Vikings snap counts from Week 13 win vs. Cardinals show major potential shift on defense
The Minnesota Vikings had to scratch and claw to get a 23-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, but it was a well-earned victory. It was their seventh victory in one-score games this season, improving their mark to 7-1 in such games this year and head coach Kevin O'Connell's record to 24-9 in […]
The Minnesota Vikings had to scratch and claw to get a 23-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, but it was a well-earned victory.
It was their seventh victory in one-score games this season, improving their mark to 7-1 in such games this year and head coach Kevin O'Connell's record to 24-9 in his short tenure with the Vikings.
There are a lot of different ways to parse out how the Vikings were able to get this win and one of those was overcoming injuries. Because of those, we saw some interesting snap counts that could lead to developing trends.
Cornerback sees much different snap counts
- Byron Murphy Jr.: 82 (100%)
- Shaq Griffin: 55 (67%)
- Stephon Gilmore: 35 (43%)
- Fabian Moreau: 31 (38%)
This was the most Moreau had played all season, as he was often a healthy scratch. He was thrust into action when Stephon Gilmore injured his hamstring late in the first half on Sunday.
Per Pro Football Focus, Moreau had just played two snaps on defense all season prior to Sunday. He had a relatively rough day with two receptions allowed on five targets for 31 yards and a touchdown but also had two penalties that were impactful in the Cardinals advancing the ball.
Where this becomes intriguing is it potentially shows a shift in how the Vikings might play defense moving forward. Per Next Gen Stats, the Vikings played man coverage at their second-highest rate under defensive coordinator Brian Flores at 51%. That's likely due to the shift in personnel, as both Moreau and Griffin are better in playing man coverage instead of zone.
Dallas Turner is getting more snaps
There were a lot of concerns that Turner wasn't getting enough snaps on defense. He's a first round pick that has a ton of explosiveness and a lot of potential.
The reason why Turner hasn't been getting a lot of snaps has little to do with Turner, but more about how well the Vikings' other edge rushers are playing. Why would you take Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard off the field when they are playing excellent football?
Turner did get 26 snaps, tied for the second-most of the season with some of them coming when Pat Jones II left the game with a knee injury. He's going to be just fine, but the increase in snaps over the last five games is a good sign.
Jalen Redmond is earning playing time
The Vikings made their bet this offseason by not adding any high end defensive tackle talent. Instead, they relied on journeymen and young players. One of those is Jalen Redmond, who the Vikings signed from the Arlington Renegades of the UFL.
He made the initial 53-man roster and has been shuffled to the practice squad once this year but is back on the active roster.
Redmond has played 94 snaps this season with 41 of them coming in the last three games. He was explosive in all phases on Sunday afternoon in getting penetration in the running game and passing game. His performance earned him a game ball from O'Connell and it could be a valuable signing for the Vikings long-term.
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