit 5,500 subscribers before the end of the Vikings bye week, so if you're part of the 89% of viewers who are not yet subscribed and you want to stay up to date on all things Vikings, make sure to hit that subscribe button and the bell icon so you don't miss any episodes when they drop but that will top right into it which is the insane defensive stats that the Vikings are posting this season thanks to Brian Flores being an absolute madman with the way that he is just scheming up perfectly finding mismatches putting the right corners on receivers and it has been paying off in spades as they are easily the best defensive unit in all of football and what gets even crazier is when you look at the lowest passer rating allowed this season the Vikings are firmly in first place with only allowing 62.9 passer rating in second place with the Rams is a huge drop off to 75.4 you got the Seahawks the Chiefs Packers being in there is a little bit surprising considering how they've been looking in the first part of the year but being in very elite company and leading the way by a mile and the secondary gets even crazier when you consider that the Vikings don't necessarily have any major names they don't have a Witherspoon they don't have a McDuffie they don't have some of these other ones but they make stars out of them it's almost like what Brian Flores is doing in Minnesota with these defensive players is what Tom Brady was doing when he was in New England where he didn't have pro bowl receivers around him or pro bowl weapons around him but he made stars out of the guys around him he made stars out of Chris Hogan he made stars out of Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman you look what Brian Flores is doing he is making stars out of guys like Dallas Turner Andrew Van Ginkel as well as Isaiah Rodgers who is posting the highest coverage grade in the nfl this year where he's posted at 89.1 leading the way with Trent McDuffie being in there Denzel Ward, Amaya Pritchett as well as Mansour Delany the rookie from Kansas City, so Isaiah Rodgers being one of those guys that when they was brought into Minnesota a lot of people were kind of discounting what he was going to bring to Minnesota because he was coming off the Super Bowl win with the Eagles but he wasn't necessarily a huge contributor with that but then you come into the Brian Flores system and he has been lighting it up you got that game last year where he had a perfect 99.9 PFF grade in that game against Cincinnati where he was on fire he's been great on special teams he's been amazing in coverage he's been making plays left right and center and it's an acquisition that i am so happy that the Vikings made when they did so we've got to give props to Kwesi on that one at least as far as the free agent signings that he made during his tenure with Minnesota that is one that has definitely worked out another one that has definitely worked out is Byron Murphy Jr as this week he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after getting two picks in Minnesota in New Orleans earlier this uh this year and he has just been absolutely on fire as Minnesota now has had four straight players show up in the player of the week categories this is absolutely incredible because they are just dominant Will Wright, Isaiah Rodgers Byron Murphy, Miles Price, it's all those guys that are just standing out on this team that when you look at the roster you'd think that okay offensive or if they're getting an offensive player of the week probably going to be Jeddah's or it's probably going to be Aaron Jones but when you think of all right Vikings are just getting players of the week you're thinking of guys that are coming to mind you're thinking of Jeddah's you're thinking of Cash you're thinking of Turner thinking of Gink thinking of all these guys but the ones that have been showing up are the guys like Will the Thrill Riker, Miles Price being a great kick returner, Isaiah Rodgers being perfect on special teams, Byron Murphy holding down that secondary where a lot of people are talking a lot of smack going in about him going into this year about how he's not as great in coverage and all that but he gets turnovers when they matter most and we saw that on Sunday against the Saints with those two picks and as far as the fourth quarter side of things this is when it gets absolutely diabolical as far as what Brian Flores is cooking up here because when you look at the fourth quarter Vikings defense in the fourth quarter this year is first place in almost every single category and if they ain't first they're second and that is awesome to see only three points allowed in the fourth quarter this season 3.6 yards per play allowed 12 rushing yards allowed 11.1 opponent third down percentage zero red zone touchdown percentage 2.8 opponents first down uh per game and as well as 50 opponent third and out percentage which is also going to be in first no surprise takeaways even only five takeaways they're in second with that eight sacks we want to get that up a little bit more so we can get Dallas Turner the defensive player of the year conversation a little bit more then QB hits for first that's no surprise because we bring the pressure every single play and total yards per game allowed only at 53.2 absolutely locked down with this defense and the even crazier thing is over this 10 game win streak that expands all the way to last season the Vikings have not allowed a touchdown in the fourth quarter they have only allowed 15 fourth quarter points over that 10 game span and all of them have been field goals this is just mind-blowing when you take a deeper look at it because we know that this defense is great we've always known that as far as ever since Brian Flores got here and what we've seen on the tape this year it's looked fantastic but when you look at these numbers it gets even crazier just because we don't often look at them too much or give too much kind of credence to them when it kind of matters when they're sucking But when you're looking at how this Vikings defensive numbers are looking right now, if that doesn't scream a Super Bowl caliber defense, I don't know what does because you have everything that you need. And if this offense can get going a little bit more to catch up to that, this Vikings team could be an overall Super Bowl contender without us even realizing it or with a lot of people kind of counting us out going into the season. We got to keep in mind, we went nine and eight last year with a quarterback carousel of J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer. And a lot of that was carried by Brian Flores' defense, obviously. But with this offense this year, it got a big upgrade with Kyler Murray. And we saw the beginnings of that on Sunday. So if this Vikings offense can catch up week by week, by the time we get into those late-season games where we're playing against San Francisco, where we're playing in those deep later-in-the-season games, like in those division games as well against Chicago at the end of the year, That is where this Vikings team can be really scary and have a lot of momentum going into the postseason. As far as further individual stats as well, Blake Cashman continues to be an absolute beast as on Sunday he has now extended his streak of 16 straight games with seven plus tackles. I'm hoping Minnesota re-signs him now before it is too late and he continues to just outplay his contract worth as well because Minnesota needs to lock this guy down. He's a Minnesota Golden Gopher for a reason and he's a hometown guy keep him in Minnesota for as long as possible no matter the cost almost as much as i want to keep as all the guys around for maybe pay cuts or a little bit and be smart with the money Blake Cashman is obviously a guy that there is a big absence felt when he is not on the field and Minnesota needs to make sure that he stays in the building for a long time to come and as well as another person that we want to highlight because a lot of people want to talk a lot of smack about how he's old he's washed he's a liability for this defense yada yada yada but Harrison Smith last week against the Saints 28 snaps one reception allowed only three yards allowed and a pass breakup that is looking like prime Harrison Smith to me it would just be uh missing an interception or a sack or a forced fumble along with that but Harrison Smith is the thing that makes this defense operate a lot of people want to say oh well not as good in coverage yada yada he's still the one that is orchestrating he's the quarterback of this defense Blake Cashman might have the green dot on the back of his helmet but Harrison Smith is the leader of this defense and what makes it operate whatever he's doing that dictates how good this defense is really going to be because if he sees something that he doesn't like we'll drop back in coverage if he sees something where he's going to absolutely feast on the quarterback he's going to go and it creates a big play so all these things are very huge for the Vikings having Harrison Smith back for one more year and it seems like this could be the year if the offense catches up and if we stay healthy that we can finally send Harrison Smith out on a high note with hopefully a Super Bowl ring to go with a gold jacket career but let us know down in the comments below your guys's thoughts on the Vikings defense this year did you think it was as good as this as far as the fourth quarter especially or is this exactly what you expected of Brian Flores just absolutely cooking up a master class every single week let us know down in the comments below is that's going to do it for this episode of Vikings Digest again thank you guys so much for liking subscribing hitting that bell icon so you don't miss the episodes when they drop but for now I've been your host Griffin take care