Season ending injury to Christian Darrisaw shouldn't prompt the Vikings to give up on 2024
It's been a brutal five days for the Minnesota Vikings. On Sunday, they lost to their division rival Detroit Lions by a score of 31-29 and followed it up with a 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. In that game, they saw left tackle Christian Darrisaw go down with a knee injury and word […]
It's been a brutal five days for the Minnesota Vikings. On Sunday, they lost to their division rival Detroit Lions by a score of 31-29 and followed it up with a 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
In that game, they saw left tackle Christian Darrisaw go down with a knee injury and word came on Friday that he would require season-ending surgery for a torn ACL and MCL. It was the worst thing to come from their loss and that game saw one of the worst non-calls you'll ever see.
Even with all of that and a two-game losing streak, not all should be lost for the Vikings.
The Vikings shouldn't give up on 2024 season
The Vikings are in a rough spot with a two-game losing streak that was proceeded by a five-game winning streak. What felt like a Super Bowl caliber team has not played nearly its best football over the last three weeks. The defense has allowed 61 points over the last two games after allowing just 76 over the first five.
There were some frustrating elements over the last two games as well. The Vikings generated a season-low 12 pressures per Pro Football Focus and couldn't use them to impact Matthew Stafford. ESPN's metrics for the Vikings' pass rush were even worse.
Arguably the biggest impact of the Vikings' two losses is the lack of impactful pressures. Just because a pressure is registered, doesn't mean that it was impactful. Across their last 33 pressures (21 against the Lions), the Vikings have garnered:
- 4 sacks
- 6 QB hits
- 3 batted passes
A pressure-to-sack percentage of 12.1% is very poor and lower than their season total of 15.6%. The cause was a combination of poor coverage and no interior pressure. The lack of interior pressure has been a big factor in why the Vikings' defense has struggled over the last few weeks.
Even with the struggles and not having Darrisaw, not all hope is lost. The trade deadline is approaching in just under two weeks and the Vikings have been rumored to be aggressive by potentially offering their first-round pick this year. If they were to do that, it wouldn't be for a stop-gap type player, but rather the same process they used with the T.J. Hockenson trade.
If the Vikings were to fortify either the defensive line or cornerback position with a star player by using that first-round pick, it would be a huge impact on the defense. Right now, they can't generate pressure up the middle or cover on the outside. Having an issue in one area can be significantly helped by the other being strong. Get pressure fast like the Vikings did in their first five games and the coverage doesn't need to be as strong due to the short amount of time they have to cover.
On the flip side, if the coverage is good, you can have an average pass rush. If the Vikings end up making a major move at the deadline, they could end up fixing a lot of their issues on defense.
When it comes to Darrisaw, his loss is going to be felt. However, there are ways to mitigate that loss. Kevin O'Connell is likely going to have to dial down some of his deeper concepts and shift focus more toward quick game to lessen the pressure on the likely starter at left tackle David Quessenberry.
When Darrisaw has been out before, they have done a really good job of mitigating his loss. Since he made his NFL debut in 2021, the Vikings are 4-3 without Darrisaw in the lineup. They have done a good job in mitigating his loss by using a tight end or running back to chip the pass rusher opposite of the left tackle. You can't replace Darrisaw 1:1 but you can make his loss feel less impactful with some scheming from O'Connell.
With Darrisaw, the Vikings easily had a top 10 offensive line and the rest of the unit will need to continue that level of play, something that shouldn't be too hard to do.
There is also some good among the frustrating elements. Quarterback Sam Darnold has been a solid player this season.
- 67.2% completions
- 1,610 yards
- 14 touchdowns
- 5 interceptions
The offense has been explosive and efficient this season and has put up 20+ points in every game this year. Justin Jefferson broke out with over 100 yards against the Rams, just the second instance of him doing so this season. Aaron Jones has also been impactful in the running game from both an efficiency and explosiveness standpoint.
The offense as a whole is still fourth in EPA/play (0.157) on offense in neutral situations (10-90% win probability) and 11th in success rate at 46%. They are also first in dropback EPA/play at 0.307 with a 51.4% success rate. They are a great unit through the air and fine on the ground at 19th in EPA/play (-0.107) and 24th in success rate (36.6%). The offense feels so close to breaking out and putting up 40 points one week just because they can.
There are still a lot of good things about this team and they could make a major investment to help the team this season and beyond. Don't give up on them just yet, especially before the trade deadline where they could make a move to help them this year and beyond.