The End Zone is the Vikings Best Defender
There’s no denying that the Minnesota Vikings defense is beyond putrid at this point. On a weekly basis Ed Donatell’s group has continued to put up stinkers. That being said, they’ve lived by the moniker “bend but don’t break”, and it turns out their best defender may not be a player at all.
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Over the past few weeks, we have seen Donatell’s group give up 400 yards with ease. In fact, they have now allowed at least that many yards to an opposing offense in five consecutive contests. It has dropped them down the defensive standings to the point that they are now dead last across the NFL in yards per game surrendered.
If you have been watching, you know something is broken.
Maybe the way to fix it is by shrinking the field. No, really. Minnesota’s “bend but don’t break” philosophy has translated into exceptional Red Zone defense. When opposing quarterbacks get within sniffing distance of paydirt, they simply fall apart.
This isn’t necessarily a difficult premise to understand. As the opposition gets closer to the goaline, they have less real estate to work with. Take Sunday for instance. The first touchdown of the game came on a play in which rookie wide receiver Jameson Williams caught a deep ball on busted coverage. With the distance that ball traveled through the air from Jared Goff, it likely would have been out of the end zone had they been closer.
Minnesota’s secondary is suspect to say the least. While Patrick Peterson has held his own, he’s aging. The rookies have been hurt, and the veterans have done little to help him. Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum have been fine on the back end, but are continually needing to provide help over the top. When shrinking the field, Minnesota finds themselves at an advantage.
Inside of the 20-yard-line, an opposing quarterback is forced to deal with significantly more traffic when going through reads. There’s a linebacker unit roughly in the middle of the distance to the goal line, and secondary players can use the end line as an over the top defender. Both Bynum and Smith are given a greater liberty to roam and provide help in front of them.
None of this is a very difficult concept to understand, but it does highlight that the Vikings aren’t pressured by the thought of surrendering points. If being in the red zone is akin to a clutch situation, then the Minnesota defense may be the best in that spot. Similar to Kirk Cousins and the offense coming back late in so many games, the leadership of this team seems to be unphased.
Now of course, it’s on both Donatell and head coach Kevin O’Connell to figure out a way to bring these principles throughout the field. The safeties have substantially more responsibility the further an opponent is from the end zone, and the cornerbacks have much more opportunity to be beaten.
If the Vikings can scheme a scenario in which their coverage units are better positioned to limit opposing passers, they may be better able to hide athletic deficiencies. Getting to the quarterback with more regularity would help as well, and that’s something that can take place from anywhere on the field.
We shall see if things change this weekend when the Vikings take on the Colts on Saturday.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.