How the Vikings Dogged Jared Goff In Their Week 9 Win

Matt Fries goes over the Vikings' blitz strategy in their win over the Lions — specifically the Cross Dog blitz approach that gave Detroit enormous trouble.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

The Minnesota Vikings unleashed a torrent of pressure against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions on Sunday, holding the explosive Lions’ offense in check for most of the game and ensuring the win.

While they created these pressures in various ways, one method stood out: the Cross Dog.

In football terminology, “Cross Dog” is the generic name for the defensive call where two off-ball linebackers blitz the quarterback while crossing each other’s paths.

The stats are impressive. Goff was under pressure on 18 of his 42 dropbacks, a 42.9% rate per PFF. According to NextGenStats (via NFLPro), they had an average time to pressure of 2.19 seconds during the week, which was by far the fastest of any team in Week 9; the Los Angeles Rams were second at 2.43 seconds. They did this because they generated 15 quick pressures, which are pressures that affect the QB in less than 2.5 seconds. That 35.7% rate was the highest of any team in 2025 so far:

PFF also credited the Vikings with 26 individual pressures (multiple players can generate a pressure on the same play), 11 of which came from their three off ball LBs — Eric Wilson (6), Blake Cashman (3), and Ivan Pace Jr. (2). This matches the total NextGenStats has, and is apparently the most for a single team since 2011:

This effectiveness allowed the Vikings to sack Jared Goff 5 times, and was a welcome change after the defense struggled to contain Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert in consecutive weeks. They also limited gains on plays where Goff did get the ball out, allowing just 7 completions for 72 yards on 13 attempts per PFF, a poor 5.5 yards/attempt and no touchdowns. If you account for sack yardage, the Vikings allowed just 28 total yards on plays where they got pressure on Goff.

How did they do it? Primarily, the cross dog blitz I mentioned above, but also in a few other ways that are worth investigating. Let’s dive into the tape to see how they did it.

Film Study

Cross dog blitzes are not new to football, but Flores does have his unique spin on them. While Flores is obviously part of the Belichick coaching tree, and his time spent working near Pat Narduzzi heavily influenced the current Vikings’ scheme, but there’s another coach that Flores is a spiritual successor of, as argued in this excellent piece by Ollie Connolly (Author’s Note: If you’re subscribed to Wide Left, you dig long, detailed pieces. Connolly nails that vibe). That coach is the boisterous, long-time defensive coordinator and former New York Jets Head Coach, Rex Ryan.

Ryan, of course, was known for his ultra-aggressive defensive philosophy, one he inherited from his father, Buddy Ryan. Buddy once uppercut his coworker, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, during a game with the Houston Oilers, and included the line “QBs are overpaid, overrated, pompous bastards and must be punished” in his playbooks, which gives readers an idea of how he felt about offensive football.

So, it’s no surprise that Rex has just about every blitz under the sun in his playbook, including a cross dog simulated blitz that only rushes four, one he characteristically named “Max Blow:”

The pressure above is a cross dog where the defense still gets seven men in coverage and plays two-man behind it. In that way, it’s a safe pressure. You have seven in coverage and two safeties over the top, making it difficult for the offense to get a big chunk.

But, practically, there’s still an issue with the above. Even in nickel defense, the “D” and “X” noted on the playsheet above are edge rushers, 3-4 outside LBs, just like Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. In this call, they’re responsible for playing man coverage on the tight end and running back, which against the Lions means Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs. As good as Van Ginkel is in coverage, that’s not a matchup you want to rely on.