What Does Defensive Change Look Like for Vikings?
Ted Schwerzler
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On Saturday the Minnesota Vikings will return home to U.S. Bank Stadium in a matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Online bookmaker Bovada has Minnesota as only four-point favorites, and with the dysfunction in Indy, that disrespect is largely reflective of the Vikings current defense. Minnesota needs to make some defense change, but what could that change look like?
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Last week against the Detroit Lions, Bovada had the Minnesota Vikings as two-point underdogs on the road. Despite having already beaten the Lions once this season, and sitting at 10-2 on the year, it was clear that oddsmakers weren’t impressed with how Kevin O’Connell’s team had won games. As has been the case forever, it turns out they were right.
As Dan Campbell’s team ran Ed Donatell’s defense ragged, it became beyond clear that Minnesota simply could not keep up. For the fifth game in a row, Minnesota surrendered more than 400 yards on defense. Over their last eight quarters, the Vikings have had a non-existent pass rush racking up zero sacks. As a whole, it has been a perfect storm of imperfection.
Although the head coach didn’t say that Donatell had been shown the door, or that assistant Mike Pettine would take over, he did say changes were coming. That’s certainly a good thing because to suggest anything otherwise would be nothing short of insanity. What those changes look like remain to be seen, however.
When considering changes, there’s more than a few avenues that the Vikings could go. They aren’t going to be able to swap out personnel and going away from the 3-4 at the tail end of the season doesn’t seem likely, either. What they could do probably involves different techniques and schematic positioning that either hide weaknesses or allow players a better opportunity to play within the parameters of their own abilities.
The good news is that, against the Colts, Minnesota will have an opportunity to immediately take things on a test drive. Jeff Saturday is still a first-time head coach, like ever, anywhere. He’s learning through this process on a weekly basis. While he certainly hasn’t looked completely lost, it’s a spot where both O’Connell and Donatell should find an opportunity to exploit the guy on the other sideline.
There’s also the fact that Indianapolis is not a good football team. Veteran Matt Ryan will be back under center on Saturday, and while he’s strung starts together multiple times this season, the aging veteran was also briefly benched in favor of late round draft pick Sam Ehlinger. The Colts offense doesn’t possess dynamic options on the outside, and short of Jonathan Taylor popping off for just his third 100-yard game this season, there isn’t a real threat.
Minnesota also has the benefit of watching recent game tape. Dallas is a familiar opponent for the Vikings, and the Colts were just dumped by them to the tune of a 54-19 result in Week 13 prior to their bye. If the Vikings coaching staff can figure out what worked on both sides of the ball, they’d be best served to employ similar strategies this weekend.
This Vikings defense is too far gone to see massive strides this season. They need substantial help on the outside to get better. However, the Colts are the perfect type of team to help turn the tide, and if O’Connell is going to make some changes, seeing it result in a more lopsided victory for Minnesota would be a very welcomed outcome.
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.