Brian Flores has been a successful NFL coach at several stops, but it’s something that he picked up last year during his time as senior defensive assistant of the Pittsburgh Steelers that has him enjoying a strong season in his first as Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator.

With the Vikings, Flores has adopted a variation of a defensive played by Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi this season and it’s been a radical success. The Vikings rank as one of the top defenses in the NFL, allowing just 17.8 points per game and 4.8 yards per play in that time.

ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported how Flores’ time spent with the Steelers last season influenced the way he’s made adjustments to his defense this season. Seifert reported that Flores frequently visited with Tiquan Underwood last season to watch film together, and as those sessions continued, Flores grew “enamored” with what he saw from Narduzzi’s unique defense. It’s an uncommon scheme designed to stop the run at all costs, and rush the passer with abandon often leading to massive sack totals, and it requires defensive backs to operate on islands in one-on-one coverage, and at times, leaves zone coverage with too-few players for the number of routes being run.

It’s largely worked at Pitt, with leading sacks totals in four of the past five seasons and a run defense that ranks among the best in college football — prior to the 2023 season, of course. But it’s so unique that, reportedly, Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak wouldn’t let Narduzzi run the defense.

The Steelers have their own pressure packages, but it’s interesting that Flores took something from watching Pitt work during his time in Pittsburgh and has applied it to the NFL level with success in Minnesota already. The Steelers did not replace Flores on their staff as senior defensive assistant when he took the job in Minnesota.

The Steelers finished 10th in scoring defense in 2022 with Flores, but without star linebacker T.J. Watt for half the season. This year, despite long-term absences by Cam Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick, they’re currently ranked fifth in scoring defense.

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – It is time to tackle another viewer question! Greg asks:

Hey Ray!

When I put some ice cubes from the ice tray in my glass that has ice tea or water, the cube will explode! There have been times that liquid comes flying out of the glass. Why would an ice cube explode? 

Thanks, Greg

This is probably something you have noticed with ice cubes from the ice tray. When you drop them in a liquid, especially a hot liquid, they crack, pop, splinter, or sometimes explode!

First, let’s talk about how weird water is.

One reason water is weird is that the water molecules start to contract as they cool.

According to the National Weather Service, as water’s temperature decreases to 40°F, the molecules slow and contract, and the density increases, the same as most other substances. 

Below 40°F though, the water molecules begin to bond to each other. As that happens, they are held apart, and the water expands again, decreasing the density. At 32°F (0°C), all molecules are locked into a crystalline structure, you know ice crystals, resulting in a nine percent expansion in size. 

This expansion and the corresponding decrease in density is the reason ice floats.

This however does not answer Greg’s question. It just gives us some clues. 

So what is happening?

In Greg’s case, the key was that he was using ice cubes from an ice cube tray. Often times hard water minerals build up in an ice cube tray. 

Water molecules and ice crystals can form on these minerals, and this creates tiny imperfections in the ice. Scratches in the ice cube tray from aggressive cleaning can create these imperfections, too.

So now you have a seemingly normal ice cube but with tiny imperfections. Imperfections that are actually weak spots in a solid structure!

When you toss the ice cube into a liquid that is not frozen, you rapidly start to change the temperature of the ice cube. 

The temperature change happens on the outside of the cube, while the inside stays frozen. That rapid change in temperature causes a contraction of the ice, especially the outer layer. The imperfections or weak spots of the ice are forced to crack at this point. 

If these events happen fast enough, sometimes the ice will even have what seems like a mini explosion.

Gently cleaning the minerals out with vinegar will help remove some of those imperfections.  

Just rinse it well after cleaning, so your drink doesn’t taste like vinegar.  

That would probably be worse than popping ice!