The Vikings generated pressure vs. the Lions but one factor was missing
The Minnesota Vikings' defense struggled massively on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, and they ended up losing by a score of 31-29. It was a hard-fought game that saw the Vikings answer one of their biggest questions. When you look at the defense overall, it was a mixed bag. They looked to have been exposed on defense […]
The Minnesota Vikings' defense struggled massively on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, and they ended up losing by a score of 31-29. It was a hard-fought game that saw the Vikings answer one of their biggest questions.
When you look at the defense overall, it was a mixed bag. They looked to have been exposed on defense with in-breaking routes gashing them consistently. Their aggressive strategy of sending a lot of blitzes and pressure while playing zone behind it didn't pay off against the Lions and the context surrounding it is really important.
Vikings are getting pressure but it's not created equally
Once again, the Vikings found a way to get pressure on the opposing quarterback. On 29 dropbacks, the Vikings pressured Jared Goff a total of 21 times, garnering pressure on 17 dropbacks. That means on (likely) four plays, the Vikings had multiple players get pressure with one of them being the Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel strip sack.
The tough part about looking at singular pressure numbers is that it doesn't contextualize how quality the pressure was. Goff's stats against pressure were pretty good on Sunday.
With their 21 total pressures and 17 plays where they garnered pressure, the Vikings sacked Goff four times with a couple of others close to being sacks. However, when you get pressure on a quarterback like Goff, you need to finish. Not finishing enough on Sunday allowed the Lions to spam concepts like dagger and gash them on the back end.
Greenard once again was a dominant force, earning nine pressures and a strip sack, but his near miss on another strip-sack was one of the bigger what-ifs on the day. Getting pressure is great, but you need to get home as well.
In their loss against the Lions, the Minnesota Vikings answered their biggest question in their quest for a Super Bowl
The Vikings proved something to themselves and the nation on Sunday
Amid multiple issues, the Vikings defense thrived in one area that nearly won them the game
The Vikings did a great job in one key area
