Here’s Where the Vikings Defense Ranks Through Week 3
Josh Frey
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Week 3 of the NFL season is officially behind us, and the Vikings fell short this past weekend, losing 28-24 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Now that we’ve seen a good sampling of NFL action, some may be curious to see how the Vikings statistical rankings compare to other teams across the league.
Today, we will be breaking down where the Vikings defense ranks as a whole, and where individual players stand in terms of their statistics. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed: 82 (26th)
- Total Yards Allowed: 1147 (27th)
- Plays: 207 (T-7th)
- Yards Per Play: 5.5 (T-24th)
- First Downs Allowed: 63 (T-22nd)
- Turnovers: 2 (T-22nd)
- PFF Grade: 66.9 (21st)
- EPA/Play: 0.06 (26th)
After a strong start to the season, things started to go downhill for the Vikings defense in Week 3. Justin Herbert went 40-for-47 and hit Keenan Allen 18 times for 215 yards. Once again, though, part of the reason behind some of the defensive struggles probably lie in how much this unit spends on the field.
The Vikings have run the seventh-most defensive plays this season, and it probably isn’t a coincidence that Minnesota’s offense also has the most turnovers in the league. That being said, this group needs to be better at ending drives and forcing turnovers moving forward.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed: 80 (T-27th-fewest)
- Passsing Attempts Against: 105 (15th-fewest)
- Passing Yards Allowed: 785 (T-25th-fewest)
- Net Yards Per Attempt Allowed: 7.1 (T-26th-fewest)
- Passing TDs Allowed: 7 (T-27th-fewest)
- Passing First Downs Allowed: 35 (T-17th-fewest)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-20th-most)
- Sacks: 6 (T-21st-most)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 53.3 (32nd)
- Coverage PFF Grade: 81.9 (7th)
- EPA/Pass: 0.15 (24th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against: 96 (T-27th-fewest)
- Rushing Yards Allowed: 362 (19th-fewest)
- Yards Per Carry Allowed: 3.8 (T-12th-fewest)
- Rushing TDs Allowed: 3 (T-19th-fewest)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed: 26 (T-26th-fewest)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 54.8 (27th)
- EPA/Run: -0.24 (7th)
The Vikings took a tumble down the pass defense rankings after Week 3, going from the 8th-fewest yards allowed to the 8th-most in the span of one week. Part of the reason behind this is a major lack of pass rush. The Vikings are in the bottom half of the league among sacks, and PFF believes they have been the worst pass-rushing team in the league.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 12 (T-75th)
- Tackles for Loss: 7 (1st)
- Pressures: 12 (T-23rd)
- QB Hits: 4 (T-23rd)
- Sacks: 5.0 (2nd)
- PFF Grade: 67.8 (T-53rd among EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 1 (T-556th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Pressures: 4 (T-142nd)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-80th)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 51.9 (106th among EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 1 (T-556th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Pressures: 4 (T-142nd)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 28.7 (125th among EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 14 (T-46th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Pressures: 6 (T-94th)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-80th)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-151st)
- PFF Grade: 66.8 (46th amond DL)
DL Dean Lowry
- Solo Tackles: 2 (T-459th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Pressures: 0
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 37.7 (130th among DL)
LB Jordan Hicks
- Solo Tackles: 14 (T-46th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-127th)
- Pressures: 2 (T-79th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 72.0 (28th among LBs)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 13 (T-61st)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Pressures: 6 (T-94th)
- QB Hits: 3 (T-47th)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-151st)
- PFF Grade: 84.9 (4th among LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 12 (T-75th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-14th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 45.8 (T-105th among CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 14 (T-46th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-14th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 67.9 (T-40th among CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 9 (T-141st)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 0
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 64.0 (49th among safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 14 (T-46th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 1 (T-101st)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 75.6 (18th among safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 16 (T-24th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-47th)
- Passes Defended: 1 (T-101st)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 85.7 (6th among safeties)
NOTE: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.
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