Vikings Statistical Rankings Through Week 13: Defense
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings rested up on their bye week during Week 13, but plenty of other action happened across the NFL to shuffle the rankings in the league.
Today, we will be breaking down the Vikings statistical rankings on defense through Week 12 as a whole, and where individual players stand. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article.
NOTE: Individual PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 50% of the league leaders for defensive snaps at each position. With many of the teams now having their bye weeks behind them, we’ll also be transitioning towards per game numbers for the team statistics.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed per Game: 20.2 (8th)
- Total Yards Allowed per Game: 320.3 (13th)
- Plays per Game: 63.9 (T-14th-most)
- Yards per Play Allowed: 5.0 (10th)
- First Downs Allowed per Game: 18.6 (9th)
- Takeaways per Game: 1.33 (T-16th)
- Third-Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 41.8% (25th)
- Fourth-Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 64.7% (T-27th)
- Red Zone TD Percentage: 50.0% (9th)
- Overall Defense PFF Grade: 73.6 (T-11th)
- EPA/play: -0.07 (11th)
Ultimately, the Vikings defense broke down a bit on the final drive of their Week 12 game, but that shouldn’t take away from just how well the group played on Monday before the bye. Heading into the final five weeks of the season, the Vikings now employ a top-10 scoring defense, and they rank above average in just about every category. This unit is keeping Minnesota in games, and this upcoming bye is well-deserved for the group.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed per Game: 24.8 (T-28th)
- Pass Attempts Against per Game: 35.5 (T-24th)
- Passing Yards Allowed per Game: 224.3 (18th)
- Net Yards per Pass Allowed: 5.9 (11th)
- Passing First Downs Allowed per Game: 11.7 (22nd)
- Passing TDs Allowed per Game: 1.25 (T-14th)
- Interceptions per Game: 0.75 (T-18th)
- Sacks per Game: 2.7 (T-15th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 57.3 (31st)
- Coverage PFF Grade: 88.8 (7th)
- EPA/pass: -0.05 (8th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against per Game: 25.8 (12th)
- Rushing Yards Allowed per Game: 96.0 (7th)
- Yards per Carry Allowed: 3.7 (5th)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed per Game: 6.08 (T-13th)
- Rushing TDs Allowed per Game: 0.58 (T-5th)
- Fumbles Recovered per Game: 0.58 (T-12th)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 65.4 (12th)
- EPA/run: -0.17 (7th)
Of course, the pass-rush of the Vikings remains the biggest weakness with this team and needs to improve following the bye week. They are middle of the pack for sacks, but they simply don’t get enough consistent pressure on opposing QBs to generate a higher PFF grade.
However, that is really the only weakness with this group right now. They rank among the top-10 against both the pass and the run per EPA, and the Vikings run defense especially has been truly fantastic this season.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 42 (T-93rd)
- Tackles for Loss: 18 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 51 (T-16th)
- QB Hits: 17 (T-11th)
- Sacks: 13.5 (T-3rd)
- Forced Fumbles: 4 (T-3rd)
- PFF Grade: 76.6 (T-20th among 61 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 24 (T-256th)
- Tackles for Loss: 6 (T-80th)
- QB Pressures: 32 (T-66th)
- QB Hits: 12 (T-52nd)
- Sacks: 6.0 (T-36th)
- PFF Grade: 61.6 (46th among 61 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 9 (T-523rd)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-256th)
- QB Pressures: 19 (T-123rd)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-140th)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 34.0 (61st among 61 qualifying EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 34 (T-148th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-371st)
- QB Pressures: 13 (T-176th)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-140th)
- Sacks: 2.0 (T-146th)
- PFF Grade: 64.4 (32nd among 69 qualifying DL)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 16 (T-360th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-371st)
- QB Pressures: 7 (T-267th)
- QB Hits: 1 (T-322nd)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-216th)
- PFF Grade: 58.7 (T-44th among 69 qualifying DL)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 36 (T-138th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-371st)
- QB Pressures: 11 (T-198th)
- QB Hits: 6 (T-121st)
- Sacks: 1.5 (T-189th)
- PFF Grade: 70.9 (27th among 64 qualifying LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 34 (T-148th)
- Tackles for Loss: 3 (T-201st)
- Passes Defended: 13 (7th)
- Interceptions: 3 (T-8th)
- PFF Grade: 53.3 (64th among 79 qualifying CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 36 (T-138th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-7th)
- Passes Defended: 5 (T-90th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 63.2 (45th among 79 qualifying CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 46 (T-70th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-256th)
- Sacks: 3.0 (T-104th)
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-7th)
- Passes Defended: 1 (T-352nd)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 72.2 (20th among 68 qualifying safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 68 (8th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-256th)
- Passes Defended: 8 (T-32nd)
- Interceptions: 2 (T-26th)
- PFF Grade: 85.0 (5th among 68 qualifying safeites)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 50 (T-47th)
- Tackles for Loss: 5 (T-108th)
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-7th)
- Passes Defended: 4 (T-122nd)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-68th)
- PFF Grade: 71.2 (21st among 68 qualifying safeties)
The 2023 Vikings Have a Shot at a Historic, Unprecedented Franchise Record
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.