Vikings Statistical Rankings Through Week 16: Defense
Josh Frey
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Vikings fans did not get an early Christmas present from their football team this weekend as Minnesota fell to the Detroit Lions by a score of 30-24.
With the loss, Minnesota took a tumble down the NFL standings and saw a number of injuries take out players on the defensive side of the ball.
Today, we will be breaking down the Vikings statistical rankings on defense through Week 16 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.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed per Game: 19.9 (10th)
- Total Yards Allowed per Game: 320.9 (13th)
- Plays per Game: 64.4 (21st-fewest)
- Yards Allowed per Play: 5.0 (8th)
- First Downs Allowed per Game: 18.7 (T-11th)
- Takeaways per Game: 1.4 (T-17th)
- Third-Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 41.1% (24th)
- Fourth-Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 72.7% (32nd)
- Red Zone TD Percentage Allowed: 52.4% (10th)
- Overall PFF Grade: 72.4 (17th)
- EPA/play: -0.08 (11th)
This weekend was one of the first times this season that we’ve seen the Vikings defense seem overwhelmed for the majority of the game. Of course, injuries and turnovers played huge roles in that, but the Vikings allowed 30 points for the first time since Week 2 and gave up their third-highest yardage total of the season to the Lions.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed per Game: 25.2 (32nd)
- Pass Attempts Against per Game: 36.0 (26th-fewest)
- Passing Yards per Game: 225.5 (17th)
- Net Yards Allowed per Pass: 5.8 (T-11th)
- Passing First Downs Allowed per Game: 11.9 (T-22nd)
- Passing TDs Allowed per Game: 1.20 (T-8th)
- Interceptions per Game: 0.73 (T-19th)
- Sacks per Game: 2.8 (T-12th)
- Coverage PFF Grade: 88.1 (7th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 58.5 (32nd)
- EPA/pass: -0.08 (8th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against per Game: 25.6 (T-12th-fewest)
- Rushing Yards Allowed per Game: 95.4 (9th)
- Yards Allowed per Carry: 3.7 (4th)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed per Game: 6.00 (T-13th)
- Rushing TDs Allowed per Game: 0.73 (T-10th)
- Fumbles Recovered per Game: 0.67 (T-6th)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 63.1 (16th)
- EPA/run: -0.15 (9th)
Detroit had their way with the Vikings defense on Sunday. They gashed Minnesota in the running game, Amon-Ra St. Brown had 12 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown by the end of the day, and the Lions consistently kept drives alive by converting third and fourth downs. The Vikings have kept themselves in the playoff race largely because of their defensive performances, and they will need a bounce back game next weekend against the Green Bay Packers.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 48 (T-113th)
- Tackles for Loss: 21 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 72 (T-10th)
- QB Hits: 21 (T-16th)
- Sacks: 15.5 (3rd)
- Forced Fumbles: 4 (T-5th)
- PFF Grade: 76.6 (35th among 60 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 33 (T-217th)
- Tackles for Loss: 7 (T-87th)
- QB Pressures: 38 (T-71st)
- QB Hits: 15 (T-47th)
- Sacks: 8.0 (T-30th)
- PFF Grade: 62.3 (46th among 60 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 17 (T-418th)
- Tackles for Loss: 5 (T-152nd)
- QB Pressures: 25 (T-121st)
- QB Hits: 6 (T-145th)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-248th)
- PFF Grade: 34.9 (60th among 60 qualifying EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 41 (T-149th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-306th)
- QB Pressures: 17 (T-170th)
- QB Hits: 6 (T-145th)
- Sacks: 3.0 (T-131st)
- PFF Grade: 58.6 (T-49th among 72 qualifying DL)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 20 (T-376th)
- Tackles for Loss: 3 (T-239th)
- QB Pressures: 9 (T-262nd)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-279th)
- Sacks: 2.0 (T-184th)
- PFF Grade: 54.2 (T-54th among 72 qualifying DL)
LB Jordan Hicks
- Solo Tackles: 56 (T-65th)
- Tackles for Loss: 4 (T-195th)
- QB Pressures: 11 (T-240th)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-279th)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-248th)
- PFF Grade: 75.2 (T-21st among 62 qualifying LBs)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 53 (T-81st)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-306th)
- QB Pressures: 13 (T-215th)
- QB Hits: 7 (T-126th)
- Sacks: 2.5 (T-164th)
- PFF Grade: 75.7 (19th among 62 qualifying LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 43 (T-137th)
- Tackles for Loss: 4 (T-195th)
- Passes Defended: 13 (T-8th)
- Interceptions: 3 (T-20th)
- PFF Grade: 57.9 (61st among 80 qualifying CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 42 (T-142nd)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 7 (T-78th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-92nd)
- PFF Grade: 62.6 (T-52nd among 80 qualifying CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 54 (T-75th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-306th)
- Passes Defended: 2 (T-299th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 71.6 (20th among 67 qualifying safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 85 (T-6th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-306th)
- Passes Defended: 9 (T-46th)
- Interceptions: 2 (T-35th)
- PFF Grade: 76.7 (11th among 67 qualifying safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 67 (T-30th)
- Tackles for Loss: 7 (T-87th)
- Passes Defended: 4 (T-170th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-92nd)
- PFF Grade: 72.7 (16th among 67 qualifying safeties)
Unheralded Vikings Defender Eyeing a Promotion after Christmas Eve Explosion
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.