What kind of wizardry is Brian Flores scheming up for the Minnesota Vikings defense? Whatever he’s cooking up, it’s boiling opposing quarterbacks and it doesn’t seem to matter if they’re young guys trying to prove themselves or guys who are destined for the Hall of Fame.
Daniel Jones completed 22-of-42 passes (52.4%) for 186 yards and no touchdowns against Minnesota. He threw two interceptions and was sacked five times. Against four other teams, Jones has completed 67.6% of his attempts for 952 yards with six touchdowns and only one interception. He’s also been sacked just seven times in those four games.
Brock Purdy threw for 319 yards while trying to play catch up after the 49ers fell behind the Vikings 20-7. He tossed one touchdown to go along with one interception and he was sacked six times. Against four other teams, Purdy has five touchdowns and three interceptions while being sacked six times.
C.J. Stroud went 20-of-31 for 215 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions while getting sacked four times by the Vikings. Against four other opponents, Stroud is 102-for-146 (69.9%) for 1,170 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. He’s been sacked 10 times in those four other games, so that’s clearly an issue for the Texans, but they’re 4-0 against teams other than Minnesota.
Jordan Love went for 389 yards against the Vikings but he needed 54 pass attempts after the Packers fell behind 28-0. He was also picked off a career-high three times.
Aaron Rodgers was also intercepted three times by the Vikings. He had just four games with three interceptions in his entire career prior to Sunday’s game in London and has a handful of full seasons where he’s thrown five or fewer interceptions. He completed just 53.7% of his 54 attempts against the Vikings. In his four other starts this season, he’s completed 64% of his passes with five touchdowns and one pick.
In the end, Jones, Purdy, Stroud, Love and Rodgers have combined for seven touchdowns and 11 interceptions in five games against the Vikings, while in 18 games against other teams they’ve totaled 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
And they’ve combined to get sacked 19 times by the Vikings for an average of 3.8 per game compared to 36 times by other opponents, which equates to an average of two per game. So, yeah, quarterbacks, on a whole, are getting sacked almost twice as often against Minnesota as they are against other teams.
Minnesota’s defense is flat out destroying quarterbacks, no matter how good they are.
Who’s next? Jared Goff in Week 7 followed by Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco or Anthony Richardson, Trevor Lawrence, Will Levis, Caleb Williams, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins, Williams again, Geno Smith, Love again and then Goff again.