MINNEAPOLIS — The Vikings are an unusual 6-1 squad in that their identity isn’t personified by a quarterback, an offensive-minded head coach or a superstar receiver.

Nope, the team’s current identity is gritty, not Griddy.

It’s defensive coordinator Brian Flores entering the arena with a steely glare and a lion’s gait. It’s Flores looking cool until throwing nothing but heat as the eye — and brains — of this historic hellfire the Vikings are unleashing upon the NFL, five or more pass rushers at a time.

Flores, the Vikings’ current alpha male, squares off Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium against Bills quarterback Josh Allen, figuratively and literally the biggest dog in Buffalo, if not the entire NFL.

Both are 6-1. Flores’ offense let him down in a loss at Detroit a week ago. Allen’s defense has been letting him down in heartbreaking defeats short of the Super Bowl every postseason since 2019. Flores has the league’s No. 1 scoring defense (13.3 points allowed per game). Allen has the No. 1 scoring offense (33.3 points per game).

Flores blitzes at a 69.1% clip, according to Pro Football Reference. Since the website began tracking that stat in 2018, the high mark for an entire season is 54.9% by Baltimore in 2019. The No. 2 team in the NFL this season is the Giants at 36.6%.

“It’s fun to watch from a football perspective,” Allen said of Flores’ defense. “It’s hard to watch from the opposing quarterback perspective. It’s a dang good system. It’s hard to game plan for. You turn your eye and things change.”

Allen, meanwhile, has been blitzed only 79 times this season, which ranks 17th among all quarterbacks, according to TruMedia.

Versus five or more rushers, Allen is completing 65.7% of his passes (10th) and averaging 8.4 yards per attempt (fifth) with three touchdowns, three interceptions and an 88.2 passer rating (20th). He has also run three times for 25 yards with one TD.

Since the start of 2025, Allen’s eight interceptions are tied with Sam Darnold for the most against the blitz.

“This is one of the most dynamic players in our league,” Flores said of Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP. “He makes a lot of people miss. Big, strong quarterback. Huge arm. There’s risk-reward pressuring people every week. That’s certainly our play style. I don’t know if we’re going to go too far away from it, but we’re not going to be reckless.”

A week ago, Flores blitzed Jared Goff on a record 90% of his first-half dropbacks. It was working, too, until the Vikings offense turned the ball over, lost control of the time of possession and helped the Lions rush for 164 second-half yards against a defense that was visibly gassed.

Watching a team blitz at what seems to be an unprecedented rate makes one wonder what Buddy Ryan’s blitz rate was in 1985 as coordinator of the Bears vaunted “46” scheme that mauled its way to a Super Bowl victory. No such stat existed back then, of course.

“I’m not sure what our blitz percentage was, but as a cornerback on that team, it felt high,” said Leslie Frazier, former Vikings head coach and current Seahawks assistant head coach. “But 69.1 percent? That’s unusually high, but the Vikings obviously are playing well on defense. Most teams, I think, aim for about 30 to 35 percent.”

Flores said he has “sampled” all sorts of defensive minds that have shaped the coordinator he has become. He mentioned Bill Belichick, whom he worked for in New England; former Jets coach Rex Ryan, son of Buddy; Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau, who put the “Blitzburgh” in Pittsburgh; and former Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, an early leader in Double A-gap pressures.

Now, all of us who watch the NFL are seeing more teams try to mimic what Flores has been doing with great success this season.

“We are seeing a little more of the all-up [at the line of scrimmage] things we kind of try to do,” Flores said. “I think it’s good stuff. I understand why people may try it.”

Try it? Yes. Commit to it like Flores? Hardly.

Flores arrived in Minnesota in 2022, replacing Ed Donatell, whose blitz percentage in his only season with the Vikings was 18.9. Since then, Flores has ranked No. 1 each year with percentages of 51.5, 38.9, 44.3 and this year’s 69.1.

While Vikings Nation has bemoaned coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense, Flores’ No. 1 blitzing attack leads the league in pressure percentage (35.2), lowest completion percentage (56.2) and fewest passing yards allowed (1,084).

“When I think about calls I wish I had back, it’s never a pressure,” Flores said. “It’s always, ‘I wish I had pressured.’ So I guess if you want to know what birthed [my mentality], it’s that. Over five different seasons where I’ve been a primary play-caller, when I look back and say, ‘Man, I wish I had that one back,’ they’re not pressures.”

Whether or not Allen welcomes the blitz in a rabid environment in prime time remains to be seen.

“To do well, it takes everyone, the other 10 guys on the field also being in tune protection-wise,” Allen said. “It takes everyone trusting what’s called. And then if you can make one person miss, there’s [fewer defenders] on the back end and you got some receivers running in some pretty good empty areas.”

What we do know about Allen is he’s a load to bring down at 6-5 and 237 pounds. We also know he ranks second in rushing touchdowns this season (nine) and first in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback all-time (88).

We also know he is averaging a league-high 8.8 yards per completion and is paired with an elite running back in James Cook, who is averaging 5.1 yards a carry.

The last time Allen played at U.S. Bank Stadium was Sept. 23, 2018, Week 3 of his rookie season. The Bills were 16 1/2-point underdogs in Allen’s second NFL start, and first on the road.

Bills 27, Vikings 6.

Allen completed 15 of 22 passes for 196 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and a 111.2 passer rating. But it was his running ability — 39 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries — that caught everyone’s attention. His hurdle of linebacker Anthony Barr on a 10-yard run on third-and-9 came up again this week in Buffalo.

“That,” Allen said of the play, “I think, was the moment I thought, ‘Yeah, I belong here.’ ”

In other words, blitz at your own risk, B-Flo.

“At the end of the day, when you’re calling plays, you have to have peace with what you’re calling,” Flores said. “Peace that, whether it goes good or bad, you feel you can sleep at night. You really feel like you put your team in the best position. That’s playcalling in the National Football League.”

There was a pause after Flores said that and before he was asked whether he truly believes he has never regretted a blitz he has called.

“Hey,” he said, “if we’re going to go down, we’re going down a certain way.”

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