Brian Flores Sends a Warning Sam Darnold’s Way
On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings have a date with their past and potentially their biggest regret in recent memory. Sam Darnold will participate in a Vikings game, but he will be on the other sideline and try to dagger Minnesota’s season once and for all.
Brian Flores Sends a Warning Sam Darnold’s Way
The Vikings allowed him to leave the building after a Pro Bowl season, and the early returns are pretty poor. That decision isn’t aging well at all with Darnold still slinging it in Seattle while J.J. McCarthy can’t stay healthy, and he struggles whenever he is available. Of course, the two are in different chapters of their careers.
The decision-makers saw what Darnold was doing on the field — 35 passing touchdowns en route to a deserved Pro Bowl invitation — but also on the practice field. He faced Brian Flores and his ferocious defense throughout training camp and during the season.
The coach spoke about the ex-Viking during his Tuesday presser and revealed that they became friends while he was employed by the purple organization.
“Sam is one of my favorites. He and I had a lot of great dialogue when he was here, and I thought he grew tremendously when he was here, from a leadership standpoint, obviously his play was what it was: Pro Bowl level.”
Darnold arrived in the Twin Cities as a former high draft pick who had turned into a backup and received what could’ve been one last shot at starting in the NFL. Of course, he was on borrowed time as the Vikings had just spent a first-round pick to acquire his successor.
He didn’t look like the Darnold from the past, but like a starting-quality player that could lead an explosive offense. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison feasted with him, and his emergence led to Kevin O’Connell winning the Coach of the Year award and a big-time contract extension in January.
Flores was asked about that “dialogue” and went into a little more detail while also making sure to issue a warning: “In the cafeteria, locker room, training room. Talking defense, talking offense. We had a great rapport, friendship. I’m happy for him, but we will blitz him this week. That’s for sure.”
Annoying opposing quarterbacks by sending the blitz their way is in Flores’s DNA. His units generally lead the league in blitz rate, as it is quite a unique scheme.
Some opponents have taken advantage of that blitz. Last year, the Detroit Lions had some success hitting intermediate passes, and Sean McVay’s Rams surely had the answers to the test in their two rendezvous with Flores.
Conversely, in those games, Darnold also fell apart because the defenses understood that putting him under pressure was the key to success.
This season, Darnold’s PFF grade when under pressure ranks him 19th of 39 quarterbacks with at least 50 pressured plays. When kept clean, however, he is dicing up defenses left and right, ranking third.
Against the blitz, meanwhile, is when Darnold is at his best, ranking second with a PFF grade of 88.6. Without the blitz, he’s seventh.
It turns out the key to stopping Darnold is to reject the blitzing strategy and get pressure with only four rushers. That’s generally the best possible outcome, but of course, it’s also hard to do.
Seattle ranks third in the NFL in points scored and second in yards per play. They have given opposing defenses chances to steal some possessions, however. Darnold can still be reckless with the ball at times, just like he was a year ago while wearing the purple uniform. In fact, the Seahawks rank second in the NFL with 20 turnovers — unfortunately, the Vikings are first with 21.
Stopping Darnold and his offense is the only way to even give the Vikings a chance in the game. Then, the own offense needs to be improved. Maybe Max Brosmer can provide them with a spark.
Darnold versus Flores will be a matchup the Vikings have to win on Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.