Rush Defense: More Holes Than a Slice of Swiss Cheese

The Vikings defense is starting to come together, but there remains an uncharacteristic flaw in coach Mike Zimmer's side of the ball that should be worrisome with the Panthers' Christian McCaffery, Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott, and the Ravens' Lamar Jackson among the next three opponents.

Sunday's narrow win over the Lions marked the 12th straight game the Vikings allowed at least 100 rushing yards, doubling the longest such streak in the Zimmer era. The issues are multiple: a reconfigured front has lacked cohesion and left gaps open, and coaches aren't adjusting game plans quickly enough on the sideline.

"There's a lot of similar scheming that we're getting right now," Zimmer said Monday, "that teams don't do [against previous opponents] going into the game. Then they come in there and give us some different types of runs, so it takes a little while to adjust to it."

Perhaps a little too long, according to linebacker Eric Kendricks, who said in-game adjustments fall on both coaches and a veteran defense that's seen "every run there is in football" through five games. They've flashed excellence — holding half of the Lions' 24 runs to three or fewer yards — but keep springing leaks while allowing 4.7 yards per carry (28th).

"We need to realize how they're trying to attack us initially," Kendricks said. "First quarter, preferably. Then go out there with a plan so we don't have to do those adjustments at halftime, and then play sound."

"It's a little bit on the coaches, but it's on the players as well," Kendricks added. "We're out there and seeing things. I'm a veteran. I've got to know, hey, if they're running to a certain somebody or motioning to get the tight end over to get a certain formation, we've got to all be cohesive on that."