Brian Flores vs. Ben Johnson is a matchup made for this type of moment

EAGAN, Minn.

Who will be the one to do it? To hear the clang of the bell, inch toward the middle of the ring and hurl his right fist at the other man? Will it be Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, or will it be Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson? They are both willing, and everyone knows it.

One shoulders a bag of tricks, the other a sack of deception.

Facing them is headache-inducing for many of the same reasons.

Advertisement As much as the initial strike matters, neither will cower.

Earlier this season, Flores connected first, and Johnson responded with some left-handed jabs of his own.

The fight ignited a flurry.

The pace picked up.

A hypothetical punch to the body here.

An uppercut to the chin there.

They swung wildly.

Each dodged more than his fair share.

In the end, Johnsons fist was the one being tugged into the air.

GO DEEPER Goff outduels Vikings, Darnold as Lions win 31-29: Takeaways But now they meet again.

These familiar foes, play-calling savages who have created two of the more headache-inducing units in recent memory, meet on the grandest regular-season stage for the fourth time.

It will be, in the words of Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels, a slobberknocker.

Ben is one of the best in the game as far as calling it, Flores said Tuesday.

Big, big challenge for us.

History verifies that, considering the Lions have won all three matchups against the Vikings since Flores became their defensive coordinator in 2023.

Detroit is averaging a smidge over 30 points in those three victories, and its offense is averaging 386 yards.

Maybe most importantly, the Lions have turned the ball over only twice in those three contests; Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled in Week 16 of the 2023 season, and David Montgomery fumbled in Week 7 this year.

Flores strategy has differed in the three games for several reasons.

In 2023, the Vikings did not meet the Lions until late in the season.

At that point, the defense had already been leaking oil, susceptible to middle-of-the-field passes and incapable of generating a pass rush to limit quarterbacks from finding those zones.

Not to mention, two of the cornerbacks playing in some of those games Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr.

are no longer with the team.

Even this season, the Vikings faced off against the Lions at a suboptimal time.

Linebacker Blake Cashman, one of Minnesotas primary defensive communicators and whose vision in underneath zones exponentially helps the Vikings coverage plans, missed the game because of a turf toe injury suffered a couple of weeks earlier in London.

The Vikings replaced him with Ivan Pace Jr., who thrives more as a blitzer and run defender, and Josh Metellus, who plays admirably in the box but cannot fully make up for Cashmans physicality.

The Week 7 game, in particular, is revealing upon review.

Look at the Vikings defensive metrics by quarter in that game: A few days after the Lions 31-29 win, one Vikings defender invoked the stock market to explain the back-and-forth.

Essentially, this player said, the Vikings invested in a plan centered on their core beliefs: Stop the run and force opponents into third-and-long situations.

The plan worked initially, then became a question of: Detroit is going to adapt, so how long do we continue to stick with a plan thats working? Advertisement The Vikings had to decide whether to ride an ascending stock or sell it off at peak value.

Knowing the right time to make that decision is key only if you can adapt on the fly.

The Lions punished the Vikings in the second and third quarters with stretch runs, swing passes, quick checkdowns into areas where the Vikings had blitzed, deep in-breaking routes and some exceptional designs based on the Vikings tendencies.

Once, quarterback Jared Goff handed the ball to Gibbs on a third-and-7 situation in the red zone, a situation the Vikings typically play with light personnel on their front.

Coordinators have rarely had the gall to try to run it in those spots, but the Lions did and scored.

Another time, the Lions motioned receiver Tim Patrick into a seven-man protection situation, allowing Goff enough time to find Amon-Ra St.

Brown for a 35-yard touchdown.

The Vikings defensive staff privately complimented Goffs 22-of-25, 280-yard and two-touchdown performance afterward.

Tuesday, Flores praised Goff and specifically identified Goffs current confidence level.

He knows where he wants to go with the ball, Flores said.

He knows where his receivers are supposed to be.

He knows what the protection is supposed to be.

He knows what hes looking at defensively.

GO DEEPER NFL Week 17 best and worst coaching decisions: Kevin O'Connell has Sam Darnold dealing Johnsons job before (and on) Sunday night is to keep Goff in this exact headspace, and Flores job is to create doubt.

Neither will matter if the Vikings cannot limit Gibbs, whose 45-yard run in the second quarter of the Week 7 game is still the longest Minnesota has given up all season.

Keep him in check and itll take some of the sting out of the play-action pass, which the Lions use more than any other team in the NFL (37.9 percent of snaps).

Then, the Vikings will have to decide: What is the correct blend between pass rush and coverage? Is it a four-man rush with seven defenders in coverage? A five-man rush with six defenders in coverage? A six-man rush, apply maximum pressure approach? The Vikings have tried almost all of it in the past against the Lions, though it has been a while since Flores turned the notch to 10.

Advertisement That would be a curveball, the hurled right fist to kick off the fireworks.

Or maybe the Lions will beat the Vikings to the punch by using more 13 personnel than they have in past matchups (around 3 percent) to hammer Minnesota on the ground.

Thats the beauty of a clash like this one.

Any forecast requires a caveat.

Every prediction contains a counter.

All bets are off once the bell clangs and the fighters inch toward each other in the ring.

Any step, any punch, any round has a chance to sway the result, and theres nothing more you can ask for than that.

(Photo of Brian Flores: Stephen Maturen / Getty Images).

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