Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has had the highest blitz percetage in the NFL the last two years,
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The Green Bay Packers’ offensive line — which was subpar in 2025 — has even more questions today.
The Minnesota Vikings’ defense is led by coordinator Brian Flores, who blitzes more than anyone on football.
Can the Packers’ hold up?
That answer will go a long ways towards determining which team prevails when Green Bay and Minnesota meet Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“These guys, they do a great job,” Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said of Flores and the Vikings. “They present a lot of problems and they’re going to give you a lot of different looks. You know you’re going to get pressured.”
Flores, the Miami Dolphins head coach from 2019-2021, is arguably the most aggressive defensive coordinator in football.
The average blitz rate by NFL teams last season was 29.5%. Flores and the Vikings blitzed 51.2% of the time.
That marked the second straight year Flores and the Vikings had the NFL’s highest blitz rate.
“Yeah, I think he’s got one of the best, trickiest schemes I think at the line, with everybody up at the line of scrimmage and all the different pressures they bring,” Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love said of Flores and the Vikings. “There’s a lot of stuff for a quarterback to be able to see. It’s definitely tough. I think not too many other defenses are as exotic as they are.”
Minnesota tied for fourth in the NFL with 49 sacks last season. The Vikings also finished No. 2 in passing yards allowed (158.5), No. 3 in total defense (282.6) and No. 7 in points allowed (19.6) in 2025.
Minnesota had four players with at least 6.0 sacks last season — linebackers Dallas Turner (8.0), Andrew Van Ginkel (7.0) and Eric Wilson (6.5), along with defensive end Jalen Redmond (6.0). All four of those players are back this season.
Minnesota’s biggest loss in free agency was linebacker Jonathan Greenard, but the Vikings used their top three picks in the 2026 NFL Draft on defensive players. So Flores should have more than enough weapons come Sunday afternoon.
“You’ll get looks where everybody’s at the line of scrimmage – they’re blitzing, they’re bluffing, guys dropping out,” Love said of Flores. “I think they do a good job in a lot of their coverages, being pretty sticky in coverages, but I think it’s just a lot of different stuff to game plan for, a lot of different pressure packages.”
If facing Flores wasn’t enough of a challenge, Green Bay will do so with an offensive line packed with uncertainty.
Jordan Morgan, the Packers’ 2024 first round draft pick, will be starting for just the second time at left tackle. Left guard Aaron Banks could be a game-time decision with a knee injury.
Center Sean Rhyan is in his first full season starting at that position. Right guard Jacob Monk has just one start in his first two NFL seasons. And it remains to be seen if right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele — who had offseason surgery for a partially torn patellar tendon — can play at his pre-injury level.
“We have plans for everything and we’re going to make the best of it, whoever’s out there,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “We’re just going to focus on our playstyle, doing a great job communicating and going and playing our brand of football. So yeah, we have our plans and we’ll just kind of roll with the punches like we always do.”
Now, the Packers are hoping Flores doesn’t land too many punches.
“These guys pressure, they pressure a lot and there are a lot of different looks,” Stenavich said. “They’re very aggressive, so obviously playing in their stadium, communication’s going to be huge. We gotta make sure we’re on the same page and that’s kinda what they feed off of.
“They do a nice job kinda making it hard on offenses and cutting guys loose and things like that. So yeah, we’re just going to have to be on top of it from a pass protection standpoint. In the run game, they do a nice job mixing up their fronts, so again, we’re just going to have to do a really good job communicating in a tough environment.”
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