Tag: Minnesota Viking

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NFL (American Football)

In Chicago, the Bears interviewed Vikings’ Flores and Packers’ Stenavich for their head coaching position

Caleb Willias speaks to members of media

The Chicago Bears interviewed two candidates for their head coaching position on Saturday: Brian Flores, the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator, and Adam Stenavich, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive coordinator.

Flores, 43, has spent the last two years managing Minnesota’s defense after serving as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Before that, he was the Miami Dolphins’ head coach for three years, finishing with a 24-25 record and no playoff appearances before being fired.

In February 2022, Flores filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants, and the Denver Broncos, alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices for leadership roles in the league.

Flores had an interview with the New York Jets on Friday and was expected to meet with the Jacksonville Jaguars about their head coaching opening. The Vikings finished second in the NFC North with a 14-3 record, just behind the Detroit Lions.

Stenavich, on the other hand, just wrapped up his second season as the Packers’ offensive coordinator under head coach Matt LaFleur. Before that, he spent three years as Green Bay’s offensive line coach. With quarterback Jordan Love at the helm, the Packers finished fifth in the NFL in yards per game and eighth in scoring.

Despite having the youngest roster in the league for two consecutive years, the Packers ended with an 11-6 record, placing third in the NFC North. They were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Bears are looking for a new head coach to replace Matt Eberflus, who was fired on November 29. Chicago finished last in the NFC North with a 5-12 record, losing 10 games in a row before securing a win against Green Bay in their final game of the season.

Brian Flores in the 1st half

The main goal for the next head coach will be the development of quarterback Caleb Williams. Williams, the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, had a solid season with 3,541 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. However, he was sacked a league-high 68 times, setting a franchise record.

Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California, made headlines on Saturday when he was seen courtside at the Wisconsin-USC basketball game in Los Angeles with his right hand in a cast or wrap. The wrap extended from his lower knuckles to below his wrist.

A source familiar with the situation said it was a minor elective procedure, but neither the Bears nor Williams have commented publicly on it. General manager Ryan Poles did not mention Williams among the players who were scheduled for surgery during his end-of-season press conference. Williams also had a new buzzed haircut, which surprised some people.

The Bears have interviewed 16 candidates so far. Some of the high-profile names include Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

Other candidates include Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, interim coach Thomas Brown, former Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, former Stanford head coach David Shaw, Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

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NFL (American Football)

Packers TE Tucker Kraft’s block on Vikings’ Jones sparks debate, but no major injury occurred

Matt LaFleur watches his team warms up

Green Bay Packers tight end Tucker Kraft’s low block on Patrick Jones did not seem to cause any serious injury to the Minnesota Vikings edge rusher.

However, it sparked a lot of debate between the two NFC North teams.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday that Jones might still play in Sunday’s game against Detroit, which will decide the NFC North champion and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Jones left the Vikings’ 27-25 win over the Packers after the incident with Kraft in the second quarter.

“He’ll have a chance to even possibly make it this week,” O’Connell said. “We’ll see how he works through it.”

Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard took to social media to criticize Kraft’s block, which did not result in a penalty. During his Monday news conference, Packers coach Matt LaFleur defended Kraft’s actions, calling it a “totally legal play.”

The play happened in the second quarter when Kraft was trying to help create space for Josh Jacobs on a 5-yard run.

“Dude motioned from 30 yards away to STILL cut him,” Greenard wrote after the game on an X post. “Pathetic. Be a man block up high. NFL, get rid of this block PLEASE.”

LaFleur said Kraft’s move was allowed by the rules and pointed out that “it’s the same thing that their guys were doing to our defensive ends.”

Green Bay Packers players in the practice

“That’s a way to try to slow down just the speed off the edge,” LaFleur said. “It’s a great equalizer. That’s tough for the offense, to have to deal with that, so you’ve got to have some sort of recourse to try to slow somebody down.”

LaFleur suggested that if low blocks were banned, all hits below the knee should be as well. He pointed out that receivers often get hit low when crossing the middle. He proposed having a strike zone for each player from below the neck to above the knee in that case.

“Our intent is not to go hurt somebody,” LaFleur said. “You never want to see that. I don’t want to see that from either team. The intent is to slow somebody down, and I do think it’s part of our job as coaches, is to teach our, whether it’s an edge rusher or whoever, how to defeat a cut block.

And conversely, you’ve got to teach them how to throw a good cut, you know? That’s part of our responsibility, and then the players have got to go out there and apply that.”

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NFL (American Football)

The Vikings put on a strong defensive display that ultimately exhausted the Bears

Minnesota Vikings players celebrates in the 2nd half

Caleb Williams had just walked off the field after being chased by Minnesota’s Jonathan Greenard during another failed third-down play for Chicago. He sat down on the bench, leaning his head back in exhaustion.

Williams had taken a hard hit to the midsection from Jihad Ward just before throwing an incomplete pass early in the fourth quarter. He leaned to his left, looking like he needed a place to lie down, showing signs of tiredness, pain, and frustration.

