Minnesota's defense has now blitzed more than any other NFL team for four straight seasons, and safety Harrison Smith joked on "The Richard Sherman Podcast" that a standard four-man rush should be considered the exception, not the norm.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores sent five or more pass rushers on 85.3% of the Indianapolis Colts' dropbacks in Sunday's 16-10 win at U.S. Bank Stadium, the second-highest blitz rate in the past 20 years of NFL games. After a 44.9% combined blitz rate in his first three seasons in Minnesota, Flores has pushed that rate to 69.9% this season. Since ESPN Research began tracking pass rushes in 2006, no team has blitzed more than 59.9% of the time through Week 7, and the NFL average during that span has been 28.9%.
Flores said the team has run the approach enough that players understand where the issues may arise and how to cover them. "We've given up plays as well, but I think our guys, they feel comfortable playing an aggressive style." The Vikings have allowed 10 gains of more than 30 yards, tied for eighth most in the league, but those have seemed a fair tradeoff. They lead the NFL in nearly every defensive metric, including 12.3 points allowed per game and a 49.7 opponent QBR.
The Vikings' defensive EPA is actually stronger when they send four or fewer rushers (40.6) than when they send five or more (10.2), since teams are surprised by the times they don't blitz. Minnesota (6-0) faces the 4-2 Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field, and Flores acknowledged that a predictable pattern can eventually get caught.
Source: ESPN NFL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing