Here Come the Vikings, or Maybe Not – Bengals Prepare for NFL’s Most Unique Defense

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning is going to see the most pressure he has yet in his short stint as the starter when the Minnesota Vikings come to Paycor Stadium on Saturday.

And he’s going to see the least.

Such is life when facing the Vikings and defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ dichotomous, deceptive scheme, which has them leading in blitz percentage as well as the number of times they drop eight defenders.

“They try to give the illusion that everything looks the same,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said.

Bengals Preparing for the Vikings and the NFL’s Most Confusing Scheme

Minnesota blitzes 49.5% of the time. That’s 21% more than the league average and nearly 7% more than the next highest pressure-reliant team, the New York Giants and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale.

But the Vikings’ drop-eight percentage of 23.4 not only leads the NFL, it’s double the amount of the next closest team, with the Saints doing it 11.9% of the time. Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is third, by the way, at 9%.

“It’s just kind of the extremes of both, so you’ve got to be prepared for both and see it post-snap,” Browning said. “I think it presents a lot of difficulties, but we’re working to put together a plan to have answers for both.”

.@horribleharry99 with the big play!#WPMOYChallenge

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— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 10, 2023

Browning has proven he can handle the blitz. The heaviest amount of pressure he’s seen in the last 3.5 games came in his Week 13 breakout performance at Jacksonville.

The Jaguars blitzed on 12 of Browning’s 39 dropbacks, and he was 7-of-12 for 141 yards and a touchdown against the pressure.

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In the other three games — starts against the Steelers and Colts and the 2+ quarters against the Ravens after Joe Burrow suffered the season-ending wrist injury — Browning has faced the blitz on just 12 of 71 dropbacks (16.9%).

He’s 7-of-11 for 77 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against those blitzes.

The book on Burrow before the calf injury was not to blitz him. Browning is proving to be equally as savvy against it, albeit with a small sample size. And his sample size is as small as it gets when facing an eight-man drop.

But the extreme opposites Flores and the Vikings present by showing pressure on nearly every snap and often dropping eight into coverage are designed to confuse as much as rattle.

“It makes it hard for the quarterback to know what’s coming and when,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. “When you live in the world they live in, there’s a protection element that’s stressful. And then they all look the same. I’ve always had a lot of respect for defensive coordinators that do a good job with their blitz looks and their coverage looks looking very similar. They don’t give much away.

“It’s really on the quarterback to react,” Callahan added. “He thinks it’s an all-out pressure, and now it’s max coverage. Their goal in that is to try to make the quarterback hold the ball, wait and any number of things that slow his process down.”

It obviously worked last week against first-year starter Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders, with the Vikings recording a shutout for a 3-0 win. And that was more about dropping eight than bringing the heat, as Flores has pivoted toward that as of late.

Minnesota blitzed nearly 50% more frequently when Kirk Cousins was healthy. The offense had a little more firepower to offset some of the big plays that are built in consequences of a heavy-pressure package.

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In Weeks 1-8 with Cousins, the Vikings blitzed 55% of the time. Since then, just 41%.

One game in particular during the post-Cousins time frame stands out. Flores blitzed a season-low 29% of the time in Week 11 at Denver, facing Russell Wilson who thrives on bootlegs and making plays with his feet, just as Browning does.

The Bengals didn’t allow a sack against the Colts, snapping a franchise record-tying streak of 42 consecutive games of surrendering at least one. The Vikings, meanwhile, are not converting the league’s highest pressure rate into many sacks, ranking tied for 14th with 36.

And because of how frequently they back out and drop eight, they’re only 23rd in pressure percentage (20.0).

But Minnesota is good where it matters most, ranking fifth in points allowed per game, ninth in points allowed per drive, and seventh in red-zone defense.

“It’s a really interesting scheme,” Callahan said. “There’s not many people doing what they’re doing. And it’s been very effective for them. It’s very stressful to go play against these guys.”

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