If you were to describe Brian Flores' defensive scheme in just one word, what would it be?
"Chaotic?" How about "relentless?" Or simply just "indescribable?"
After the Vikings defeated the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, Niners quarterback Brock Purdy offered another adjective as he shook hands with the Minnesota defensive coordinator at midfield.
"Your scheme is 'crazy'," Purdy said.
Whatever you want to call it, Flores' defense was in attack mode on Sunday. The Vikings blitzed Purdy on more than half of his dropbacks (23 out of 45 total), according to Pro Football Focus. Minnesota also chalked up five sacks, a pair of turnovers and held San Francisco to just 2-for-10 on third down and 1-for-3 on fourth down.
In two games, the Vikings lead the NFL in sacks with 11. Pat Jones II recorded two more sacks on Sunday to bring his season total to four. Blake Cashman led all players with 13 tackles in his first home game in a Vikings uniform.
On the other side of the ball, Sam Darnold led multiple key drives and brought the crowd to its feet with a gorgeous 97-yard touchdown to Justin Jefferson, who crossed the 400-catch and 6,000-yard career threshold with four receptions for 133 yards on the afternoon.
The win moved the Vikings to 2-0 for the first time since 2016. It was also Minnesota's eighth consecutive victory when hosting the 49ers, a streak that began in 1994.
As a result, Minnesota took another giant step forward in this week's Power Rankings, with the highest jump being 16 spots. Here's a look at where the Vikings rank going into Week 3:
No. 15 (up 5 spots): Eric Edholm, NFL.com
This one was a coaching gem. Brian Flores' defense repeatedly hit Brock Purdy and sacked him five times, requiring him to complete lower-percentage passes just to keep the 49ers in the game. To Purdy's credit, he did connect on a few. But the Vikings were willing to take their chances because the pressure got home, so the approach paid off. Offensively, [Vikings Head Coach] Kevin O'Connell called a game like a man who trusted his quarterback. The 2024 plan might have been defenestrated when J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending injury in August, but Sam Darnold is throwing the ball like a confident passer right now. Despite the Vikings losing nearly half their offense by game's end, Darnold kept firing passes, completing 9 of 11 after halftime for 97 yards and a score, striking a great balance between aggressive and smart.
No. 8 (up 13 spots): NFL Staff, Bleacher Report
When the Sam Darnold-led Vikings rolled the New York Giants in Week 1, no one really batted an eye. After all, the Giants are, um, awful.
However, the San Francisco 49ers are most assuredly not awful — they are the defending NFC Champions. And beating the Niners in Minnesota's home opener was an eye-opening victory.
Facing one of the NFL's best defenses, Darnold played one of the best games of his professional career, completing 17 of 26 passes for 268 yards and two scores, including a 97-yarder to star Justin Jefferson. It was a performance that surprised quite a few people — but not Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell.
"The amount of work that goes into that position on your quarterback journey when everybody decides that you cannot play — we always believed in him, and awesome to go watch him go do that thing, so really proud of Sam Darnold," O'Connell told reporters.
[Bleacher Report NFL analyst Kristopher] Knox isn't slamming purple Kool-Aid just yet. But he admitted the Vikings may just be for real.
"I'm not ready to crown Minnesota as the team to beat in the NFC North, but with a 2-0 record to start the year, it can steal a division title in 2024," Knox said. "Minnesota's defense looks better than it was a year ago, and wideout Justin Jefferson is clearly just as effective as he was when healthy last season — and he doesn't believe his latest injury is serious. Perhaps most importantly, Darnold is playing like a quarterback with whom the Vikings can win. We'll see if he continues doing so once teams have more film of him operating O'Connell's offense."
No. 5 (up 13 spots): Pete Prisco, CBS Sports
Sam Darnold is making plays, Brian Flores is doing a great job with the defense and Justin Jefferson is a game-wrecker. Combine that with Kevin O'Connell as head coach, and that's why they are 2-0.
No. 7 (up 16 spots): Nate Davis, USA Today
[The Vikings] destroyed a bad team in Week 1, then edged an excellent one Sunday. But old friend Danielle Hunter returns to the Twin Cities this weekend, and his Texans are sure to put the Vikes humming Sam Darnold-to-Justin Jefferson connection to the test.
No. 7 (up 7 spots): Josh Kendall, The Athletic
Only Randy Moss and Justin Jefferson have had at least 30 100-yard receiving games in the first five seasons of their career. Jefferson had 133 on Sunday on the strength of a 97-yard touchdown catch, but he left the game with what he called a "little" thigh bruise. Quarterback Sam Darnold is hoping it's not serious. In another attempt to fulfill the promise that got him drafted No. 3 overall in 2018, Darnold is off to a good start. He's fifth in the NFL in passer rating (111.8) and ninth in passing yards (476).
No. 9 (up 9 spots): Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated
Though it's early, the Vikings have a legitimate top-10 passing offense and a defense that has allowed fewer points than only the Steelers, which played the Denver Broncos, and the Chargers, which has played both the Raiders and the Panthers. [Defensive Coordinator] Brian Flores is carving a pathway back to a head coaching chair so far with a pair of memorable performances against great offensive minds.
No. 13 (up 6 spots): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News
The Vikings have an awesome attack playmaking defense under Brian Flores. That has made things easier for an offense in major transition with Sam Darnold at QB and some key injuries developing in the receiver corps. It will be difficult to sustain this, but doing it to the 49ers again made it a lot more legitimate.
No. 11 (up 9 spots): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports
There aren't many better coaching staffs in the NFL than the one in Minnesota. [Head Coach] Kevin O'Connell has Sam Darnold playing at a level he never consistently reached before. Brian Flores' defense held the 49ers to seven points through three quarters. Coaching matters, and that's why Minnesota is in first place in the NFC North.
