Vikings Statistical Rankings Through Week 6: Defense
Week 6 of the NFL season is officially behind us.
The Vikings were able to win their second game of the season this weekend by defeating the Chicago Bears by a score of 19-13. By doing so, they improved their record to 2-4, putting themselves half a game behind the Green Bay Packers for second in the NFC North.
Today we will be breaking down the Vikings statistical rankings on defense through Week 6 as a whole, and where individual players stand in terms of their statistics. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article.
NOTE: PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 50% of defensive snaps.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed: 135 (23rd)
- Total Yards Allowed: 1987 (19th)
- Plays: 404 (3rd-most)
- Yards per Play Allowed: 4.9 (12th)
- First Downs Allowed: 123 (T-23rd)
- Takeaways: 6 (T-20th)
- PFF Grade: 71.6 (T-15th)
- Total EPA/play: -0.07 (17th)
The Vikings defense put together one of their best games of the season in Week 6, jumping them up in a number of statistics. The most notable jump was in total EPA where they jumped up from 24th last week to 17th this week.
Taking into account that Minnesota’s defense has been on the feld more than just about any defensive group this season, it’s pretty remarkable that they are 12th in yards per play allowed as well. Brian Flores has this group playing with incredible intensity.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed: 152 (T-31st)
- Pass Attempts Against: 202 (18th-fewest)
- Net Passing Yards Allowed: 1313 (20th)
- Net Yards per Attempt: 6.0 (19th)
- Passing First Downs Allowed: 69 (T-20th)
- Passing TDs Allowed: 9 (T-24th)
- Interceptions: 3 (T-21st)
- Sacks: 18 (T-9th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 56.6 (31st)
- Pass Coverage Grade: 78.8 (7th)
- EPA/pass: -0.05 (9th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against: 184 (29th-fewest)
- Rushing Yards Allowed: 674 (18th)
- Yards per Carry Allowed: 3.7 (10th)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed: 47 (T-27th)
- Rushing TDs Allowed: 5 (T-18th)
- Fumbles Recovered: 3 (T-13th)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 67.6 (T-13th)
- EPA/run: -0.17 (14th)
The Vikings defense has kind of become what many people hoped Ed Donatell’s group would be, particularly against the pass. They are giving up a lot of completions, but the majority of these passes have been short plays, and Minnesota has been able to avoid giving up too many big plays.
Largely because of Danielle Hunter (as you’ll find out down below), the Vikings are also suddenly a top 10 team in terms of sacks. However, their pass-rush has been all-or-nothing at times this year, thus leading to the second-worst PFF grade in that department through six weeks.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 22 (T-85th)
- Tackles for Loss: 11 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 21 (T-27th)
- QB Hits: 7 (T-34th)
- Sacks: 8.0 (T-1st)
- PFF Grade: 64.5 (38th among EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 10 (T-294th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-140th)
- QB Pressures: 14 (T-71st)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-58th)
- Sacks: 2.0 (T-75th)
- PFF Grade: 64.9 (37th)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 6 (T-403rd)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-140th)
- QB Pressures: 10 (T-117th)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-163rd)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 30.2 (58th among EDGEs)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 10 (T-294th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 1 (T-399th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 69.1 (T-21st among DL)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 20 (T-109th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 10 (T-117th)
- QB Hits: 3 (T-124th)
- Sacks: 1.5 (T-112th)
- PFF Grade: 65.2 (T-31st among DL)
DL Dean Lowry
- Solo Tackles: 3 (T-546th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 2 (T-325th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 46.1 (60th among DL)
LB Jordan Hicks
- Solo Tackles: 30 (T-21st)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-224th)
- QB Pressures: 4 (T-241st)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 80.3 (9th among LBs)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 18 (T-140th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 8 (T-138th)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-58th)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-227th)
- PFF Grade: 77.2 (14th among LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 18 (T-140th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-224th)
- Passes Defended: 7 (T-2nd)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-29th)
- PFF Grade: 50.3 (58th among CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 22 (T-85th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-68th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 67.2 (T-24th among CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 26 (T-44th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-140th)
- Sacks: 3.0 (T-39th)
- Passes Defended: 0
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 2 (T-3rd)
- PFF Grade: 71.3 (21st among safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 41 (4th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-140th)
- Passes Defended: 2 (T-112th)
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-24th)
- PFF Grade: 77.3 (9th among safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 27 (T-36th)
- Tackles for Loss: 3 (T-83rd)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-125th)
- Passes Defended: 2 (T-112th)
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-24th)
- PFF Grade: 73.9 (14th among safeties)
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.