Reason 2: Brian Flores will make life difficult for Jake Browning
After a remarkable game against the Raiders last Sunday, Brian Flores believes that the Vikings' defense is currently at its peak performance. This is timely, considering that the offense has recently become stagnant under Josh Dobbs.
On Saturday, Minnesota will take on the Bengals, who will be without their leader, Joe Burrow, due to a recent injury that ended his 2023 season early. However, Burrow not playing does not guarantee an easy win for the Vikings.
Jake Browning, the former Washington Huskies quarterback, has done an outstanding job since taking over for Burrow. He has kept Cincinnati in playoff contention with back-to-back great performances that resulted in two wins for the Bengals.
Nonetheless, Browning has never played against a defense like Minnesota's. Flores is going to make it difficult for Browning to find opportunities to score.
Flores will employ various defensive tactics on multiple downs to confuse Browning and hopefully result in some turnovers by Cincinnati. The Vikings need to repeat their excellent performance from last Sunday, especially against the Bengals' dangerous offense and its skilled weapons.
Flores will aim to keep Cincinnati off of the scoreboard on Saturday and force them to run the ball if they want to defeat Minnesota.