The Minnesota Vikings are 2-0 largely because of their dominant defense. Dallas Turner has taken a leap in his development in 2026, leading the league with 20 pressures. Blake Cashman has brought pressure with speed and physicality that is hard to replicate. And young interior defensive linemen have stepped up into significant roles.
Brian Flores has seemingly maxed out his blitzes, sending extra rushers on 75.3% of opponents' dropbacks. He's daring quarterbacks to diagnose where the holes in the secondary are before his elite pass-rushers get there. So far, it's worked out in the Vikings' favor.
Can Minnesota's defense continue its early-season tear and disrupt a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense that has struggled to find consistency? Tampa Bay ranks
fourth in rushing yards, but game flow forced them to abandon the run in their Week 1 loss to the Bengals. Can the Vikings do the same on Sunday?
Shut down the run on early downs
Getting the Buccaneers into obvious passing downs is easier said than done. Stopping them early will be key. The Vikings rank 3rd in EPA/rush allowed, but are tied for 1st in EPA/rush allowed on first down. They actually rank outside the top-10 in the category on second and third down.
Tampa Bay's offense ranks 26th in EPA/rush on first down, 5th on second down, and 3rd on third down. Getting them behind the sticks should help Flores dial up his exotic blitz looks to take advantage of Baker Mayfield.
Blitzing Baker Mayfield
Sending extra rushers has flustered Mayfield. Since the start of the 2025 season, Mayfield has posted a 78.7 passer rating, a 56.0% completion percentage, and a -0.12 EPA/dropback against the blitz, per Next Gen Stats. Only Cam Ward, Malik Willis, Joe Flacco, and J.J. McCarthy have lower marks in those categories during that time. After his success over the past two weeks against Jordan Love and Caleb Williams, who are normally effective against the blitz, don't expect Flores to ease up the heat this week.
Part of Turner's emergence this year has been the design of the blitzes. Five of his 20 pressures have been unblocked, which also leads the league. If teams start to try accounting for him more, expect someone else to come unblocked on a blitz.
That could be Cashman or Andrew Van Ginkel, both of whom are also among the top-17 in pressures. Cashman is tied for 8th in the league with 11 pressures, while Van Ginkel is tied for 17th with nine. Mayfield has been pressured on 40.8% of dropbacks, the seventh-highest in the league, and sacked seven times, tied for 3rd-most in the league.
Force takeaways
The Buccaneers have struggled with turnovers this year, losing four fumbles along with an interception. Their minus-4 turnover differential is tied for the second-worst mark in the league.
Meanwhile, Minnesota enters Week 3 tied for the league's best turnover differential (+3). They forced two turnovers against the Bears in Week 2, including a forced fumble on the goal line that ended a 64-yard drive.
This stat also goes hand in hand with the offense. The Vikings have only committed on turnover through two games, courtesy of Kyler Murray when he was picked off on his first pass of the season. But if Minnesota's offense can avoid disaster once again and force Tampa Bay to drive the length of the field, Flores' bunch feels like its capable of forcing a turnover.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: 3 Keys for the Vikings' defense against the Bucs in Week 3
