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Best Buy employees who teamed up to stop a gang of robbers leaving the store have been praised for their extraordinary NFL-style defense after security camera footage of the incident went viral.

As three would-be crooks ripped phones out from a display table, seven quick-thinking workers ran past them before forming a line in front of the doors ready to block the trio when they tried to flee.

The employees squatted slightly with their arms raised in formation, ready to tackle the thieves when they made a run for it.

While one hooded thief appears to have got away slightly before the linebackers formed their D-line, the other two bounced on their feet and then tried to run to the side before they were tackled.

A clip of the incident was captured on the store's CCTV camera and was later set to music.

It was tweeted by @NFL_Memes with the caption: "This Best Buy has a better defense than your favorite NFL team." The post garnered tens of thousands of 'likes' and was retweeted by thousands of amused NFL fans.

One sports enthusiast, tweeting from the handle @ChadillacSoxFan, replied: "You got to give credit to the game plan, preparation, and execution. 7 dudes lined up with the bend but don't break defense. Classic. You even got one guy going so fast he's is turning into a phantom. I can see the soda machine through his body thanks to his 99 speed."

Several Twitter users zoomed in on one particular employee with screen grabs to highlight his impressive moves.

One, tweeting from the handle @jonnyshaw_10, wrote: "This dude don't care. He's trying show he's in a good tackling stance for the league." And tweeter @rgfray1 wrote: "this guys lateral movement is elite."

But others had a different favorite player, with @HartmanDave writing: "I was most impressed by the fella in the black shirt, comes in and just blows the whole play up, blue shirt across from him does a great job of being disciplined and setting that edge. He know his position and understands that you don't need to make the tackle to make the stop."

The location of the store, the date the attempted robbery took place, and whether the thieves were ultimately caught remains unclear.

Newsweek has contacted Best Buy for further information and comment.

The incident comes after another Best Buy employee went viral with a dramatic takedown of a thief. She wrestled a man who was trying to run away with a television under his arm, but was later reportedly sacked by Best Buy for violating its policy on dealing with robberies.

However, the story had a happy ending when UFC president Dana White offered Summer Tapasa-Sataraka a job as a security guard in September 2020 after being impressed by her wrestling skills.

Back in November 2021, a Best Buy in Burnsville, Minnesota, was robbed when a huge group of up to 30 people entered the store and stole electronics on Black Friday. Best Buy CEO Corie Barry told analysts during a conference call that week: "We are definitely seeing more and more particularly organized retail crime and incidents of shrink in our locations. This is a real issue that hurts and scares real people."