​Against the Vikings’ defense, an opponent has to pick its poison, Blake Cashman said Sunday after what was probably the best game of his eight-year NFL career. Too many tough matchups make it difficult for a coordinator or cornerback to find easy yards.“Next week,” Cashman said after he led the defense in a 16-10 victory over Indianapolis, “it’s gonna be somebody else.”It’s true that over the past few years, as defensive coordinator Brian Flores has extended his vision for Minnesota’s defense, fans have seen conspicuously big games from several players — Andrew Van Ginkel and Isaiah Rodgers spring immediately to mind — but anyone watching knows it’s as much about skill and will as opportunity.Against the Colts, Cashman finished with12 tackles, two sacks, three quarterback pressures and four pass breakups. Even for the experts watching Sunday’s game, “It seemed like he was everywhere,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said.So much so that safety Harrison Smith was worried that Cashman would tip and pass from Colts quarterback Daniel Jones that was coming straight to him. Cashman just missed, and Smith had his 40th career pick.Said safety Josh Metellus, “I couldn’t even make plays because (Cashman) was all over the field.”Cashman joined the Gophers as a preferred walk-on from Eden Prairie high school, earned a scholarship, moved from safety to linebacker, and was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. Since then, he has been a regular with the Jets, Houston Texans and Vikings, but he seems to be finally finding his groove back home in Minnesota.A lot of that can be attributed to his health.In three seasons with New York, groin, hamstring and shoulder injuries limited Cashman to 14 games, seven of them starts. Hamstring injuries and a concussion sidelined him for brief stretches during two seasons with the Texans. He has been slowed by toe and hamstring issues in Minnesota, as well, but since signing as a free agent before the 2023 season, he has played and started 33 games with the Vikings, amassing 310 tackles and 11 sacks.Last season, Cashman recorded 10 straight games with at least nine tackles, becoming only the fourth NFL player since 1994 to manage it. “We made him a captain at the end of the year last year,” Metellus said. “A guy like that, if he’s on the field, he’s going to play well.”Cashman was asked after Sunday’s game if Flores and the Vikings were able to unlock something in his game, but the reality, he said, is it has been simply being able to play regularly in Flores’ scheme with many current teammates.“It’s just continuing to trust it more and more; trusting what the D line’s gonna do, trusting what our guys on the back end are going to do,” he sid. “Because, when you first get here, it doesn’t matter if you’re a new player or a rookie, sometimes it looks crazy.”To wit: On Sunday, the Vikings defense lined up a few times with no down linemen