Jordan, Caleb, Baker, Malik: The NFL’s QBs Keep Getting Fed into the Brian Flores Wood Chipper

I don’t envy Malik Willis.

On a personal level, I wish him nothing but good things in his life on and off the football field. Is he nevertheless going to end up like Jordan Love, Caleb Williams, and Baker Mayfield in Week 4? The NFL’s QBs have all been struggling to overcome what Vikings DC Brian Flores has been bringing.

The image I have in my mind is that of branches being fed into a living, breathing wood chipper that is the Vikings’ defense.

Mr. Willis, an ascending talent playing for a team intent on undergoing a terrible descent, is in a terrible setting in Miami. Worse yet, he’s working without running back De’Von Achane (torn ACL). The Dolphins’ passer therefore appears to be the next in line of promising passers who get demolished by the waves of pressure from Coach Flores.

The NFL’s QBs and the Brian Flores Defensive Machine

Consider some of the basic statistics for the passers who have come up against the Minnesota Vikings:

• Week 1: Jordan Love — 4 Sacks & 10 QB Hits
• Week 2: Caleb Williams & Tyson Bagent — 4 Sacks & 4 QB Hits
• Week 3: Baker Mayfield — 6 Sacks & 3 QB Hits
• Week 4: Malik Willis — ?

Note that neither of Williams nor Mayfield got out of their Vikings game uninjured. In fact, each are still in the process of recovering from injuries sustained against the Vikings. Now, there’s zero reason for glory or applause in that basic fact; nobody should be celebrating when somebody gets hurt. The point is a basic observation: hanging in for a full fight against the Vikings’ defense looks very, very difficult.

Brian Flores is like a heavyweight fighter who is throwing haymakers over and over again. So far, the NFL’s QBs haven’t been able to figure out a way to continue dodging the massive punches.

The 0-3 Miami Dolphins are working with the 31st-ranked offense in the NFL, meaning they’re a single spot away from being in last place. The Dolphins are swimming to a measly 12 points per game. Part of the problem is that there’s a talent deficit all around the roster, a problem that grows worse with the absence of Achane to carry the pigskin.

— READ MORE: Vikings Pull Off 8 Roster Moves —
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Willis hasn’t been flawless out there. Miami’s QB1 is completing 57.0% of his passes; his 1 touchdown has been paired with 2 interceptions. Nobody is going to be impressed by his 74.1 passer rating. Nor, for that matter, will anyone be particularly scared by the threat he poses, in no small part due to the complete lack of support around him.

Very seldom, if ever at all, does a team so nakedly commit to tanking as the 2026 Miami Dolphins. Sunday could therefore get really ugly.

In 2026, Willis has been blitzed a total of 26 times, per Pro Football Reference. Brian Flores may double that total in a single game. The DC is going to identify weaknesses and then attack these vulnerable spots with a relentlessness that few can match. If a lineman (or two) can’t keep up, Flores is going to go directly at that spot.

Willis, no doubt, has a role to play. Be decisive out there. Run out of bounds when possible. Make the correct pre-snap adjustments. Throw the ball away when necessary. Do all of the little things well to avoid getting suplexed and to keep his side competitive.

Truthfully, though, that’s not going to be enough. Miami’s coaching staff needs to recognize that a juggernaut of a defense is coming for its passer. Failing to equip that passer with consistently clever, simply sophisticated solutions means getting to a bad spot by the end of the game.

The issue is that Minnesota’s coaching staff is almost certainly better than Miami’s. The roster talent certainly is, so that make things doubly difficult.

Kickoff for the Vikings and Dolphins is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT on Sunday, October 4th inside of U.S. Bank Stadium.

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