The Brian Flores Parenting Point that Needs to Show Up for the Vikings
Don’t hug dad unless you’re going to strip the football: that’s the message being sent from Brian Flores to his sons (great parenting).
For good reason, much was made of the Vikings’ dominant win over the Bengals in Week 3. Isaiah Rodgers offered a sensational day of football, one that was genuinely historic in nature. More broadly, the team’s defense created turnovers seemingly at will. The effort to preach the importance of getting the football has found its way into Flores’ interactions with his kids. In London, the turnover emphasis needs to show up for the Vikings, too.
Brian Flores on Teaching Turnovers
More than a week ago, the defensive coordinater chatted with the media.
Check out what Coach Flores had to say about going in for the hug with his sons: “I talk to my sons about [stripping the football]. Every time they give me a hug they better punch at the ball. I hug ’em every day. They get hugged all the time by me, so I want a punch. It’s certainly something that shows up in my house.”
Great stuff from the coach. Can the teaching not just apply to the sons he’s raising but also the players he’s coaching?
A quick look at the score from the Bengals game may have led one to believe that the quarterback went nuclear.
Usually, climbing up to 48 points means the passer did more than just be a game manager. Clearing 400 yards passing while accounting for 4 or 5 touchdowns would have made some sense. Instead, Carson Wentz went 14/20 for just 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. Crucially, the QB2 didn’t give up possession of the football.
Partner the tidy, sturdy play from Wentz with a runner who had a great day at the office. Jordan Mason had his 16 carries turn into an explosive 116 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Plus, Will Reichard was excellent, nailing his pair of field goals — one coming from 62 — while crushing all 6 of his extra points.
But then there were the turnovers. That’s like gasoline on the scoring fire.
Other defenders got in on the turnover mania, but Mr. Rodgers stole the show. He had an interception brought back for a score alongside a forced fumble and recovery brought back for a score. All of the sudden, the petitions from Matt Daniels about getting the starting corner onto special teams made sense.
In Week 4, the turnovers didn’t favor Minnesota. Rather, Pittsburgh gained the advantage, contributing toward the ability to sneak out of Ireland with a 3-point victory. Just one or two more chances to have possession of the football may have been enough for the Vikings to be at 3-1 instead of 2-2.
Brian Flores’ defense is coming in at 9th in the NFL by allowing an average of 20 points against per game. Truth be told, the average would be healthier were Minnesota’s offense not so inept at various points in the season.
Also notable is that Brian Flores has led his side to a blitz percentage sitting at 35.8%, coming in at tied for fourth in the NFL. Turning pressure into sacks could be one way of generating more turnovers; quite often, a passer will struggle to hold onto the ball if he’s getting walloped by the large lads along the defensive front.
Flores’ crew finds itself in sixth in the NFL by forcing a turnover on offense for 14.9% of drives.
Kickoff for the Vikings at Browns is this morning at 8:30 a.m. Expect the game to be ugly on offense, meaning the turnovers forced by each team’s defense could be critical.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
