When the Green Bay Packers offense steps on the field on Sunday night, don't expect the same outcome that happened nine weeks earlier, during the first Packers matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Both units have changed since, and that allows a new chance for Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love to solve a Brian Flores exotic defensive approach.

Results

With questionable personnel, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores was forced to build one of the most unique styles in the entire league. Minnesota leads the NFL in both blitz and drop eight rate.

At first, it worked. The Vikings were 12th in EPA/play over the first eight weeks of the season, and they are still 5th in defensive DVOA analyzing the entire year. In the two games before the first Packers matchup, they were sixth in EPA/play.

Now, the unique system might have been figured out to a certain degree. Over the last two weeks, the Vikings are 29th in EPA/play and 30th in success rate on defense.

What makes the Vikings dangerous

The biggest difference about the Vikings defense so far has been their ability to apply pressure with extra rushers, and eventually with fewer rushers with simulated pressure. The main idea is to get several players close to the line of scrimmage, and the quarterback will have problems identifying who's pressuring and who's dropping.

That style heavily affected Packers quarterback Jordan Love in their first matchup. The first-year starter finished the game with less than 60% in completion percentage and a 72.1 passer rating.

"That was a pretty ugly game for us. It was probably our lowest point, to be honest with you," Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Thursday. "In the long run, it was probably a gut check, these young guys seeing we have to step up. We have to be better."

Figuring it out

When an NFL unit is not that talented and has success by scheme, it usually tends to be figured out during the season. After all, coaches are too smart for something to be so schematically effective for a long time.

And Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor found some effective ways to attack Flores' scheme. Luke Braun, from the Locked on Vikings podcast, talked extensively about that last week, if you look for a full understanding of the situation.

Click here to accept Marketing cookies and load this content

But this is the main point:

"The idea is everybody lines up on the line. If the protection slides toward you, you back off into coverage. If it slides away from you, you blitz," Braun said. "Which essentially guarantees that there's gonna be some unblocked rushers."

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor understood this pattern, though. So he slid the protection toward the biggest and slowest man, forcing him to drop into coverage. Moreover, quarterback Jake Browning threw quick passes to the flat exploiting the matchup against the slow defensive player. By doing that, the offense faces an unbalanced personnel, with light players trying to apply pressure, and heavy players in coverage.

Here's a play that shows how it happened.

https://twitter.com/LukeBraunNFL/status/1737983364253327565

Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson liked the idea and exploited the same pattern, and that's how the Vikings allowed 27 and 30 points in the last two games.

The good part is that Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor worked together with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. They know each other well, they share a schematic background, and LaFleur knows exactly what Taylor tries to accomplish.

Packers growth

On the other hand, the Packers offense has played at a much higher level than they had done before the first Vikings game. Between weeks 1 and 8, Green Bay was 15th in EPA/play and 20th in success rate. Since week 9, they are fourth in EPA/play and sixth in success rate.

"From where we were to where we are now, it's just the experience, the trust that we have. All these reps we've gained where we're just playing within the scheme or playing these plays out, the situations, end of game situations," Stenavich highlighted. "The future's pretty bright and we've just got to keep getting better, because there's so much more we have left in the tank."

Packers fan guide: Who should you root for in week 17?

Green Bay has a 28% chance of making the playoffs