Week 8 of the NFL season has come and gone.
Minnesota’s defense has been rejuvenated over the past few weeks, and they put together another outstanding game in their victory over the Green Bay Packers this past weekend.
Today, we will be breaking down where the Vikings defense ranks statistically through Week 8 as a whole, and where individual players stand. Shout out to Pro-Football-Reference, Pro Football Focus, and nfeloapp.com for the numbers that went into this article.
NOTE: Individual PFF Grades are sorted to include players with at least 50% of defensive snaps. With many of the teams now having their bye weeks behind them, we’ll also be transitioning towards per game numbers for the team statistics.
Team Defense
Total Defense
- Points Allowed per Game: 20.3 (15th)
- Total Yards Allowed per Game: 322. 8 (11th)
- Plays per Game: 64.9 (T-11th most)
- Yards Allowed per Play: 5.0 (10th)
- First Downs Allowed per Game: 19.8 (17th)
- Takeaways per Game: 1.25 (T-19th)
- Overall PFF Grade: 72.5 (T-14th)
- EPA/play: -0.05 (15th)
At the beginning of the year, the hope was that Brian Flores would take this Vikings defense out of the basement of the league and turn them into a top-20 group. As we approach the midway point of the year, Minnesota is doing just that and is actually closer to a top-15 unit in a number of metrics.
This defense has been playing some outstanding football during this three-game winning streak, and they will need to continue to do so in order to take pressure off the offense with QB Jaren Hall set to make his first career start.
Pass Defense
- Completions Allowed per Game: 24.6 (24th)
- Pass Attempts Against: 31.3 (T-17th-fewest)
- Passing Yards Allowed per Game: 221.1 (15th)
- Net Yards Allowed per Pass Attempt: 6.0 (17th)
- Passing First Downs Allowed per Game: 11.9 (T-22nd)
- Passing TDs Allowed per Game: 1.38 (T-18th)
- Interceptions per Game: 0.75 (T-15th)
- Sacks per Game: 2.9 (13th)
- Pass-Rush PFF Grade: 57.9 (31st)
- Coverage PFF Grade: 78.6 (10th)
- EPA/pass: -0.03 (13th)
Run Defense
- Carries Against per Game: 27.9 (T-20th-fewest)
- Rushing Yards Alllowed per Game: 101.6 (13th)
- Yards per Carry Allowed: 3.6 (3rd)
- Rushing First Downs Allowed per Game: 6.88 (22nd)
- Rushing TDs Allowed per Game: 0.75 (T-15th)
- Fumbles Recovered per Game: 0.5 (T-18th)
- Run Defense PFF Grade: 70.9 (8th)
- EPA/run: -0.20 (7th)
After finishing among the bottom in the league against both the pass and run last year, Minnesota has completely flipped the script in 2023. The run defense has been absolutely fantastic, especially during this winning streak. They’ve allowed more than 100 rushing yards just twice this year after doing so 13 times in 2022.
There are studs all over this group as Camryn Bynum, Jordan Hicks, Danielle Hunter, and Harrison Smith are putting together some of the best seasons of their careers. Again, this will need to continue next weekend against a talented Falcons offense.
Individual Players
OLB Danielle Hunter
- Solo Tackles: 27 (T-100th)
- Tackles for Loss: 12 (1st)
- QB Pressures: 34 (T-14th)
- QB Hits: 9 (T-33rd)
- Sacks: 10 (1st)
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-2nd)
- PFF Grade: 74.1 (27th among 59 qualfying EDGEs)
OLB D.J. Wonnum
- Solo Tackles: 13 (T-300th)
- Tackles for Loss: 4 (T-79th)
- QB Pressures: 21 (T-55th)
- QB Hits: 9 (T-33rd)
- Sacks: 4 (T-35th)
- PFF Grade: 61.0 (45th among 59 qualifying EDGEs)
OLB Pat Jones
- Solo Tackles: 6 (T-476th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-179th)
- QB Pressures: 11 (T-133rd)
- QB Hits: 2 (T-202nd)
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 33.5 (59th among 59 qualifying EDGEs)
DL Harrison Phillips
- Solo Tackles: 26 (T-108th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- QB Pressures: 12 (T-125th)
- QB Hits: 5 (T-90th)
- Sacks: 2 (T-100th)
- PFF Grade: 67.6 (T-28th among 68 qualifying DL)
DL Jonathan Bullard
- Solo Tackles: 13 (T-300th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-272nd)
- QB Pressures: 3 (T-319th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- PFF Grade: 65.3 (35th among 68 qualifying DL)
LB Jordan Hicks
- Solo Tackles: 38 (T-21st)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-272nd)
- QB Pressures: 6 (216th)
- QB Hits: 0
- Sacks: 0
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-96th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-41st)
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-33rd)
- PFF Grade: 80.0 (10th among 56 qualifying LBs)
CB Byron Murphy
- Solo Tackles: 23 (T-145th)
- Tackles for Loss: 1 (T-272nd)
- Passes Defended: 7 (T-11th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-41st)
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-33rd)
- PFF Grade: 45.0 (67th among 71 qualifying CBs)
CB Akayleb Evans
- Solo Tackles: 30 (T-74th)
- Tackles for Loss: 0
- Passes Defended: 4 (T-62nd)
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 2 (T-8th)
- PFF Grade: 58.3 (48th among 71 qualifying CBs)
S Harrison Smith
- Solo Tackles: 34 (T-40th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-179th)
- Sacks: 3 (T-64th)
- Passes Defended: 1 (T-263rd)
- Interceptions: 0
- Forced Fumbles: 3 (T-2nd)
- PFF Grade: 74.1 (13th among 66 qualifying safeties)
S Camryn Bynum
- Solo Tackles: 54 (4th)
- Tackles for Loss: 2 (T-179th)
- Passes Defended: 6 (T-19th)
- Interceptions: 2 (T-10th)
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-33rd)
- PFF Grade: 83.1 (5th among 66 qualifying safeties)
S Josh Metellus
- Solo Tackles: 34 (T-40th)
- Tackles for Loss: 3 (T-121st)
- Passes Defended: 3 (T-96th)
- Interceptions: 1 (T-41st)
- Forced Fumbles: 1 (T-33rd)
- PFF Grade: 73.9 (14th among 66 qualifying 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.