Vikings Statistical Rankings Through Week 11: Defense
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings went into Denver during Week 11 and narrowly lost to the Broncos by a score of 21-20.
Today, we will be breaking down the Vikings statistical rankings on defense through Week 11 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: 20.9 (15th)
- Total Yards Allowed per Game: 320.6 (13th)
- Plays per Game: 63.5 (T-12th-most)
- Yards per Play Allowed: 5.0 (9th)
- First Downs Allowed per Game: 18.6 (9th)
- Takeaways per Game: 1.27 (T-20th)
- Third Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 41.4% (25th)
- Fourth Down Conversion Percentage Allowed: 62.5% (T-23rd)
- Red Zone TD Percentage: 53.3% (16th)
- Overall PFF Grade: 73.5 (13th)
- EPA/play: -0.06 (10th)
It was another masterful performance by the Vikings defense on Sunday night. Of course, the last-minute TD that they allowed will always sting, but the fact is that they only gave up 21 points in a game where the offense turned the ball over three times, including two in plus-territory.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed per Game: 24.6 (T-27th)
- Pass Attempts Against per Game: 35.5 (22nd)
- Passing Yards Allowed per Game: 226.6 (17th)
- Net Yards per Pass Allowed: 6.0 (15th)
- Passing First Downs Allowed per Game: 11.6 (T-19th)
- Passing TDs Allowed per Game: 1.36 (20th)
- Interceptions per Game: 0.82 (T-14th)
- Sacks per Game: 2.6 (T-16th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 56.6 (31st)
- Pass Coverage PFF Grade: 86.4 (8th)
- EPA/pass: -0.03 (10th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against per Game: 25.5 (12th)
- Rushing Yards Allowed per Game: 94.0 (7th)
- Yards per Carry Allowed: 3.7 (4th)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed per Game: 6.09 (17th)
- Rushing TDs Allowed per Game: 0.64 (14th)
- Fumbles Recovered per Game: 0.45 (T-22nd)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 68.3 (12th)
- EPA/run: -0.19 (5th)
Minnesota’s run defense remains one of the best groups in the league after another very strong game against the Broncos. They allowed just 46 rushing yards to a team that was averaging 140 per game during their winning streak going into the Sunday night matchup.
The pass defense has had some struggles at points, but that department remains right around league average.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 36 (T-98th)
- Tackles for Loss: 16 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 44 (T-17th)
- QB Hits: 14 (T-19th)
- Sacks: 12.0 (2nd)
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-6th)
- PFF Grade: 74.7 (T-25th among 56 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 21 (T-250th)
- Tackles for Loss: 6 (T-61st)
- QB Pressures: 26 (T-67th)
- QB Hits: 12 (T-35th)
- Sacks: 6.0 (T-23rd)
- PFF Grade: 61.7 (41st among 56 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 8 (T-499th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-230th)
- QB Pressures: 14 (T-144th)
- QB Hits: 4 (T-155th)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 33.8 (56th among 56 qualifying EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 32 (T-128th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-335th)
- QB Pressures: 12 (T-165th)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-122nd)
- Sacks: 2.0 (T-135th)
- PFF Grade: 63.1 (36th among 68 qualifying DL)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 17 (T-310th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-335th)
- QB Pressures: 5 (T-275th)
- QB Hits: 1 (T-298th)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-200th)
- PFF Grade: 59.8 (45th among 68 qualifying DL)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 29 (T-150th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 10 (T-184th)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-84th)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-295th)
- PFF Grade: 76.8 (18th among 59 qualifying LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 30 (T-144th)
- Tackles for Loss: 3 (T-172nd)
- Passes Defended: 12 (T-5th)
- Interceptions: 3 (T-6th)
- PFF Grade: 53.6 (61st among 73 qualifying CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 36 (T-98th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 5 (T-68th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 63.2 (T-44th among 73 qualifying CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 45 (T-39th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-230th)
- Sacks: 3.0 (T-92nd)
- Passes Defended: 1 (T-326th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 74.5 (15th among 67 qualifying safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 62 (T-7th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-230th)
- Passes Defended: 8 (T-21st)
- Interceptions: 2 (T-22nd)
- PFF Grade: 82.1 (7th among 67 qualifying safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 45 (T-40th)
- Tackles for Loss: 5 (T-84th)
- Passes Defended: 4 (T-95th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-60th)
- PFF Grade: 69.9 (26th among 67 qualifying safeties)
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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.