Lions vs. Vikings preview: How Minnesota has the best defense with ‘B+’ talent

It’s the first NFC North matchup of the year, and the Detroit Lions find themselves up against the team that sits atop the division, the Minnesota Vikings.

Football is back, and we would never pass up the opportunity to get some intel from the opponent’s perspective. We called on Christopher Gates of DailyNorseman.com to give us a look into how these Vikings have got off to a flawless start, and how they’re shaping up after the bye for this Week 7 matchup.

A flawless record to start the 2024 NFL season for the Minnesota Vikings was on absolutely nobody’s bingo card, but here we are! Top dawgs in an uber competitive NFC North, the Vikings have put together an impressive resume by beating some of the best teams in the league so far.

For a team that had their season win total set at 6.5 by oddsmakers, who has been the most instrumental figure in this improbable start?

Honestly, it might be General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. This offseason, he made the decision to let Kirk Cousins walk away to Atlanta and Danielle Hunter to sign with Houston rather than trying to bring them back. He then proceeded to sign what, to this point, has been the most successful free agent class in team history. Players like Jonathan Greenard, Blake Cashman (who, unfortunately, probably isn’t going to play on Sunday), and Andrew Van Ginkel have made the Vikings’ pass rush a lot more versatile than it was last year when it was just Hunter and a bunch of players who weren’t really that great. He also decided to roll the dice on Sam Darnold to replace Cousins and that’s a move that has worked out incredibly well so far. Adofo-Mensah takes a lot of flak for his first ever draft back in 2022, but honestly he’s hit almost all the right notes since then.

Last year, I asked you about Brian Flores and his impact on transforming this Vikings defense into a top-5 unit. We talked about how little he had in terms of top-end talent, and how miraculous this group had performed given the circumstances.

We’re 10 months removed from that conversation, the Vikings have even less “superstar” names after losing Danielle Hunter in free agency, and Flores has put together the No. 1 defense in DVOA, first against the pass (-40.9%) and first against the run (-36.2%).

There’s plenty of tape out there! How is Flores and Co. still putting opposing offenses through hell?

As I alluded to earlier, the Vikings’ defense might not have the “star power” that they had when Danielle Hunter was the top guy on the pass rush and behind him were a bunch of players who weren’t that productive. With the players that are there now, Flores now has a handful of what you might call “B+” players as opposed to one “A+” player like Hunter, and that’s allowed him to do a lot more. The Vikings haven’t blitzed quite as much as they did last year but are still showing the ability to get after the quarterback with four rushers because of the performances of some of those players. I also don’t think you can understate what the secondary has managed to do this season thanks to some veteran signings. Last year, the Vikings’ cornerback room consisted of a lot of young players and, by the end of the year, there were a bunch of guys out there who probably belonged on the practice squad. The additions of Stephon Gilmore and Shaq Griffin at cornerback has helped them to overcome the season-ending injury to Mekhi Blackmon and the tragic death of Khyree Jackson to become what might be the most improved position on the roster overall. All of those players are guys that Flores pounded the table for, and now that he has “his guys” he’s able to do a lot more of what he wants to do.

Sam Darnold. Everyone wants to talk about Sam Darnold. Feel free to talk about the Curious Case of Sam Darnold and how Kevin O’Connell has set up the journeyman quarterback for success in Minnesota–and how sustainable you think his play is moving forward.

I think Darnold knew that this was, potentially, the last chance for him to salvage his career and has taken full advantage of it. He’s surrounded by significantly more skill position talent than he had with the Jets or with Carolina, and if he couldn’t make it with the Vikings he wasn’t going to succeed anywhere. I don’t know if Darnold’s talent has ever been in question... you don’t get to be a #3 overall pick without having at least some talent. But this has been his chance to put it all together. I think a lot of credit needs to go to Kevin O’Connell and his ability to work with quarterbacks. We saw a bit of it last year after the Cousins injury when the Vikings were at least semi-competitive with Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens at quarterback, but neither of those guys can touch Darnold in terms of talent. O’Connell has also made it clear that he has full faith and confidence in Darnold to do the things that he’s asking him to do and that he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder constantly. This is likely going to be Darnold’s only season in Minnesota with J.J. McCarthy ready to take over in 2025, but he’s made it a lot more interesting for the Vikings than a lot of people thought this season was going to be.

Is there a player or two you could highlight from this Vikings team that may fly under the radar nationally and will ultimately surprise Lions’ fans by their level of compete?

I’ll go with a couple of guys that Michiganders are likely already familiar with. On offense, Jalen Nailor has emerged as a viable #3 option behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison when the Vikings go to their three-wide sets. Talent has never been Nailor’s issue and he’s only really been hampered by his ability to stay on the field, which is an issue that goes back to his days at Michigan State. He’s made several big plays this year and has stepped into the spot that K.J. Osborn left open when he went to New England. On defense, there’s Josh Metellus, who isn’t a household name yet but you can be sure that Ben Johnson knows who he is. Metellus can line up pretty much anywhere on the defensive side of the ball and his versatility is a part of what allows Brian Flores to make a lot of the calls he does for the Vikings’ defense. He’s been a very good player who has worked his way up the ladder over the course of his Vikings career and his role is only going to expand going forward.

What’s your most lucrative nugget of Vikings’ intel that a Lions fan could benefit from hearing and putting on their bet slip for this Week 7 matchup?

Click here to read article