The Minnesota Vikings are 4-0, and the defense is carrying the kind of load that makes every week feel like a stress test. After a weird 15-10 win over the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota has reached 4-0 for the 11th time in franchise history and the first time since 2024, while joining the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers as one of the final three unbeaten teams left.
What’s making it work is simple enough to say and hard enough to pull off: the Vikings are getting standout play at every level of the defense. Brian Flores has the group blitzing at a league-leading 68.4% rate, nearly twice as often as the next teams on the list, and the results have been loud.
Three defenders have been especially central to the tone this group is setting.
Jalen Redmond is no longer just a feel-good story from the UFL. In his third season under Flores, he has become the lone non-rookie starting on the defensive line, and the Vikings are leaning on him to show younger linemen like Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange what a Flores front is supposed to look like.
Redmond has answered with production and steady disruption. He has 12 total tackles, two passes deflected, and one forced fumble, which matches his career high. That takeaway came at a huge moment in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, when Chicago was on Minnesota’s one-yard line and Redmond knocked the ball loose to keep them out of the end zone in a 9-3 Vikings win.
His value goes beyond the box score. Redmond’s interior presence and understanding of the scheme have helped create room for everyone else around him, and that kind of reliability has only added to his growing reputation.
Dallas Turner has been even more explosive. The third-year linebacker has become the current MVP of the Flores defense, and with Jonathan Greenard traded to the Philadelphia Eagles last off-season, Turner has made the most of the extra snaps.
He has 13 tackles, three tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and five-and-a-half sacks, leaving him just half a sack behind league leader Greg Rousseau. He has also logged at least a half sack in every game this season. Even when he isn’t finishing the play, Turner is still making life miserable for quarterbacks, with 14 QB hits - only one shy of his career best.
The latest reminder came on a successful challenge for Kevin O’Connell, when Turner delivered a sack and forced fumble and the Vikings recovered. His numbers tell the story, but so does the way Flores has turned the trenches into a problem for opposing offenses.
Then there’s Harrison Smith, the veteran presence who keeps showing he can still change a game on a low snap count. The 37-year-old safety returned to the Vikings after taking extra time while thinking over his career, and he has already delivered a pair of timely plays.
In Week 1, Smith tipped a Jordan Love pass to James Pierre for an interception, even if he didn’t realize the play was over right away. Against the Dolphins, he struck again with a strong hit on Chris Bell that jarred the ball loose and forced an incomplete pass.
Smith has played only 38.2% of the defensive snaps in Week 1 and 64.1% last week, but his impact has still been obvious. He has seven tackles, one QB hit, and two passes defensed, and even as the league’s oldest defensive back, he continues to be a disruptive piece in what is shaping up as his final season.
The broader numbers around the Vikings defense back up the eye test. They have the league’s highest blitz rate at 64.8%, the fewest touchdowns allowed with four, the most sacks with 16, the lowest scoring percentage allowed at 26.1%, and the most expected points contributed at 38.43.
They are also tied with the Chiefs for the best turnover differential at five, behind only the Jacksonville Jaguars at six. On top of that, Minnesota ranks second in fewest missed tackles with seven through four games, trailing only the Detroit Lions, who have missed five despite allowing a league-high 423.8 yards on defense.
That kind of production takes players at every level doing their part. Redmond, Turner, and Smith have been doing it week after week, and with the defense playing at this level, the Vikings have a chance to keep stacking wins even while the offense sputters.
In Other News...
T.J. Hockenson Just Revived A Big Vikings Question Around J.J. McCarthy
T.J. Hockensons latest performance offered a reminder of why the Vikings value him so highly, even as the details of the game created a quirky side story of their own. He scored a touchdown and then slid instead of taking it to the end zone, a choice that ended up mattering to some bettors, but the bigger takeaway for Minnesota was the way he looked as a central part of the offense. Hockenson finished with 119 yards on 13 catches, his first 100-yard outing since the ACL injury that sidelined him in 2023.
For a team still sorting out its long-term offensive picture around J.J. McCarthy, Hockensons health and production remain part of the conversation. His return to that kind of form comes after a difficult recovery and serves as another sign that the Vikings may be able to lean on him as they continue making roster decisions tied to their young quarterback. The touchdown celebration may have drawn attention for a different reason, but the broader significance was Hockenson looking like himself again at a time when Minnesota needs clarity from its core pieces. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin OConnell Just Gave Vikings Fans A New Offensive Debate
The Vikings are 4-0, but the way they got there has not exactly settled the offensive conversation in Minnesota. Kevin OConnells group has already gone two games without a touchdown, and even in a win over the Dolphins, the offense ended up at the center of a familiar kind of debate: whether the safest path is always the best-looking one.
Late in that game, T.J. Hockenson was instructed to stop short of the end zone instead of finishing a touchdown, a move designed to drain more clock and keep the result secure. It was classic situational football from OConnell, who has leaned into minimizing risk, but it also gave critics fresh reason to wonder whether the Vikings are playing to win cleanly or simply playing not to lose. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin O'Connell's Late Week 4 Call Said Everything About These Vikings
With the game hanging in the balance late in the fourth quarter, Kevin O'Connell made a choice that said plenty about where these Vikings are right now. Faced with 4th-and-5, the Minnesota coach sent out the field-goal unit for a 29-yard try, opting to stretch a 15-10 lead rather than gamble on another offensive snap. It was the kind of decision that fits a team willing to trust its defense and the broader game script instead of forcing the issue.
The analytics backed the call, and the next sequence made the reasoning look even better. Minnesota's defense answered with a stop to preserve the lead, turning a measured coaching decision into a winning one in the moment. For a team trying to sort out its identity in the early part of the season, the sequence offered a clear snapshot of O'Connell's approach: play the percentages, lean on the group, and let the roster's strengths carry the pressure. [Read more 🡒]