Wk 07 ~ Colts ~ Discussion, Pressers, News, etc

Matt Daniels on teaching the value of the kicking game pic.twitter.com/b9mggP8Q42

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 20, 2026

Matt Daniels discusses @jakobethomas2 's development pic.twitter.com/84GO3nQT6B

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 20, 2026

Matt Daniels on evaluating personnel needs week by week pic.twitter.com/YLT1gNhmmV

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 20, 2026

"I get to put my hands on every single individual on the football team... being able to have those connections are huge for me" - Matt Daniels on what led him to special teams coaching pic.twitter.com/l8IeZLt9qT

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 20, 2026

Brian Flores "has empowered his players to do the heavy lifting." @MikeSilver of @TheAthletic discusses how the Vikings defense's two-way trust has produced overwhelmingly positive results.

📰: https://t.co/tRsm6hqxI2 pic.twitter.com/o2HSphU4Tg

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 20, 2026

Michael Silver of The Athletic compared Brian Flores to a "shirtless ice fisherman."

That's how unmistakably different the Vikings defensive coordinator is to Silver "in a coaching world full of careful copycats, insecure ladder-climbers and risk-averse yes men."

Silver on Tuesday filed a story that assessed how Flo's aggressive defensive scheme is problematic to opposing coaches and quarterbacks — and taps into his own players' wits.

"The most radical thing of all" — Silver wrote is how Flo' — "has empowered his players to do the heavy lifting." Many are veterans well-versed in the business of real-time adjustments.

Such as Joshua Metellus and Harrison Smith and Blake Cashman, etc.

"Your natural instinct is to control all of it as a coach," Flores said to Silver during an interview this month. "But there are things we just don't see on the field that they see."

The group's two-way trust has produced overwhelmingly positive results.

Going into its bye, Minnesota's defense ranked No. 1 in points allowed per game (12.8), third-down defense, red-zone defense, EPA per play, total EPA, success rate and opponent completion percentage. That dominance underpinned the team's 5-0 start this season.

It's causing night sweats, too.

Giants Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy said, "People say, 'He blitzes,' but it's a lot more complicated than that, and he has his own little twist on things that keeps you off balance.

"It definitely makes you stay up at night," Nagy added.

Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who is preparing to face Flo's forces in Week 8 noted he has "a ton of respect for how (Flo') prepares his defense and the stressors he puts on offenses."

The main stressor is not a secret — it's apparent on the majority of snaps. It's blitzing.

Minnesota is sending extra-man pressures on 66.5 percent of drop backs, according to TruMedia. Silver pointed out that no team has surpassed even 51% in a season since 2009.

The possibility of a blitz by itself is enough to unsettle offenses.

"The variety in the way that we do things is what becomes a little bit overwhelming, because you think everything is just an all-out blitz," Smith expressed to Silver. "And sometimes it is. [And] some games it won't be as much, but it might feel like that."

Below is an excerpt from Silver's article, which is available to read here.

Flores will never back away from his principles — he values discipline above all else — but, after spending 2022 on Mike Tomlin's Steelers staff, he seems to have softened his approach. For example, in empowering his players to make checks, he also refrains from lambasting them after the fact if those audibles don't lead to a successful outcome.

"We love knowing that we have the confidence of our defensive coordinator to have that right and opportunity," said Cashman, a free-agent signee in 2024. "But that's something that we've also earned over the last few years. There's constant dialogue on the sidelines, and where we've been excellent this year is the in-game adjustments. With those adjustments, I feel like Flo' and our coaching staff are batting a thousand right now."

Ranking the division

Again, the NFC North is shaping up as one of the toughest divisions in football with all four teams above .500. Only one team, Minnesota, has a pair of wins over the others, though.

That probably factored into Bucky Brooks placing the Vikings atop his totem pole at the tail end of last week before the team enjoyed its bye. Brooks studied the film from the division so far and recognized the Purple as the cream of the crop. Here's what he said about them:

If defense wins championships in 2026, it's hard to bet against these Vikings, with Flores beating opponents into submission via a barrage of Cover 0 pressures and complementary blitzes that force quarterbacks and play-callers to crash out by game's end. The Vikings relentless approach and rugged style make them a nightmare to play for 60 minutes, especially with Flores calling unique blitzes that put free rushers right in the quarterback's face. With constant punishment and harassment leading to negative plays (sacks, tackles for loss and turnovers), Minnesota's defense routinely sets up Kyler Murray and Co. for prime scoring chances. As the former No. 1 overall pick settles into a Kevin O'Connell offense that plays complementary football with a dominant defense, the Vikings are getting more comfortable winning ugly while making a run at the NFC's No. 1 seed.

Brooks pegged Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit after Minnesota. The Lions also had their bye in Week 6, while the Packers topped Dallas by 10 and the Bears defeated Atlanta 31-23.

Since it’s Colts week we have to throw it back to the greatest comeback in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/5J1Zv23EDV

— Jason Harmon (@JasonHarmonNFL) October 20, 2026

Jordan Mason, TJ Hockenson, Christian Darrisaw and Jordan Addison are all expected to return to practice tomorrow for the #Vikings, KOC mentioned via @KFAN1003.

