One of the most surprising results of Week 2 saw the Minnesota Vikings upset the San Francisco 49ers. Sam Darnold and the Vikings offense did their part: Darnold went 17 of 26 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and an interception; Ty Chandler rank for 82 yards and Aaron Jones added 32 more; Justin Jefferson did his thing, with 133 yards and a score.
However, Minnesota's defense held the typically explosive San Francisco offense to just 17 points, forcing two turnovers (one interception and one fumble recovery), while also picking up six sacks and two more forced fumbles the Niners recovered themselves.
Following the game, quarterback Brock Purdy let Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores know how impressed he was, telling Flores his "scheme is crazy."
Flores utilized one of the most unusual schemes in the league during his first year with the Vikings, blitzing at the NFL's sixth-highest rate (33.3% of dropbacks, per Tru Media) but often playing zone coverage behind it. The average team played zone just 52.5% of the time when blitzing, but the Vikings did so 63.8% of the time. The only teams ahead of Minnesota in zone blitz rate all blitzed at least 135 fewer times than the Vikings.
On Sunday, Flores did more of the same: He blitzed Purdy 20 times on 44 dropbacks, and had the Vikings drop into zone in 16 of those 20 blitzes. Purdy went 10 of 15 for only 73 yards on those plays, with one interception and one dropped pick. When Minnesota did not blitz, Purdy was 18 of 21 for 224 yards and a touchdown. It's safe to say that Flores' "crazy" scheme was a big part of his team's victory.