The Vikings can have that kind of effect on a young quarterback.

“We were really disciplined, but it just felt explosive, guys flying off the edges,” said coach Kevin O’Connell after the 30-12 win over the Bears on Monday night. “When that thing is moving, it just felt like it was relentless.”

Though the Vikings only had two sacks, they kept Williams under pressure all night. The first overall pick in the draft used his athleticism to avoid some of the pressure, but he often started scrambling earlier than needed, leading to several inaccurate throws.

Williams only completed three passes over 15 yards, all in the second half when the Bears were down by two or more scores.

Jonathan Greenard reacts in the 1st half

Williams finished 18 for 31 for 191 yards and one touchdown, with a passer rating of 86.9, his worst in six weeks. His streak without an interception extended to eight games, with 286 consecutive passes, an NFL rookie record.

But the Vikings showed the kind of dominant defensive play they had been missing in recent games, leading to their seventh straight win and a 12-2 record that ties them with Detroit for first place in the NFC North. Greenard’s sack in the first quarter forced a fumble that led to their first touchdown. Dallas Turner’s sack in the fourth quarter caused a punt.

Three weeks ago in Chicago, Williams threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns in Minnesota’s 30-27 overtime win.

“We watched the film from the last game, and he looked like a magician out there, so today we said, ‘Let’s not let him look like that again,’” said safety Cam Bynum. “He still escaped a few times and made it tough on us in the secondary, but they were still chasing him down up front.”

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NFL (American Football)

The Vikings’ defense has seen a significant improvement this season thanks to the relentless efforts of Jonathan Greenard

Jonathan Greenard reacts in the 1st half

Jonathan Greenard was exhausted, struggling to catch his breath and drinking water on the sideline late in the game, after chasing Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray around relentlessly. He had been battling an illness all week, but now the game was on the line.

The Cardinals faced a critical fourth down in the final seconds on Sunday, trailing by one point, and Greenard needed a quick rest.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell allowed defensive coordinator Brian Flores to see the formation Arizona was sending out before calling a timeout.

The Vikings really wanted Greenard, who had been ill all week, back in the game.

Kevin O’Connell (NFL)

“‘You ready to go? You ready to go? You ready to go?’” O’Connell asked, smiling later while reflecting on how rare it was to call a timeout just to rest a defensive player. “No doubt, he was going back on the field and going to have a really impactful snap.”

Greenard returned to the field and helped apply enough pressure on Murray to force him into a rushed throw, which was intercepted by Shaquill Griffin to secure a 23-22 victory, extending Minnesota’s winning streak to five games.

“He’s playing some high-level football. I don’t know where we’re at with postseason accolades, but he should be in the conversation for a number of those,” Flores said. “I feel like I say this every week: We’re lucky to have him.”

Greenard is tied for fourth in the NFL with 32 pressures, according to Sportradar tracking. He’s also tied for fourth with 10 sacks.

“He’s always popping off the tape, no matter what week it is,” teammate Harrison Smith said. “Especially in crunch time.”

These statistics only show part of Greenard’s impact on the Vikings, who made him their top priority in free agency this year once it became clear that Danielle Hunter was out of their price range.

Greenard has become one of the league’s most effective edge rushers after four injury-plagued seasons with Houston. He’s also been crucial to Minnesota’s success in defending the run, contributing to the NFL-leading average of just 81.3 rushing yards allowed per game.

“The underrated part is just the all-down aspect of the physicality, setting edges, playing blocks and making some plays at or behind the line of scrimmage that set up his chances to then rush the passer,” O’Connell said.

“He’s played a ton. We’re trying to be aware of just how much he’s played and see if we can give him some spurts here and there where we can kind of keep his play count where we want it, but at the same time he’s one of our best players. As I like to call him, he’s the closer.”

This nickname was particularly fitting against the Cardinals.

On one play, Greenard was pushed wide on his rush by left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., but he managed to reach out with his left hand to just graze the ball, knocking it loose. Murray fell on it to keep possession, but the sack put the Cardinals in a difficult third-and-13 situation.

Kyler Murray is tackled by Jonathan Greenard in the 2nd half

On the next play, Greenard moved inside to maintain a clear view of Murray, one of the NFL’s most elusive quarterbacks. Pressure from Patrick Jones caused Murray to scramble, but Greenard was in perfect position to limit the run.

As Murray hesitated, trying to juke Greenard and cornerback Byron Murphy for more yardage, Greenard closed in and tackled him inbounds, forcing the Cardinals to burn a timeout. It was a 3-yard gain. Afterward, Greenard connected the play back to his offseason training.

“If your tongue ain’t on the ground after your workouts, I feel like you’re not doing enough, especially the guys on the quarterbacks,” Greenard said.

With the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium roaring, Greenard bent over and requested to be subbed out.

“I just wanted to show that I’m running my tail off to that football. It just so happened that he cut back and I was like, ‘Oh, perfect,’” Greenard said. “That was tough.”