Bye week came at the right time. pic.twitter.com/s8f924ujwt

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 20, 2026

Imagine seeing this before the season, and then seeing we would be 5-0. Insane. https://t.co/32ERCohZM9

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 20, 2026

🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/X1TbKzjIyU

— Vikings Pro 🏈 (@TheBoxingPro) October 20, 2026

How would defenses play the Vikings if they acquire Jonathan Taylor? Genuinely asking here... Kyler and Taylor in the backfield with Jefferson Addison Jauan out wide? If you try to stack the box to counter the rushing threat of Kyler + Taylor you'll get TORCHED by the best WR…

— vikesinsider (@vikesinsider) October 20, 2026

#Vikings S/T Tackle Leaders:
(Solo + Ast)

James Pierre - 6
Jake Golday - 6
Jacob Thomas - 6
Chaz Chambliss - 4
Jay Ward - 4
Ivan Pace Jr. - 4
Bo Richter - 3
Zemaiah Vaughn - 2 pic.twitter.com/tANhfZ9xiV

— Vikes\/erified (@VikesVV) October 20, 2026

The Minnesota Colts? 👀

When Indy comes to town Sunday, there are multiple players that could potentially be targets for the #Vikings at the trade deadline.

🔹 OG Quenton Nelson
🔹 RB Jonathan Taylor
🔹 DL Deforest Buckner
🔹 S Cam Bynum
🔹 WR Josh Downs #SKOL pic.twitter.com/VhKNSlUWa2

— Vikes\/erified (@VikesVV) October 20, 2026

Offensive snaps while leading: pic.twitter.com/YELcSYa8PC

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 20, 2026

#Vikings LB Blake Cashman battled serious injury issues throughout college, and they followed him into the NFL with the Jets.

“I resented the game a little bit.”

It wasn’t until he got to the #Texans that he finally found answers — and he credits their staff for finding… https://t.co/4KXwToHKgi pic.twitter.com/i5XqWRm6JS

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 20, 2026

NFL teams ranked by 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 conversion rate: pic.twitter.com/12V5zoNvPR

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 20, 2026

Brian Flores cont. "... This forum is about our players, not any personal situation for me. So I'll just leave it there. I understand the question, respect it, but I'll use this time to talk about our players and our coaches, our team."

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 20, 2026

• Despite the fact that Indianapolis has one of the NFL’s best third-down defenses — its 30.4% conversion rate ranks fourth — the group has had bad moments and bad drives.

• The Colts have allowed six yards per play (29th), haven’t forced many turnovers and have already given up seven passes of at least 40 yards (31st).

• Cornerback Sauce Gardner’s calf injury, which could reportedly keep him out vs. the Vikings, led to cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt’s appearance at the end of Sunday’s loss. Taylor-Britt was flagged for a 36-yard pass interference that kickstarted the Titans’ go-ahead drive.

• Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, who spurned the Vikings in 2025 free agency to sign with Indianapolis, has thrown just four touchdowns in six starts this season. He’s averaging 215 yards per game while completing 59.6% of his passes, below his 64% career average.

• Colts defense has given up 4.8 yards per carry (27th). Indianapolis has allowed three running backs (Derrick Henry, Kenneth Walker III and Jaylen Warren) to reach 100 rushing yards through six games.

• Minus-8 turnover margin: Indianapolis has the league’s worst turnover margin at minus-8. While the offense can take plenty of blame with 11 turnovers, the Colts defense has forced just three takeaways — tied with the Eagles and Cowboys for the fewest. Bynum has one of those three takeaways: an interception off Titans quarterback Cam Ward last week.

• 313 snaps: Receiver Laquon Treadwell, the Vikings’ 2016 first-round pick, has played the second-most snaps (313) among Colts receivers this season. Treadwell, 31, has outlasted the rest of the Vikings’ 2016 draft class and their entire 2017 class in the NFL. He’s got 13 catches for 178 yards in six games. The Colts are also leaning on 34-year-old receiver Keenan Allen after putting top target Alec Pierce on injured reserve and trading Michael Pittman to Pittsburgh in March.

• 13 tackles for losses: The Colts defense does not make many plays behind the line of scrimmage, forcing an NFL-low 13 tackles for losses. Indianapolis also ranks 31st in pressure rate (14.4%) and 22nd in sack rate (5%), per Pro Football Reference.

• 25 penalties: Flags are relatively uncommon for both teams. The Colts are the NFL’s least-penalized team with 25 accepted penalties (tied with San Francisco for the fewest) for a league-low 164 yards. The Vikings are the NFL’s third-least penalized team with 30 accepted penalties.

Strib

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/vikingzfanpage/status/2112202108925583686?s=20

It happens all the time where a player takes the bag only to never see the end of the contract because the team that signed him fires everyone every 3 years. I think he'll be a Viking again.

Cricket wrote:

https://x.com/vikingzfanpage/status/2112271736360071497?s=20

RS made a mistake not taking him instead of Gladney. Winfield was taken 5? picks after Gladney.

No way Junior was gonna fail with his DNA. Winfield senior wouldn't have let that happen.