Here’s Where the Vikings Defense Ranks Heading into Week 6
Week 5 of the NFL season is officially behind us.
The Minnesota Vikings fell to the Kansas City Chiefs this past weekend, dropping them to 1-4 on the season. Making matters worse, Justin Jefferson is headed to IR after suffering a hamstring injury in that game. Needless to say, the Vikings are in trouble.
Regardless, today we still will be breaking down where the Vikings defense ranks through Week 5 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.
NOTE: PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 50% of defensive snaps.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed: 122 (24th)
- Total Yards Allowed: 1712 (21st)
- Plays: 339 (6th-most)
- Yards per Play Allowed: 5.1 (T-12th)
- First Downs Allowed: 105 (T-26th)
- Takeaways: 3 (T-28th)
- PFF Grade: 69.8 (16th)
- EPA/play: 0.02 (T-24th)
Minnesota’s defense took a bit of a tumble down the rankings in Week 5, which is to be expected when playing against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The stat that stands out the most, though, remains the number of plays that this group is being forced to play.
The Vikings offense did their defense absolutely no favors with a turnover on the very first play of the game and going three-and-out following a long touchdown drive by Kansas City to begin the second half. This group would be middle of the pack in a lot of these statistics if they didn’t have to be on the field so often.
Passing Defense
- Completions Allowed: 136 (32nd)
- Pass Attempts Against: 178 (T-23rd)
- Passing Yards Allowed: 1200 (24th)
- Net Yards per Attempt Allowed: 6.3 (T-21st)
- Passing First Downs Allowed: 61 (T-25th)
- Passing TDs Allowed: 9 (28th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-28th)
- Sacks: 13 (T-17th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 54.5 (31st)
- Pass Coverage PFF Grade: 76.1 (11th)
- EPA/pass: 0.09 (25th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against: 148 (24th)
- Rushing Yards Allowed: 512 (14th)
- Yards per Carry Allowed: 3.5 (5th)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed: 38 (23rd)
- Rushing TDs Allowed: 4 (T-14th)
- Fumbles Recovered: 2 (T-16th)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 68.2 (12th)
- EPA/run: -0.21 (6th)
Remember after Week 2 when the Vikings run defense looked completely lost? Well, the adjustments from Brian Flores since that time have certainly worked. Despite having the ninth-most carries against them this season, Minnesota is a top-five group in terms of yards per carry allowed, and both EPA and PFF have them in the top half of the league.
That being said, opposing offenses have imposed their will in the passing game. The Vikings are giving up some high-efficiency passing, allowing the most completions in the league at a completion rate of 76.4%.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 16 (T-129th)
- Tackles for Loss: 9 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 17 (T-32nd)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-44th)
- Sacks: 6.0 (T-2nd)
- PFF Grade: 65.4 (33rd among EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 7 (T-331st)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-193rd)
- QB Pressures: 8 (T-116th)
- QB Hits: 4 (T-66th)
- Sacks: 1.0 (T-103rd)
- PFF Grade: 61.3 (43rd among EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 3 (T-506th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-113th)
- QB Pressures: 8 (T-116th)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-141st)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 29.3 (56th among EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 17 (T-110th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 8 (T-116th)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-141st)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-206th)
- PFF Grade: 65.6 (T-30th among DL)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 8 (T-296th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 1 (T-368th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 65.6 (T-30th among DL)
DL Dean Lowry
- Solo Tackles: 2 (T-578th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 1 (T-368th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 44.0 (60th among DL)
LB Jordan Hicks
- Solo Tackles: 25 (T-22nd)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-193rd)
- QB Pressures: 4 (T-216th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 80.9 (6th among LBs)
LB Ivan Pace
- Solo Tackles: 18 (T-94th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 7 (T-130th)
- QB Hits: 4 (T-66th)
- Sacks: 0.5 (T-206th)
- PFF Grade: 76.8 (8th among LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 16 (T-129th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 4 (T-17th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 46.7 (61st among CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 4 (T-448th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-41st)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 68.0 (26th among CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 24 (T-29th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-113th)
- Passes Defended: 0
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 2 (T-1st)
- PFF Grade: 70.1 (24th among safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 32 (4th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-113th)
- Passes Defended: 2 (T-84th)
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-20th)
- PFF Grade: 81.2 (6th among safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 22 (T-45th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-193rd)
- Passes Defended: 2 (T-84th)
- Interceptions: 0
- PFF Grade: 71.4 (21st among safeties)
NOTE: This article originally appeared on our sister-site, PurplePTSD.com..
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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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