How Brian Flores Used Stunts to Attack the Packers' Zone Run Game
How the Vikings used line movement and edge pressure to counter Matt LaFleur's zone run scheme.
The Vikings’ defense is abnormal. There is no other scheme that comes close to it schematically in the NFL. Other teams around the league try to employ similar pressure styles, but the main difference in Minnesota is the volume.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores emerged from his year-long “sabbatical” in Pittsburgh with new ideas and a fresh approach on defense. Flores had always been pressure-heavy, stemming from the Bill Belichick tree and dependent on man coverage. He was famous for his “all-up” pressure packages that terrorized quarterbacks in Miami.
Known as “Bengals Hawk,” the seven-man gapped-out front made it difficult for offenses to protect the quarterback on third downs. But, with new knowledge from Pitt Panthers Head Coach Pat Narduzzi, the godfather of the Hot Blitz, Flores had a unique idea: “What if I ran something similar on every play?”
“Hawk” coverage was already quasi-zone to begin with. Armed with intimate knowledge of Hot Coverage from the master himself, he wanted to employ a hyper-aggressive blitz scheme on unsuspecting offensive coordinators and quarterbacks.
Flores used volume over finesse to bludgeon opponents in 2023. The system was a simple yet effective way to stack the box versus the run and force quick throws into predictable areas. The Vikings run almost 60% of their pressures from a split-field look. That is the highest in the league by far.
Overall, the Vikings blitz around 50% of their snaps and are even more aggressive on early downs (1st/2nd). Flores has leaned heavily into the belief that if a defense wins early, it will win late. In the past several years, Minnesota has had one of the most passive 3rd-down philosophies in the league. In fact, they have led the league in Drop-8.
The 2025 Evolution: Aggression Everywhere
In 2025, Flores has spread the aggression across the entire down-and-distance chart. 3rd & Long (7+) has the same Blitz Rate as 1st & 10! Minnesota in year three has come full circle and blitzes on every down, not just early.
The philosophy for the Vikings’ defense has been to plug all the gaps and create constant edge pressure (or through the B-gaps) by blitzing the Nickel, Safety, or “box” linebacker. The issues arise when the pressure doesn’t hit home.
As teams began to understand the system, the defensive prowess degraded over time. Minnesota doesn’t stunt; it plugs gaps and blitzes off the edge. There are interior pressures, and even traditional Cross-Dogs (see the first Lions game), but for the most part, there is no movement in the defense outside of coverage disguise.
Flores’s philosophy falls under the High Blitz/Low Stunt. Even in that “family” of defenses, the Vikings are outliers. Minnesota stunts right under the league average of ~17%. Stunts are another way to classify movement, or when a defensive lineman moves post-snap to another gap. The Vikings' defense is likened to a sledgehammer instead of a saw or ax, which “cuts” or “chops up” the line of scrimmage.
One of the major complaints against Flores has been that his scheme is oversimplified. Teams literally know what is coming. Yes, the Vikings use coverage disguise and change-up blitz paths, but they tend to hit in the same spots. In 2025, Flores has shown maturation in his scheme by using other concepts when needed, especially later in the year when teams have ample tape.
Minnesota’s defense unveiled its curveball in the season’s second matchup with the Packers. When facing rivals, especially those who have studied the tape for multiple years, a defense needs a few different tools in its toolbox. Flores used stunts, something his defense doesn’t often do.
