Goal #1: Fix. The. Trenches. - OL & DL Discussion
Sept 18, 2023 10:15:04 GMT -6
Minniman, whuisman, and 4 more like this
Post by Purple Pain on Sept 18, 2023 10:15:04 GMT -6
How many years have we been talking about it?
Rob Searles : Will Minnesota's Defensive Front Be Their Biggest Obstacle This Year?
...
From a few days ago, but has some good points.
Rob Searles : Minnesota’s Loss In Philly Highlighted Longstanding Roster Construction Issues
Also:
Nelson Thielen: The Vikings Can't Compete If They Can't Fix the Lines of Scrimmage
If you looked around the league on Sunday, multiple teams that are deservedly considered to be contenders won on the backs of their defensive front. Remember 2022 Pro Bowler Za’Darius Smith? His unit on the Cleveland Browns, including All-Pro Myles Garrett and former Viking Dalvin Tomlinson, were the driving force behind Cleveland’s upset victory over the 2021 AFC Champion and 2022 AFC runner-up Cincinnati Bengals. Cleveland’s new-look defensive front dominated Joe Burrow‘s offensive line and held the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner to 82 passing yards.
The Dallas Cowboys downright embarrassed the New York Giants inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday night. That’s the same Giants offense that put up 24 and 31 points on Minnesota’s defense in each contest last season. Dan Quinn’s front, led by All-Pro Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Dorance Armstrong, totaled seven sacks and obliterated New York’s offensive line for 60 minutes.
After handing defensive tackle Javon Hargrave a four-year, $84 million contact on the opening day of free agency, the San Francisco 49ers (and NFL’s best defense) suffocated Kenny Pickett and Najee Harris at Heinz Field to the tune of five sacks, two interceptions, 41 rushing yards, and seven points allowed. Last year’s second-round pick edge rusher Drake Jackson recorded three sacks alone.
Hargrave’s former Philadelphia Eagles defense didn’t skip a beat in Week 1 with his absence. The ninth-overall 2023 draft pick defensive tackle Jalen Carter, Hargrave’s direct replacement, introduced himself to the NFL by generating eight pressures on a jaw-dropping 25% pressure rate with a sack in his debut at New England. And 2022 All-Pro Haason Reddick was his usual disruptive self with five pressures on an 11.9% pressure rate.
The Dallas Cowboys downright embarrassed the New York Giants inside MetLife Stadium on Sunday night. That’s the same Giants offense that put up 24 and 31 points on Minnesota’s defense in each contest last season. Dan Quinn’s front, led by All-Pro Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Dorance Armstrong, totaled seven sacks and obliterated New York’s offensive line for 60 minutes.
After handing defensive tackle Javon Hargrave a four-year, $84 million contact on the opening day of free agency, the San Francisco 49ers (and NFL’s best defense) suffocated Kenny Pickett and Najee Harris at Heinz Field to the tune of five sacks, two interceptions, 41 rushing yards, and seven points allowed. Last year’s second-round pick edge rusher Drake Jackson recorded three sacks alone.
Hargrave’s former Philadelphia Eagles defense didn’t skip a beat in Week 1 with his absence. The ninth-overall 2023 draft pick defensive tackle Jalen Carter, Hargrave’s direct replacement, introduced himself to the NFL by generating eight pressures on a jaw-dropping 25% pressure rate with a sack in his debut at New England. And 2022 All-Pro Haason Reddick was his usual disruptive self with five pressures on an 11.9% pressure rate.
Now on a short week on the road against the aforementioned Eagles, the Vikings will get yet another first-hand look at what is required to be a team that can withstand lapses of offensive execution. This is exactly what transpired for Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia offense against Bill Belichick’s defense in Foxborough on Sunday. And that starts and stops with the dudes up front on defense. You think Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis are licking their chops to tee off against Ed Ingram, Austin Schlottmann, and Ezra Cleveland on the Thursday night stage for the entire football world to see? Not to mention Reddick, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Fletcher Cox, and Brandon Graham.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has prioritized his defensive front by continuously investing first-round picks and marquee free-agent signings. Meanwhile the Vikings are still the same franchise that hasn’t spent a first- or second-round draft pick on its defensive front since 2013. This is one of the more egregious decisions that an organization can make in the modern NFL.
