Brian Flores and Stephon Gilmore were meant to be together.
The Vikings defensive coordinator and the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year reunited in August when the 34-year-old cornerback signed to play for his fifth different team in five seasons. It was special then.
Flores said a couple months ago the play call that sticks out in his career is the all-out pressure he sent in the final minutes of Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams. It led to one of the biggest moments in Gilmore's career, a world championship-sealing interception on an island inside the Patriots' 5-yard line.
It's also special now.
Gilmore clinched Minnesota's 23-17 win against the Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, intercepting long-time Vikings rival Aaron Rodgers at the 9-yard line with 44 seconds on the clock.
"I just played [with] great technique," Gilmore commented after the game. "I saw the ball before [receiver Mike Williams did]."
Gilmore allowed a slant to Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, who finished with 13 catches for 101 yards, a couple plays earlier and said he anticipated Rodgers trying for a back-shoulder throw on the final route.
The strategy was disparate. Flores dialed a four-man pressure, dropping seven into coverage. Harrison Smith was racing over to assist on a tackle, but the throw intended for Williams happened 1-on-1.
"It might look easy on TV," Smith said of Gilmore's coverage, "but he's a [future] Hall of Famer for a reason."
Vikings safety Camryn Bynum added: "That's one of the greatest to ever do it! We were talking on the sideline – I think he's the last, yeah, he's the last starting DB to have a pick – we were, not making fun of him, but we were like, 'C'mon, you've got to get it today. This is your one.' … It's G.O.A.T. on G.O.A.T."
"Gilly" made the play, the cherry on top of the latest epic performance from the global Vikings defense.
"I don't think you should test people like that," Bynum elaborated on Gilmore's INT. "I don't care what type of game you had in the beginning, to have guts to throw it to Gilly in the clutch, that's pretty risky."
There's much to unpack from the feisty start and clutch hanging-on in Minnesota's trip across the pond.
Smith did the championship belt celebration after making personal history with a sack; Andrew Van Ginkel visited the end zone again with a 63-yard return of an interception; Flores' unit sacked Rodgers thrice, and Minnesota persevered in Week 5 to stay perfect.
The Vikings moved to 4-0 in the London Games since their inaugural regular-season international game in 2013 and maintained their undefeated start to 2024 with a hard-earned victory ahead of their well-earned bye.
Rodgers entered the U.K. clash with eight interceptions on 917 passes against the Vikings (0.01% of attempts). Then he tossed two in the initial 15 minutes, including his fifth career pick six to Van Ginkel.
"Should we call him Dr. Van Ginkel with all the house calls?" NFL Network's Rich Eisen wondered.
Van Ginkel fooled Rodgers with a pre-snap pressure look and zone-dropped into Garrett Wilson's catching window. The outside linebacker batted the ball to himself with his right hand, broke one tackle and followed a small Vikings caravan down the sideline, outrunning every Jets pursuer for a 63-yard TD.
"I was just kind of reading the guard, and he came at me, so I dropped and tried to get into that pocket where basically the hot throw is," Van Ginkel said. "It's kind of reading the quarterback's eyes, kind of anticipating where – expecting the ball where it should go. There's a couple different answers when we show that all-up look. It's kind of a thing, something that I anticipated, and dropped to the right spot."
To illustrate how rarely Rodgers throws a touchdown to the wrong team, here's the pick six count of a few notable quarterbacks: Brett Favre 32, Matthew Stafford 30, Drew Brees and Peyton Manning 27 each.
It was Van Ginkel's second interception returned for a touchdown this season, going with the one he had against the other New York team at MetLife Stadium in Week 1, and third pick six of his six-year career.
Van Ginkel's extra effort couldn't have been timelier. It quelled New York's momentum after Vikings running back Ty Chandler fumbled a toss sweep and Sam Darnold made a touchdown-saving tackle.
"I'm lost for words," said Van Ginkel, sharing a quip from Rodgers. "I couldn't believe it happened. He told me, too, Christmas came early for me. Just a guy of that caliber, that level, I'm just thankful."
