Brian Flores Gets His Shot at Revenge Against the Dolphins
Everything with Brian Flores in Miami was a complete mess. The Dolphins hired Flores after he was the linebackers coach and de facto defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. He was then, and still is, one of the best defensive minds in the game.
He popularized the Zero Blitz, or Cover Zero style of defense, which flummoxes offenses and helps his defenses become some of the league’s top units.
He was brought in with the explicit mission of tanking for a top pick, something suspected before it was outright confirmed when he was fired and sued the Dolphins. Even during the 2019 season, when Miami was trying to lose, he turned a roster described as dangerously bad into a 5-11 team.
He had to make things work with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but unfortunately the pair couldn’t get on the same page, and the organization chose Tua over Flores.
He was fired after the 2021 season with a 24-25 record. He then sued the Dolphins and accused them of tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and financially encouraging Flores to throw games during the 2019 season.
This complicated his status in the league; as a result, he was not hired as a head coach and took a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. After a year with Pittsburgh, he was hired as defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings.
Since his arrival in Minnesota, the Vikings have been one of the league’s best defensive units. This season, the Vikings rank 11th in the league in yards allowed per game. However, they’ve allowed only 3 defensive touchdowns. With their offense averaging just 238.3 yards per game, the defense is the main reason Minnesota is 3-0.
Now Flores will have a chance at revenge against his former team.
The Dolphins have been pretty horrid on offense as well, averaging just 290.7 yards per game. They’ve also averaged just 12 points per game.
Flores has attempted to downplay the game to the media this week. When asked about facing the Dolphins, he was polite.
“I’m the same every week,” He said. “It’s never about me. It’s always about our team, and so the preparation’s going to be the same.”
Though you have to assume a small part of him is looking forward to playing a weak Dolphins offense. After everything that happened with Flores, Miami couldn’t find success without him, and now he’s generally considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.
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