And the long-term philosophical discrepancies when it comes to roster construction will be on full display — and for all the wrong reasons for Vikings fans — after Minnesota pays the not-so-lovely folks in the City of Brotherly Love a visit on Thursday night.
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has prioritized his defensive front by continuously investing first-round picks and marquee free-agent signings. Meanwhile the Vikings are still the same franchise that hasn’t spent a first- or second-round draft pick on its defensive front since 2013. This is one of the more egregious decisions that an organization can make in the modern NFL.
And the long-term philosophical discrepancies when it comes to roster construction will be on full display — and for all the wrong reasons for Vikings fans — after Minnesota pays the not-so-lovely folks in the City of Brotherly Love a visit on Thursday night.
Rob Searles : Minnesota’s Loss In Philly Highlighted Longstanding Roster Construction Issues
In last season’s Week 2 loss at Philadelphia, the Vikings defense surrendered 163 rushing yards — their third-most rushing yards allowed in 2022. And one would think that since the matchup between Philadelphia’s offensive line and Minnesota’s defensive front is such an overwhelming advantage for the Eagles, Johnson would establish his running game from the get-go, as opposed to waiting until the second quarter to finally take his dogs off the leash by asserting their will in the ground game. Once Johnson and the Eagles’ offense came to their senses, they obliterated the line of scrimmage. The Eagles kept Minnesota’s offense on the sidelines and played ball control by possessing the rock for nearly 40 minutes after running 48 times for 259 yards.
The easiest way to beat an opponent in this game is by ripping the defense’s heart out in the run game and forcing them to watch you eat it. That’s exactly what the Eagles hang their hat on with All-Pros Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Pro Bowler Landon Dickerson — as long as Siranni and Johnson don’t get in their way by getting too cute with the passing game. And when going against a defense in Minnesota that can’t stop a nosebleed in the run game with its front for the fourth-straight season, it highlights the catastrophic decision-making that has gone into Minnesota’s roster construction over the past decade-plus.
What good are all six of those defensive backs the Vikings have drafted in the first round since 2012 if you can’t buck up and stop the run? Let’s not forget, the Vikings and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said thanks, but no thanks to defensive tackle Jordan Davis at 12th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. Instead, they opted for yet another defensive back at the tail end of the first round, and one who doesn’t sniff the field in Year 2. Who was the general manager that immediately made the call to trade up for the former Georgia Bulldog once the Vikings and Detroit Lions passed on the interior defensive anchor? Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman.
Speaking of defensive backs selected in the first round. Take a wild guess as to how many first-round picks Roseman has used on defensive backs since stepping into the VP of Player Personnel role in 2008 and eventually the GM chair in 2010 with the Eagles.
None.
Is it a coincidence that Roseman has a Lombardi trophy and NFC Championship trophy over the past six years by making both his offensive and defensive lines the priority with everything else coming a distant second? Last night certainly doesn’t think so.
The easiest way to beat an opponent in this game is by ripping the defense’s heart out in the run game and forcing them to watch you eat it. That’s exactly what the Eagles hang their hat on with All-Pros Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Pro Bowler Landon Dickerson — as long as Siranni and Johnson don’t get in their way by getting too cute with the passing game. And when going against a defense in Minnesota that can’t stop a nosebleed in the run game with its front for the fourth-straight season, it highlights the catastrophic decision-making that has gone into Minnesota’s roster construction over the past decade-plus.
What good are all six of those defensive backs the Vikings have drafted in the first round since 2012 if you can’t buck up and stop the run? Let’s not forget, the Vikings and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said thanks, but no thanks to defensive tackle Jordan Davis at 12th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. Instead, they opted for yet another defensive back at the tail end of the first round, and one who doesn’t sniff the field in Year 2. Who was the general manager that immediately made the call to trade up for the former Georgia Bulldog once the Vikings and Detroit Lions passed on the interior defensive anchor? Philadelphia’s Howie Roseman.
