Immediately after a 23-17 loss to the Vikings last week, Brock Purdy told Brian Flores and Sam Darnold, “Your scheme is crazy.”
Devin McCourty knows that scheme well. He played under Flores in New England for 11 years, a stretch that produced five Super Bowl berths. And as the Minnesota defensive coordinator prepares for a showdown against the explosive Texans this week, McCourty shared some interesting thoughts on how Flores might attack C.J. Stroud & Co.
“You can tell Brock Purdy probably all week spent a lot of time on all these different looks,” McCourty told ESPN’s Kevin Clark on this week’s edition of This is Football from Omaha Productions, “and then it got to the game on Sunday and it was brand-new looks he still didn’t see. That’s the joy of playing in a Brian Flores defense.”
Flores pushed for Minnesota to sign players that fit his scheme, such as Andrew Van Ginkel and two former Texans who’ll see their former team on Sunday, Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman. Cashman, by the way, single-handedly devastated the 49ers last week. Don’t underestimate the respect his players have for Flores, McCourty said.
“The way he left Miami had people thinking about the way he treated guys,” McCourty told Clark. “I ran into Harrison Phillips in the offseason, defensive tackle for the Vikings, and he was like, ‘Flo should be a head coach. He’s great.’ He went on and on about Brian Flores the coach and the man.”
Since he left Miami and since he led the Patriots to the best defensive effort ever in a Super Bowl, the Flores scheme is even better. That’s because he spent 2022 as the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach with the Steelers. And because the team shares a building with the University of Pittsburgh’s football program, Flores gleaned more wisdom from Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi as well as Mike Tomlin.
“Obviously, I spent a lot of time with him and what I love about his scheme is, once you get to know him, it’s him,” McCourty added. “It’s aggressive. It’s punch you in the face. He has that New York style of
‘I’m going to be here, we’re going to make it hard for you.’”
In 2018, McCourty said the Flores defense included a large helping of Blitz Zero and man-to-man coverage. But when Minnesota hosts Houston on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), don’t expect Stroud to sit back in the pocket and pick apart the Vikings’ defense.
“It’s the switch-up,” McCourty said. “It’s not allowing quarterbacks to get comfortable. And what Flo does more than anybody is, ‘Hey, we’re going to send max blitz; we’re going to send six guys at you. And then maybe two third downs later, you’re getting ready; they’re coming for you, then he sends max coverage; he only sends three guys and then he drops a bunch. He’s does that better than anybody. It’s hard to game plan for. And once you get in the game, sometimes it’s a little too late once you figure it out.”