Brian Flores’ defense gives Vikings fans well deserved Christmas present by giving the Lions a giant lump of coal
The Minnesota Vikings thrived on defense, as Brian Flores’ unit forced a whopping six turnovers, eliminating the Detroit Lions from the playoffs.
Going into Thursday afternoon’s game against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings had struggled to force turnovers. After forcing a whopping 33 last season, Brian Flores’ defense had forced just 15 going into Thursday’s game, an average of one per game. When you take out the five-turnover game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, that number looks much worse.
We knew that forcing turnovers isn’t a reliable metric year over year, but seeing that kind of drop-off is quite a big surprise. It was something that head coach Kevin O’Connell referenced, as the bounces hadn’t gone the Vikings’ way all year long.
“I think you just got to keep playing. You got to keep punching. You got to keep raking, hammering, going at the football when ball carriers have it, getting population to the ball to see how many purple hats we can have arriving at the ball to have those opportunities,” said O’Connell after a 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears. “And then, the tips and overthrows have to — the law of averages should even out on those at some point. And we just got to keep staying the course. It’s much like the mindset of our whole team right now. They will come.”
Brian Flores’ defense forces six turnovers
In a game that only mattered for pride and to knock your division rival out of the playoffs, Flores’ defense stepped up in a big way and forced six turnovers in a 23-10 win over the Lions. They made Jared Goff look like Santa Claus, as he gave five gifts of interceptions and fumbles to the defense.
It was a dominant performance from start to finish for the Vikings, as they didn’t allow the Lions to get much going. Every time they would start to move the ball, the Vikings would find a way to stall them, whether it was the crowd forcing a false start to stop a fourth-down attempt or forcing one of six turnovers. They were a constant threat across the board.
This is the kind of performance the Vikings have been hoping to see from their defense all season, and they got it while eliminating the Lions from the playoffs.
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