Post by Purple Pain on Sept 25, 2020 7:40:54 GMT -6
Didn't we have a thread like this last year? Or the year before? Either way, here is another, "What happened to the defense?" thread.
- Off Coverage Leads to Consistent Gains
- The Young Corners are Underperforming
- The Defensive Tackles are Bad
- Failure to Contain Against Jet Sweeps
- Star Players are Making Mistakes
Film study and analysis at link. Give it a look!
The Vikings have put up two clunkers to start the 2020 season, allowing 876 yards (29th in the NFL) and 71 points (31st in the NFL) over the first two games. It doesn’t take a lot of work to determine that the defense is bad, but for the team it will be important to figure out exactly what is going wrong and where they can improve. After all, Mike Zimmer has never had a bad defense, ever:
If Zimmer wants to turn it around, the team will need to make several improvements. I took a look at the tape to see what was happened, and what can be done about it.
If Zimmer wants to turn it around, the team will need to make several improvements. I took a look at the tape to see what was happened, and what can be done about it.
- The Young Corners are Underperforming
- The Defensive Tackles are Bad
- Failure to Contain Against Jet Sweeps
- Star Players are Making Mistakes
The Team Can’t Get Off the Field
Over the course of the first two weeks, Vikings’ opponents possessed the ball for 71:41 of 120:00 possible minutes. That’s 66.4% of the time (almost two thirds!). They allowed the Packers to keep the ball for 41:16 in Week 1, setting the franchise record for the lowest time of possession in a game. Week 2 wasn’t much better, as they allowed the Colts to possess the ball for 38:25. They have by far the worst net TOP per drive, allowing 4:07 per drive on defense and keeping the ball for just 2:01 on offense, a net of -2:06. All of these marks are last in the NFL. Some of that is on the offense, but the defense also deserves blame.
A big part of the reason for their failures is third down performance. The defense allowed the Packers to convert 6 of 11 third downs, and while the Colts were just 3 of 11, that number is misleading. First, it does not include penalties. The Vikings allowed two first downs by penalty against the Colts. It also doesn’t account for the Colts’ 4th down conversion. Also, one of the “failed” third down conversions was a kneel on the last play of the game.
It gets even worse if you look at the 3rd downs outside scoring position. With the penalty and 4th down conversion, the Colts were functionally 5/7 on third down outside scoring position. It’s inside scoring position where the team improved, allowing just 1 of 5 first downs to be converted (the confusing illegal contact penalty on Jeff Gladney). Still, all four of those failures led to FGs for the Colts (ironically, the one success led to an interception).
The same analysis can be applied to the Packers game, and makes that 6 of 11 number look even worse. The Packers were helped by penalty twice outside scoring position (and even would have converted a third due to penalty if they didn’t get a larger gain on the play), and also converted a 4th down attempt. Functionally, they went 9/10 outside scoring position. In scoring position, they ended up 0/3, with one of the drives ending in a failed 4th down conversion on the one yard line (the other two were FGs).
Looking at plays outside scoring position, the Vikings have allowed their opponents to convert 14 of 17 third down opportunities. They have forced just 3 punts in 18 opponent drives. They’ve also forced an interception and a turnover on downs, but allowing your opponent to score on 13 of 18 drives is unacceptable.
A big area they need to improve is from the fringe of FG range, their 30 to the 50 yard line. In these situations, the Vikings have had 7 opportunities on 3rd down. They allowed 4 outright conversions, 2 fourth down conversions, and have forced just one punt. That needs to get better.
Losing early in the down is impacting the Vikings as well. Opponents have had 5 or fewer yards to go on 13 of 27 third down attempts. They’ve only faced a handful of these opportunities with 10 or more yards to go. Allowing the consistent gains discussed in the sections above has hurt their ability to stop third down attempts.
If there’s a positive to take from this, it’s that the red zone defense has been stout. The team needs to figure out a way to make this apply to the rest of the field. They’re going to have a harder time doing that moving forward because:
Anthony Barr’s Injury Leaves a Void
Anthony Barr played really well against the Packers in week 1. He made a number of impact plays. Check them out below:
Barr is a smart player who is in charge of communication on the defense. The Vikings have had issues lining up with all of their young players, and that may continue to be a problem. Barr can also sniff out plays before they happen. This was particularly noticeable against screens. The two plays below are TE screens. In the first one, Barr recognizes it and is able to kill the play, while the second one, with Barr out of the game, leads to a first down:
Finally, as I mentioned above, Kendricks cannot take on OL blocks all that well. Neither can Eric Wilson, who is a smaller player, and so is rookie Troy Dye. This is something Barr was great at with his 6’5″, 250lb frame. The team just signed Todd Davis for a boost against the run, but he won’t replace Barr.
