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How did our defense become so offensive??


RpMc

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On 11/9/2018 at 7:30 AM, wcblack34 said:

While I agree with the sentiment, the road to the Super Bowl will most likely go through LA or New Orleans. Zimmer and Edwards are going to have to do better against them. They will have to figure out how to deal with the matchup problems. Otherwise Kamara and Gurley will eat them alive again. 

I don't recall Kamara eating the Vikings alive.  When did that happen?

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On 11/9/2018 at 10:25 PM, PrplChilPill said:

Those great performances were against terrible teams, one of whom had just traded their best playmaker days before. Let's see how they play against good teams. I hope you are right.... I'm skeptical right now

So am I.  The Vikings' defence were dominating teams last season.  This season, they have not been stopping opposing offences when they've needed to.  If they had been playing defence like last season, together with the team's increased scoring, they'd have a significantly better won/lost record.  The personnel held over from last season are one year older, but still young.  They've added Richardson.  They shouldn't be significantly weaker on defence than last season.  Yet, they seem to be.  Could it be that offensive coaches around the league have adjusted, and found ways to exploit Zimmer's schemes?   Could it be that Zimmer needs to try to try out some new strategies?  With the personnel The Vikings have on both sides of the ball, they should be one of The NFL's top teams (assuming the OL can improve).

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Just now, Robb_K said:

So am I.  The Vikings' defence were dominating teams last season.  This season, they have not been stopping opposing offences when they've needed to.  If they had been playing defence like last season, together with the team's increased scoring, they'd have a significantly better won/lost record.  The personnel held over from last season are one year older, but still young.  They've added Richardson.  They shouldn't be significantly weaker on defence than last season.  Yet, they seem to be.  Could it be that offensive coaches around the league have adjusted, and found ways to exploit Zimmer's schemes?   Could it be that Zimmer needs to try to try out some new strategies?  With the personnel The Vikings have on both sides of the ball, they should be one of The NFL's top teams (assuming the OL can improve).

There hasn’t been such a big dropoff, outside of the Rams game. In their other 8 games, the Vikings have one of the best (along with the Bears, Bills and maybe Ravens) defenses in the league.

The defense should’ve played well enough to beat the Rams, but the other failures were on the offense, for turnovers in the losses to the Bills and Saints, and special teams, for the punt block TD and several missed FGs in the Packers game. 

Zimmer has already made changes to their coverage scheme and their system of checks. 

What’s separating the Vikings from the best teams in the league is their offense: too many failed drives and far too many turnovers. The defense is good enough to win with this year. 

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Current rankings of the Vikings defense, all games included:

  • Points per game: 11th (includes return TDs)
  • Yards per game: 5th
  • Expected points: 2nd
  • Yards per play: 9th
  • Passer rating: 13th
  • ANY/A: 6th
  • Passing yards per game: 12th
  • Sacks: T-1st
  • Sack percentage: 2nd
  • Expected points against, passing: 4th
  • Rushing yards per game: 3rd
  • Rushing yards per carry: 2nd
  • Expected points against, rushing: 3rd
  • Rushing + receiving TDs allowed: 2nd
  • 3rd down percentage: 1st
  • Red zone TD scoring percentage: 2nd
  • Yards per drive: 6th
  • Points per drive: 6th
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Vikings defense wasn't necessarily dominating totally last season though...especially against decent teams away from home. These were our away matches last season which we played away from home - 

Steelers (26 conceded)

Bears (conceded 17 points)

Browns (conceded 16)

Redskins (conceded 30)

Lions (conceded 23)

Falcons (conceded 9)

Panthers (conceded 31)

GB (conceded 0)

Eagles(conceded 38)

 

If you can see the above list, we played 6 games last season away from home against teams who had atleast decent offense (Steelers,Redskins, Lions, Falcons, Panthers, Eagles). We conceded 26.1ppg in these 6 matches. Defense conceded 23+ points in 5 of the 6 matches..so it's not like our defense was dominant throughout the entire year. It was excellent at home but it did have up and downs, especially against decent offenses away from home. Our defense at home has looked good this year so far (except that Bills game where even offense needs to take the blame for some bad turnovers). It's looking much better in last few weeks. Let's evaluate after next 4 weeks when we are gonna play Bears, Packers, Pats, Hawks. That should be a good indicator of where our defense is rn

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In a recent panel of 10 football writers for the Associated Press,Vikings safety Harrison Smith was voted the NFL’s top player at his position, which should bode well for his consideration as an All-Pro for the second consecutive season.

The AP’s Dennis Waszak, Jr., wrote about the recognition and quoted Minneapolis-based _AP_ writer Dave Campbell, who said the following:

“The independent analysts at Pro Football Focus rated Smith’s performance in 2017 the highest by any player at any position in the league. This year, the three-time Pro Bowl pick has three interceptions and three sacks in nine games. No player in the NFL hit both of those marks over the entire 2017 season."

https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-a-look-at-nfc-north-picture-after-vikings-bye?sf202101268=1

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The Vikings have seen a number of improvements on defense over the past five weeks. In that span, during which Minnesota has won four of its past five contests, John Shipley of the Pioneer Press said that the Vikings defensive performance has made all the difference. Shipley wrote:

"The Vikings offense has been more than adequate, averaging 24.6 points a game with the NFL’s sixth-best passing game (374.3 yards a game) behind new quarterback Kirk Cousins. The difference the past five games has been most apparent on defense, and the biggest reason might be schematic adjustments."

In their first four games, the Vikings gave up nine plays of 35 yards or more; in the five games since, four — and the Lions never gained more than 18 yards (twice) on any play from scrimmage. Shipley referenced Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer, who told media members recently that he and the coaching staff go “back through the season and look at plays that hurt us and kind of see if there’s a pattern going on.” Shipley pointed out that the Rams in Week 4 posted plays of 31, 36, 47, 56 and 70 yards, but in the games since, the Vikings have given up just four plays of 35-plus yards – and none as long as 50.

https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-a-look-at-nfc-north-picture-after-vikings-bye?sf202101268=1

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2 hours ago, gopherwrestler said:

Maybe Zimmer is smart and realized Harris is probably just better than Illoka and it’s why he has been starting over him.

Side Note: Wilson has really only played 13 snaps in these games.

Harris is basically S #2 in the NFL since he’s been starting. 

 

I was never a fan of Sendejo. Doesn't bother me in the least that he's probably done here.

 

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You know what I was just thinking about?

Remember how great the defense was for 2/3rds of the season then dropped off with little to no pass rush in the playoffs?

With the defense peaking nearly halfway through the season, maybe the defense will have enough juice heading into the playoffs this time around. Not only that but Griffen kept some miles off him when he was away, we have a good DE rotation, and we should get more pressure up the middle.

Maybe the slow start is a good thing and we'll stay peaked at the right time?

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