The Vikings Are “Built to Destroy”
In 2024, the Minnesota Vikings have conquered the New York Giants on the road by 22 points, the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers at home by six, and the Houston Texans by 27 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Vikings Are “Built to Destroy”
And according to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, the Vikings’ defense is “built to destroy you,” referring to opposing offenses, especially on 3rd Down.
“They’re front runners. They are built to play in a very particular way, and if you can’t get them out of that way of playing, they are going to destroy you,” Barnwell said Monday on The Dominique Foxworth Show.
Barnwell added, “The Texans had 3rd and 10 or more 10 different times in this game. That’s the most 3rd and 10+ snaps any team has had since the 2022 season.”
Minnesota cruised to a 34-7 victory over Houston, a team considered by pundits as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Offensive Rookie of the Year from 2023, C.J. Stroud, took his unbeaten Texans into Minneapolis last weekend, and Flores’ men utterly flogged his group. Minnesota logged five sacks — it’s third such effort in three games to start the season.
New Vikings running back Aaron Jones, too, was overly complimentary of his team’s defense.
“They gave us a huge lift. They brought the energy. We just picked it up and kept going from there,” Jones told Vikings.com after the win. “Anytime you can start on the [21] for your first possession, you’re feeling good as the offense – the score is 0-0, and it’s your first time touching the ball? In our minds, we’re putting points up on the board – nothing less. And not threes, either. We’re putting seven up.”
“That’s our mindset when the defense hands you the ball on the silver platter, pretty much, and they’ve been doing a lot of that. So we’ve just got to continue to play complementary football on all three phases,” Jones added.
For Flores’ unit’s troubles, the Vikings’ defense ranks first in the NFL per DVOA. It takes on all comers and has not cowered from the 49ers or Texans, two organizations known for formidable offensive theatrics.
Too, Barnwell’s network, ESPN, picked Minnesota a few weeks ago to finish the 2024 season with the NFL’s worst record this season. Its predictive analytical metric claimed the Vikings would grab the first overall draft pick in 2025 after a horrid regular season.
All that has changed now, and according to Barnwell, the Vikings are built to destroy you.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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