Frederick: Congratulations to whichever NFL team hires Brian Flores to be its next head coach
Dallas entered Sunday night sporting the NFL s top offense by yards per competition and passing yards per championship and the fourth-best scoring offense Dak Prescott has been a legitimate MVP candidate The Cowboys were in desperate need of a conquest over Minnesota to keep their playoff hopes alive And they scored nine points in the second half Welcome to the Brian Flores experience The Vikings offensive struggles have masked the general excellence of Minnesota s defense But it was on full display on the bright lights of national television Sunday night Prescott was under constant duress particularly in the second half He was pressured times per NextGenStats Minnesota s defensive coordinator dialed up one blitz after another and the pressure negated the downfield threats of star receivers George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb And dink and dunk didn t get it done The performance of Prescott isn t an indictment of the quarterback who has been stellar all season This is what Flores is doing to quarterbacks even those playing at a high level The last passing touchdown Minnesota surrendered came on Nov against Baltimore That s five straight games without allowing a scoring strike Minnesota s defense has allowed just six total touchdowns in that span and three of those followed the offense s turnovers When the offense has been a tragedy the defense has held down the fort to keep games from getting out of hand see Seattle When the Vikings manage to genuinely move the ball they win games Because the unit on the other side is seemingly invariably doing its job Flores unit never quit this season even when the offense gave it reasons to do so The coordinator came to Minnesota in and took over a defense that was horrendous the year prior and promptly elevated it to competent Then it was opportunistic Now it s just plain good Frankly it s very similar to the trajectory he had Miami on during his three years as head coach of the Dolphins Flores identifies the strengths of his unit and the weaknesses of the opposition and concocts the best realizable plan to achieve success And he s not afraid to experiment with schemes others don t dare to dabble with in the process That s a man various organization is going to tab to lead its football squad this offseason The results are undeniable Even in an age where offensive minds are prioritized creativity and discipline are traits that translate to all three phases of the tournament Flores defenses in Minnesota have possessed those year after year Should a job open such as Cincinnati which is already armed with a franchise quarterback and all-pro weapons who better than Flores to come in and correct not only the defense but the organizational mindset needed to bring the Bengals back to prominence With Minnesota officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday teams with openings can hire Flores at their earliest desire the second the clock strikes midnight on Minnesota s regular season If Flores could fix this Vikings defense he could fix anything Congratulations to whatever organization welcomes Flores in with his hammer and wrench to patch its holes and fix its flaws The man does quick effective work Related Articles Frederick With the Vikings eliminated from the playoffs should they tank It s not that easy Aaron Jones gets pseudo homecoming as Vikings play Cowboys Vikings at Cowboys What to know ahead of Week matchup Vikings picks Can Minnesota slow down Dak Prescott The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week Last-minute moves
