At first, it felt unsustainable. Now, it feels inevitable.

Minnesota's astronomical blitz rate this season is not a gimmick. It's the identity of the defense. Players are comfortable executing the calls, and foes are preoccupied by them.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN on Thursday analyzed how the suffocating presence of Brian Flores' group has camouflaged its vulnerability to explosive downfield plays and resulted in the Vikings leading the NFL in nearly every defensive metric, from fewest points allowed (12.3) to opponent's QBR (49.7) to expected points allowed (50.8). Additionally, the group is tied at the top in sacks (21) despite playing one fewer game than most teams, and rank No. 2 in yards allowed per game (252.8). Seifert pointed out there's also this tidbit: "And because they surprise teams not by blitzing … their defensive EPA is actually substantially better (40.6) when they send four or fewer rushers than when they send five or more (10.2)."

Seifert included insights from Flores' press conference this week to shed light on how Minnesota is pulling off a 69.9% blitz rate, which is a staggering increase from the frequency that Flo's defense combined for his first three seasons with the Vikings (44.9%).

"I don't want to say we've normalized it," Flores said, "but we've run it enough that guys understand where the issues may be and what we need to do so that those spaces on the field in the pass game are covered up enough that hopefully the pressure can get there. And so there have certainly been some hard times with that. We've given up plays as well, but I think our guys, they feel comfortable playing an aggressive style."

That comfort stems in part from experience in the system. Seifert noted that of the 11 players who have started the most games this season, all of them are in at least their second year under Flores, and nine are in their third or fourth. Comfort breeds confidence.

"We see those conversations about the blitz rates," Harrison Smith told Richard Sherman on the cornerback's podcast last week, "and everybody thinks it's wild. And rightfully so. It is wild. ... [But] I was there kind of from the start and almost part of the experiment in a way. It doesn't feel crazy. It looks [like that] when you look at the numbers of pressuring with more than four essentially.

"There's value in doing it so many times because you build comfort in it and it just allows you to see the game a little bit different."

In his article, Seifert packaged historical data and key numbers that reveal how Minnesota's defense is shrinking offensive play menus and creating conducive circumstances. Read it all here.

Trade deadline trends

Three top NFC clubs — Seattle, San Francisco and Chicago — have been busy this week.

The Seahawks acquired former Colts guard Quenton Nelson; the 49ers made a deal for former Colts defensive lineman DeForest Buckner (who began his career in the Bay Area); and on Thursday morning the Bears landed Jeffery Simmons in a trade with the Titans.

Chicago executed the move with Tennessee in exchange for two first-round draft choices and one fourth. The 29-year-old Simmons is considered a game-wrecking interior defender.

The player movement makes it seem like the deadline is tomorrow — it's not until Nov. 10.

The busyness is par for course, though. And it was the focus of a story done this week by The Athletic's Daniel Popper and Mike Sando that evaluated an uptick of in-season trades since 2002. You can see their complete findings here, and we'll highlight a few main points.

For one, the number of in-season trades has soared this century, and there's a "pretty defined line of demarcation" starting in 2015. In 11 seasons from 2004-14, there were 53 in-season trades across the league. In the next 11 seasons (2015-25), the tally grew to 155.

(Popper and Sando excluded 2002-03 in order to have two equal timeframes to compare.)

The surge of in-season trades was even more apparent from 2020 through 2025, with 100 of them. There are likely numerous factors why, including the league pushing the deadline in 2012 from Week 6 to Week 8, and again in 2024 to after Week 9. That gives teams more time for conversations about players and extends more clarity about their playoff chances.

Curious how the Vikings have reacted to the trend? Well, from 2004-14 they signed off on three in-season trades, and from 2015-25, they executed nine. Their +6 difference sits in the middle of the pack relative to other clubs — not close to the Jets +15 change or the Bucs at -7; Seattle, interestingly is the only other team in those stretches to make fewer trades (-1) in the latter, granted they are one of the busier franchises over both time spans.

A couple other conclusions drawn by Popper and Sando center around teams being more aggressive with pick-for-player trades, and a willingness to part with sixth- and seventh-round selections.

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