Where Is the Vikings’ Interior Defense?
Last season, the Minnesota Vikings had Harrison Phillips and no one else in the middle of their interior defensive line. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decided he had seen enough and attacked the position by adding Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. That tandem came with injury and age concerns, but the names were enough to move the needle.
The Minnesota Vikings’ new interior defensive line was supposed to address running game issues, but so far, it has failed to achieve that goal.
Heading into the regular season, it was Minnesota’s front seven that appeared capable of masking a thin cornerback room. With just four cornerbacks on the 53-man roster, the pass rush and run-stuffing abilities were going to need to help keep the secondary in position to succeed.
Defense for Vikings Has Unusual Hiccup
What has taken place has almost been the opposite.
Minnesota’s 11 sacks aren’t far off the league lead of 15, and that’s also considering they have been without Andrew Van Ginkel at times as well. They have also allowed just 151.5 yards per game through the air, which is the third-fewest in the league. When examining opposing rushing attacks, however, things become more challenging.
Only eight teams have allowed more than Minnesota’s 130.3 average rush yards per game. Neither Hargrave nor Allen has graded out consistently well per Pro Football Focus, and the linebacker corps leaves plenty to be desired. Veteran Eric Wilson has filled in for Blake Cashman nicely, but Ivan Pace Jr. looks like one of the worst players on Brian Flores’ defense.
Currently, it’s virtually impossible for the Minnesota offense to click, given the injury-ravaged state of their offensive line. The running game is now entirely in Jordan Mason’s hands, and Kevin O’Connell must simplify dropbacks if he wants either Carson Wentz or J.J. McCarthy to have success behind these blockers.
Until the team gets healthier, Minnesota needs to win some ugly, knock-down, drag-out games. To do that, they must stop the run. Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson ran all over them. Pittsburgh backup Kenneth Gainwell made them look silly. Even Bears quarterback Caleb Williams scrambled for 58 yards against this group.
The interior offensive line is ravaged by injuries. The interior defensive line is exactly who was supposed to fix the problem, and they have yet to come up with the answers to get the job done.
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