Things look bleak for the Vikings’ defense right now, but there is hope for improvement. The young corners need to get better, which can only happen with time and experience. In the meantime, the team’s star players need to help fill that void. Danielle Hunter will hopefully return soon, but Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Anthony Harris all need to step up and prove their worth.
Over the course of the first two weeks, Vikings’ opponents possessed the ball for 71:41 of 120:00 possible minutes. That’s 66.4% of the time (almost two thirds!). They allowed the Packers to keep the ball for 41:16 in Week 1, setting the franchise record for the lowest time of possession in a game. Week 2 wasn’t much better, as they allowed the Colts to possess the ball for 38:25. They have by far the worst net TOP per drive, allowing 4:07 per drive on defense and keeping the ball for just 2:01 on offense, a net of -2:06. All of these marks are last in the NFL. Some of that is on the offense, but the defense also deserves blame.
A big part of the reason for their failures is third down performance. The defense allowed the Packers to convert 6 of 11 third downs, and while the Colts were just 3 of 11, that number is misleading. First, it does not include penalties. The Vikings allowed two first downs by penalty against the Colts. It also doesn’t account for the Colts’ 4th down conversion. Also, one of the “failed” third down conversions was a kneel on the last play of the game.
It gets even worse if you look at the 3rd downs outside scoring position. With the penalty and 4th down conversion, the Colts were functionally 5/7 on third down outside scoring position. It’s inside scoring position where the team improved, allowing just 1 of 5 first downs to be converted (the confusing illegal contact penalty on Jeff Gladney). Still, all four of those failures led to FGs for the Colts (ironically, the one success led to an interception).
The same analysis can be applied to the Packers game, and makes that 6 of 11 number look even worse. The Packers were helped by penalty twice outside scoring position (and even would have converted a third due to penalty if they didn’t get a larger gain on the play), and also converted a 4th down attempt. Functionally, they went 9/10 outside scoring position. In scoring position, they ended up 0/3, with one of the drives ending in a failed 4th down conversion on the one yard line (the other two were FGs).
Looking at plays outside scoring position, the Vikings have allowed their opponents to convert 14 of 17 third down opportunities. They have forced just 3 punts in 18 opponent drives. They’ve also forced an interception and a turnover on downs, but allowing your opponent to score on 13 of 18 drives is unacceptable.
A big area they need to improve is from the fringe of FG range, their 30 to the 50 yard line. In these situations, the Vikings have had 7 opportunities on 3rd down. They allowed 4 outright conversions, 2 fourth down conversions, and have forced just one punt. That needs to get better.
Losing early in the down is impacting the Vikings as well. Opponents have had 5 or fewer yards to go on 13 of 27 third down attempts. They’ve only faced a handful of these opportunities with 10 or more yards to go. Allowing the consistent gains discussed in the sections above has hurt their ability to stop third down attempts.
If there’s a positive to take from this, it’s that the red zone defense has been stout. The team needs to figure out a way to make this apply to the rest of the field. They’re going to have a harder time doing that moving forward because:
Anthony Barr’s Injury Leaves a Void
Anthony Barr played really well against the Packers in week 1. He made a number of impact plays. Check them out below:
Barr is a smart player who is in charge of communication on the defense. The Vikings have had issues lining up with all of their young players, and that may continue to be a problem. Barr can also sniff out plays before they happen. This was particularly noticeable against screens. The two plays below are TE screens. In the first one, Barr recognizes it and is able to kill the play, while the second one, with Barr out of the game, leads to a first down:
Finally, as I mentioned above, Kendricks cannot take on OL blocks all that well. Neither can Eric Wilson, who is a smaller player, and so is rookie Troy Dye. This is something Barr was great at with his 6’5″, 250lb frame. The team just signed Todd Davis for a boost against the run, but he won’t replace Barr.
Things look bleak for the Vikings’ defense right now, but there is hope for improvement. The young corners need to get better, which can only happen with time and experience. In the meantime, the team’s star players need to help fill that void. Danielle Hunter will hopefully return soon, but Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Anthony Harris all need to step up and prove their worth.
... and neither is this Chris guy.