NFL Winners and Losers: Vikings are 3-0, and Brian Flores’ defense might be biggest reason

It’s hard to say the Minnesota Vikings have the best coaching staff in the NFL. Andy Reid still hasn’t retired, after all.

But they’re not far off.

The Minnesota Vikings moved to 3-0 this season and what they’re doing is remarkable. The Vikings were expected to finish last in the NFC North, and they used the 10th overall pick on quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who won’t play a snap this season. Without any contribution from their top-10 draft pick, the Vikings have won three in a row with a couple of high quality wins. They beat the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 and then got a 34-7 win over the Houston Texans in Week 3. Both teams are likely to be division champions and Super Bowl contenders by the end of the year.

We’ll see where the Vikings’ path leads them this season, and it also will be interesting to see what becomes of Brian Flores.

Flores’ defense is a huge factor in the Vikings’ start. The 49ers had seven points through three quarters at Minnesota last week. The Texans were shut out in the first half. Houston finally got on the board with 3:56 left in the third quarter, after Minnesota had run out to a 21-0 lead. The Vikings probably don’t have top-five talent on defense but are playing like a top-five unit. That’s coaching.

If Flores was any other defensive coordinator, producing results like this, he’d be one of the top early candidates for a head-coaching job next offseason. But we know it’s a little more complicated than that. Flores had a rocky time with the Miami Dolphins, including new criticism this year over his handling of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the league will be a story as teams look into perhaps giving him an interview. It would be hard to deny Flores the chance, based on his work with the Vikings’ defense. We’ll see what happens, but his success in Minnesota is impossible to deny.

The Texans had trouble generating any running game or explosive plays in the passing game. The latter is usually not a problem for C.J. Stroud, who had one of his worst games as a pro. Minnesota plays fast and physical, with consistent pressure and disciplined coverage. They confused Stroud and made him look tentative, which has been tough to do.

Flores’ defense is doing its job and head coach Kevin O’Connell is getting the most out of his offense. Sam Darnold is playing better than he ever has on a consistent basis in the NFL. It helps to have Justin Jefferson to throw to. But he doesn’t have Jordan Addison or T.J. Hockenson, who have been out with injuries, and it hasn’t mattered. Darnold went out briefly on Sunday after hurting his knee, and when he reentered the game shortly after he got a standing ovation. He has earned that after his play over the first three games.

The Vikings lead the NFC North at a very early stage in the season and have shown two weeks in a row that they can beat really good teams. Coaching matters in the NFL.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 3 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Dallas Goedert: After a crushing loss on Monday night to the Atlanta Falcons, the Philadelphia Eagles were looking at a 1-2 start if they lost in Week 3 at a hot New Orleans Saints team. And they went into it without A.J. Brown for the second straight game.

Dallas Goedert was the Eagles’ surprise hero. Goedert had 10 catches for 170 yards, both career highs, including a massive 61-yard gain on third-and-16 in the final two minutes to set up Saquon Barkley’s go-ahead touchdown. The Eagles got an interception to seal the 15-12 win.

Barkley had two touchdowns, Jalen Hurts had 311 yards passing, the Eagles defense cooled off a hot Saints offense but Goedert was the star of the win. While the loss to the Falcons still stings, being 2-1 isn’t so bad.

Matt LaFleur, again: The Tennessee Titans gave up on Malik Willis less than a month ago. They traded him to the Green Bay Packers for a seventh-round pick on Aug. 27. And nobody blinked at the move; Willis had not played well at all in his regular-season appearances.

That’s what made Sunday so sweet for Willis and impressive for LaFleur. The Packers won their second straight game with Willis replacing Jordan Love and helping to beat his former team 30-14. While Willis was playing a calm, controlled game, Titans quarterback Will Levis was throwing his team out of yet another game, practically handing Jaire Alexander a pick-6 in the first half. Willis completed 13-of-19 passes for 202 yards and continues to look way better than he did with the Titans.

Love seems close to a return, perhaps as soon as next week, and it’s remarkable that Green Bay went 2-0 without him. There are a few coaches having a great start to the season, and LaFleur is definitely on the very early NFL Coach of the Year candidate list.

Bo Nix and Sean Payton: Payton hadn’t had a win in September as Denver Broncos coach, going 0-5 over his first two seasons with the team. Nix had a brutal first two games as an NFL quarterback.

Both got some redemption on Sunday. The Broncos defense played very well, Nix looked a lot more comfortable and Denver got a big 26-7 upset at a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that looked very good during a 2-0 start to the season.

Baker Mayfield was off to a hot start but Denver flustered him all game. Denver allowed almost none of the big plays that Tampa Bay had been getting the first two games. Nix looked like the more confident quarterback of the two, getting the ball downfield more than he had in his first two starts and rarely making a mistake. He was 25 of 36 for 216 yards and was sharp throughout. It was a good step forward for the Broncos and their rookie quarterback, and Payton can know he won’t go 0-for-September again.

LOSERS

Justin Herbert: Herbert said he suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2, and that should have raised some alarms. It’s a tough injury to play through and almost impossible to not have your performance impacted by it.

Herbert left Sunday’s game early with what appeared to be an aggravation of his high ankle sprain. He was replaced by Taylor Heinicke, who did little as the Pittsburgh Steelers pulled away for a 20-10 win.

The Chargers are 2-1 on the season but should have some concerns. Herbert won’t be healthy for a while and if the Chargers continue to play him he’ll be at risk of setting himself back. It won’t be an easy situation to manage for coach Jim Harbaugh.

Deshaun Watson and the Browns: The Cleveland Browns got off to a great start on Sunday. They recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, and Watson hit Amari Cooper on the first play for a 7-0 lead. Then that was about it.

The Browns ended the first half with 41 yards of offense and 24 of it came on the first play. They still had a shot to win it in the final minutes after a missed field goal by New York, and Watson could have been the hero. But the Browns went four-and-out with Watson throwing in complete on the final three downs, and the New York Giants had a surprising 21-15 win.

The Browns should be better than 1-2, and losing at home to the Giants is tough to swallow. Watson wasn’t horrendous on Sunday but he wasn’t great either. And when he had a chance to redeem himself, the Browns didn’t move the ball at all.