[OC] Weekly Offensive and Defensive Drive Stats

Turnover differential and starting LOS drive (avg field position) certainly played a big factor in Week 1, as it usually does...which is why I've been a big proponent of Zimmer unleashing the 2021 defense a bit more to try and generate more of them for the Vikes.

Funkytown - the Titans turned it over 3 times vs the Cardinals and it was costly. Two times Chandler Jones strip/sacked Tannehill and caused a fumble turnover and Tannehill threw 1 INT. As a result, Arizona ranked #1 after Week 1 in LOS/Dr as they started in favorable field position all day long. That doesn't bode well for the Vikes, especially given Kirk's propensity to fumble in 2020 and the Vikes 2021 OL performance so far.

The last time the Vikes were Top 5 in turnover differential was 2019 with +11....and ironically, we were ranked 5th in LOS/Dr, too....and that was the last time we made the playoffs....

We need to generate those turnovers and we can't sit back and if the Front 4 isn't generating enough pressure early in the game, we need to bring more....we can't afford to wait until halftime or if we're down by 2+ scores to make adjustments - we need to be more aggressive defensively....

How do you make an extremely mobile QB that can run faster than any guy on your defense uncomfortable?

To hit him, you have to catch him.

Ironically the Cardinals had 4 penalties on their opening drive too (2x false start, holding, ineligible receiver downfield). In their first 7 plays. They still kicked a FG and only had 4 penalties the rest of the game. The Vikings had 4 penalties in their first 8 plays, so yay, we weren't the worst. No other road team had more than 2 penalties on their opening drive. Worst opening drive belongs to the 49ers however. Jimmy G fumbled the first snap of the season away to the Lions. The Lions turned it into a missed FG.

Stats have finally been updated for week 2, and while most won't be surprised the the defense fell in the rankings, a lot of people will be surprised to see what happened on offense:






The rankings aren't as important as how the Vikings compare to the league average atm, but note that after what most feel was a strong offensive showing, we actually fell in the rankings in scoring.  Right now the Vikings are only good at not turning the ball over and scoring TDs in the read zone on offense.  The Vikings are struggling to move the football and score.


Defensively they fell just about everywhere but turnovers:




I was surprised to see the Vikings yards per drive number is below the league average.  Points per drive isn't as horrible as you would think after giving up 34 points.   The D is also doing a good job in forcing punts and 3 and outs, which tells me that there is hope they can turn things around if they just stop giving up the big play.  There is hope. 


A really rough start for both units, but there are positives.  Both the offense and defense are good in the red zone and causing/not throwing interceptions, and the offense improved in moving the football over week 1 against a team that did a really good job week 1 at preventing teams from moving the football.  


Around the NFCN:

Despite a strong showing against the Bengals, the Bears' D is still worse than ours in both YPD and PPD(16th and 24th).
GB's D is worse than the Bears'(22nd and 30th)
Detroit's D might be the worst in the NFL (29th and 32nd)

That should really help our offense look good by the end of the season and Vikings fans can be proud knowing they have the best D in the NFCN through 2 weeks.

Offensively it will be a bit more of a challenge but nothing daunting still:
Detroit (12th in YPD and 17th in PPD)
GB (18th in YPD and 19th in PPD)
Chicago (25th and 28th)

2nd worst offense in the division so far.  

Best offense overall: KC (45.65 YPD and 3.59 PPD)
Best defense overall: Buffalo (24.35 YPD and .8 PPD)

Worst offense: Miami: (23.20 YPD and 0.85 PPD)
Worst defense: Detroit (42.05 YPD and 3.63 PPD)

Next Week's Opponent:
Offense: 12th in YPD and 8th in PPD
Defense: 26th in YPD and 16th in PPD

A bigger test for the defense than the offense it looks like.  

After a week where the Vikings had one of the best offensive performances of the season, they had one of the worst. That rough outing dropped them to 22nd in scoring and they are now below the league average in both YPD and PPD.

We are a quarter of the way into the season and are below average in both scoring and moving the football.  The LOS/Drive tells us that the D is not helping the offense out, but the 3outs/drive ranking tells us that the offense is screwing the D just as much.

Speaking of the defense, unsurprisingly we jumped up in the rankings after a strong showing against Cleveland



The D is above average, but needs to create more turnovers.  It isn't a great defense that will be able to carry an offense that is below average at best win, and that is why the Vikings are 1-4.

Next week's opponent:
The Lions are 30th in points given up and 27th in yards given up on defense.
They are 23rd in scoring and 15th in yards per drive. Very similar to the Vikings offensively.

Vikings are still the best defense in the NFCN by quite a bit and are #2 behind GB on offense.  

Kansas City is now the #1 team on offense in both points scored and yards per drive and #32 in yards given up and points given up on defense.