Van Ginkel is the 10th Viking all-time with multiple interceptions returned for points in the same season – first since safety Harrison Smith in 2012; linebacker Rip Hawkins was the first to do so in 1964 – and the first player in NFL annals with three sacks and 2-plus pick sixes in a team's first five games.
Two passes later, Rodgers was intercepted by Bynum on a third-and-8 overthrow that felt desperate. Incredibly, the combined takeaways pushed Minnesota's interception tally to 11, matching its 2023 total.
"You're not going to trick him with too many things," said Bynum, noting Rodgers takes chances because of his talent. "He tries to throw even when people are covered, so I knew I would get an opportunity."
The 40-year-old future Hall of Fame QB never got his feet settled in the first half – the Vikings defense wouldn't allow it. Seven players combined for 11 hits on Rodgers. Smith had the greatest.
With fewer than three minutes to play in the opening half, Smith blitzed off the left side of the line of scrimmage and crunched Rodgers from his backside to earn a place in the awfully exclusive 35 interception and 20 sacks club.
"It was kind of spur of the moment," Smith said about the sack celly that mocked Rodgers. "I actually meant to hit the 'Jared Allen' (calf-roping celebration) because he was here. I've got a ton of respect for Aaron Rodgers."
With his 20th career sack, Smith became the sixth player with 35-plus INTs and 20-plus QB takedowns – Smith has 35 and 20.5, by the way. It's purely a Hall of Fame list. "Hitman" joins Gold Jackets Charles Woodson (65/20), Larry Wilson (52/21), Ronde Barber (47/28), LeRoy Butler (38/20.5) and Brian Dawkins (37/26).
"It's always a battle when you play against [Rodgers]," Smith said. "Down to the wire again, like always."
New York's first-half struggles on offense were enormous. It went three-and-punt on its first two drives and had 63 total yards when it began its seventh with 1:22 before the break. They kind of got bailed out.
The only Jets scoring possession in the first half permeated from an explosive 31-yard punt return by wide receiver Xavier Gipson. It set up Rodgers, generously, with starting field-position at the Vikings 31.
Rodgers steered a valiant comeback – even once abandoning a visit to the medical tent so that he could march the Jets on a 17-play, 68-yard drive that netted a field goal when New York regained the ball on a roughing the kicker penalty – attempting his fifth-most passes (54) in 236 games but also recording his sixth career game throwing three interceptions. Wilson caught 59% of a whopping 22 targets.
In addition to Smith, sacks were recorded by Ivan Pace, Jr., and defensive lineman Harrison Phillips. The former compiled four solo tackles, including a big stop for loss on Jets running back Braelon Allen in the third quarter. Allen and Breece Hall combined for 36 yards on 14 rushes and 29 on four catches (averages of 2.6 and 7.3).
"We were trying to work with the guards all game, between power rushes and counters and swipes and so they had to honor my power," said Phillips, recalling the strategy of his fourth-quarter sack-fumble which Rodgers managed to recover. "The guard kind of had to jump aggressively to me and we were kind of doing a movement, so I was able to beat him across his face and he wasn't able to recover in time."
Rodgers flipped the script, pressuring the Vikings defense late in the witching hour. But Gilmore was lying in wait — his biggest Vikings moment to date the sweetest bite of a unified effort overseas.
Dallas Turner angled off the edge for a key early fourth-down run stop; Bynum made the first quarter a movie; Pace returned to action, and he and Blake Cashman played like action heroes. All told, the Vikings defense showed another new layer of resiliency for the fifth straight game, fending off Rodgers' heroics.
It was all deserving of Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell hugging one of his coordinators.
"I just love doing football with him, it's simple as that," said O'Connell, smiling. "There's a reason why I've always envisioned getting to do football with Brian Flores – because of his mentality as a play caller, how him and his staff are coaching that group. … I've got so much respect for Flo'. He is leading that defense at a world-class level, and really impacting our organization with how we play and how we win."