Speaking of defensive backs selected in the first round. Take a wild guess as to how many first-round picks Roseman has used on defensive backs since stepping into the VP of Player Personnel role in 2008 and eventually the GM chair in 2010 with the Eagles.
None.
Is it a coincidence that Roseman has a Lombardi trophy and NFC Championship trophy over the past six years by making both his offensive and defensive lines the priority with everything else coming a distant second? Last night certainly doesn’t think so.
Nelson Thielen: The Vikings Can't Compete If They Can't Fix the Lines of Scrimmage
Kirk Cousins fumbling on blindside sacks. Running game abandoned minutes into the night. Defensive line on roller skates as the Philadelphia Eagles’ running game grinds our hope of a potential comeback to a screeching halt.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
We’ve seen this show before. And frankly, whoever is scripting the NFL games may as well have just plagiarized last season’s Philly disaster. They were nice enough to change a few lines and give Minnesota brief glimmers of hope this time around, but ultimately it was inconsequential. The Eagles were men among boys tonight where it counted.
If the Vikings want to be taken seriously, they have to improve on the lines of scrimmage.
And, to their credit, this was a daunting task tonight. The Eagles are stacked with one of the best young defensive lines in football. Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Brandon Graham, Haason Reddick, and Nolan Smith. That isn’t just me spouting names off at you; that’s a list seven-deep of guys who would start in Minnesota. Philadelphia’s defensive front just comes at you with wave after wave of high-end talent that’s rotated enough to maintain 60 minutes of fresh legs.
That was a tall task for even the best offensive lines in the league, much less the average-at-best unit in Minnesota. And that “at best” unit was incomplete from the get-go. They were down two starters entering Thursday night with Christian Darrisaw and Garrett Bradbury out. Throw in losing replacement left tackle Oli Udoh entering the fourth quarter, and things got pretty grim. The fact that this ended as a one-score game feels like nothing short of a miracle.
But for miracles to happen, everything else has to come together. You can’t have players dropping easy completions or fumbling out of the end zone. You can’t have a whopping four turnovers. And, at least every now and then, you need the front seven to plug the gaping lanes for the Eagles’ rushing attack.
But that never happened. I feel like D’Andre Swift is still running for first downs. As poor as this Vikings offensive line played, the defensive line is nearly as culpable...
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
We’ve seen this show before. And frankly, whoever is scripting the NFL games may as well have just plagiarized last season’s Philly disaster. They were nice enough to change a few lines and give Minnesota brief glimmers of hope this time around, but ultimately it was inconsequential. The Eagles were men among boys tonight where it counted.
If the Vikings want to be taken seriously, they have to improve on the lines of scrimmage.
And, to their credit, this was a daunting task tonight. The Eagles are stacked with one of the best young defensive lines in football. Josh Sweat, Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Brandon Graham, Haason Reddick, and Nolan Smith. That isn’t just me spouting names off at you; that’s a list seven-deep of guys who would start in Minnesota. Philadelphia’s defensive front just comes at you with wave after wave of high-end talent that’s rotated enough to maintain 60 minutes of fresh legs.
That was a tall task for even the best offensive lines in the league, much less the average-at-best unit in Minnesota. And that “at best” unit was incomplete from the get-go. They were down two starters entering Thursday night with Christian Darrisaw and Garrett Bradbury out. Throw in losing replacement left tackle Oli Udoh entering the fourth quarter, and things got pretty grim. The fact that this ended as a one-score game feels like nothing short of a miracle.
But for miracles to happen, everything else has to come together. You can’t have players dropping easy completions or fumbling out of the end zone. You can’t have a whopping four turnovers. And, at least every now and then, you need the front seven to plug the gaping lanes for the Eagles’ rushing attack.
But that never happened. I feel like D’Andre Swift is still running for first downs. As poor as this Vikings offensive line played, the defensive line is nearly as culpable...
... and neither is this Chris guy.