Vikings Week 12 snap counts vs. Bears continue positive trend for explosive rookie

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to get a win on the road against the Chicago Bears with a 30-27 win.  It wasn't an easy game, as the Vikings allowed the Bears to score 11 points in the final 25 seconds to send the game into overtime. However, quarterback Sam Darnold led the Vikings on a […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Dallas Turner (15) against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium.
Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings found a way to get a win on the road against the Chicago Bears with a 30-27 win. 

It wasn't an easy game, as the Vikings allowed the Bears to score 11 points in the final 25 seconds to send the game into overtime. However, quarterback Sam Darnold led the Vikings on a drive to clinch the win in overtime with 90 yards passing on the final drive.

There were also some interesting things on the defensive side of the football, including two young players getting significant playing time.

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Vikings get young players involved on defense

The snap counts on defense were for the most part chalk, but there were two interesting players.

Over the last few weeks, first round pick Dallas Turner hasn't been getting a ton of reps on defense. Some of that is game flow (including just 43 total snaps against the Jacksonville Jaguars) while the other aspect is Andrew Van Ginkel who now has 9.0 sacks on the season. They play a very similar role on defense and with Van Ginkel playing at such a high level, it makes sense that Turner hasn't been getting a ton of snaps.

He did get some in Sunday's game, playing in 16 snaps out of 76, good for 21%. It's not a ton and you'd love for Turner to see more, but the Vikings don't have to force him in due to the success of the enitre defense and that's a good problem to have. His play splits pere pretty even as well:

  • Run defense: 5
  • Pass rush: 7
  • Coverage: 4

This is exactly what Van Ginkel's role is and how Turner will be maximized moving forward.

The other player who is getting a lot of snaps right now is defensive lineman Jalen Redmond. The former Arlington Renegade of the UFL also got in the game for 16 snaps and has been starting to rotate in more as the season goes along. He played five snaps on run defense and 11 as a pass rusher. Seeing him blossom over the year has been great to see and could be a huge factor down the line with a position group that needs multiple players added to it.

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