Defense Wins Championships and RBs Don’t—Vikings Take Note
Joe Oberle
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Vikings Territory Breakdown Podcast:
The Vikings were knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round and have spent the past two weeks watching the big boys continue on. Hopefully, they were watching how the remaining teams performed, as it, at first, has demonstrated how long the Vikings team has to go to compete at the next level in the NFL—and, more importantly, what direction they may be heading to get there.
The writing could be on the wall. The Vikings’ pass rush basically melted away in the second half of the season, and that had plenty to do with what happened to the team down the stretch. Their lack of pressure on decent players (Aaron Rodgers) and young, unestablished players (Daniel Jones, twice) was a major contributor to the late-season swoon and the playoff defeat. According to Mark Craig, NFL insider and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com, the defensive line is exactly where the Vikings should begin to rebuild the defense in the offseason. He offers plenty of counsel to GM Kwesi Adolpho-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell on this week’s Vikings Territory breakdown podcast.
Furthermore, Craig says suggests that the first big offseason move on the offensive side of the ball centers around the running back position. Together with Joe Oberle (senior writer from VikingsTerritory and purplePTSD.), they take a look at the big cap numbers on the team and analyze just who should stay and who should go from the reasonably crowded running back room. The Vikings have some big decisions to face at the running back position, which just might be carrying too much ballast when it comes to the stalling vessel that is the Vikings ship.
It wasn’t easy watching the Purple sink to the Giants in the playoffs, and it won’t be easy for the front office to make the tough decisions to make the ship sea (playoff) worthy. But those decisions will soon be coming, and we will have you covered. Tune into the VT Breakdown for these discussions and all the latest news on the NFL and the Vikings.