Vikings ranked 27th in defense

[Wolvesfan21]

Yards per play. Points 21st.

Can the Vikings defense come around or are we going to have a bad season?

[bleedspeed]

How are the offenses ranked that we faced?

[bleedspeed]

I did a little looking:

49ers - 9th
Packers - 7th
Bills 32nd
Rams - 4th

To me this Sunday will be a make it or break it point. We need a good/great game to jump start the rest of the season. A win would be really good too.

[Wolvesfan21]

Yep, that flop game against the Bills was a killer. They got shut out versus the Packers.

I just got sick of hearing the announcers saying we have a great defense. Since the Philly game and this year, not even close.

A win this week is almost a must if the Vikes are going to contend.

[bleedspeed]

I agree. I think for this team to contend they need a strong game to mentally get their mojo back. They need to build up confidence that they will shut teams down.

[Monster]

The defense hasn't been good but plenty of defenses have found themselves as the season went on. This week it ifht be a lot to ask to have the game where they figure it out when they may have a number of players out. Maybe not though it seems like it's pretty much mental which is weird and surprising.

[bleedspeed]

We are looking a lot better. D-Line is coming together nicely. I think Everson being out a few games helped this group build depth. It also was huge to get Tom Johnson back. I was hoping Jaleel would fill that role, but he seems to need more development.

http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/11/vikings-now-d-line-rotation-dreamed-offseason/

[Wolvesfan21]

Yeah, after a poor start the defense has been playing better.

Up to 7th now!

[Monster]

We are looking a lot better. D-Line is coming together nicely. I think Everson being out a few games helped this group build depth. It also was huge to get Tom Johnson back. I was hoping Jaleel would fill that role, but he seems to need more development.

http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/11/vikings-now-d-line-rotation-dreamed-offseason/

Griffen having time away could have a positive effect of him not being beat up as much.

I think it's clear that Jaleel hasn't been ready for a big role...yet. I don't think he has been bad but he doesn't seem to be ready yet. If he takes a step forward that would be an excellent development.

I think the main thing about the defense was that Zimmer went to the lab in the offseason and cooked up a bunch of stuff. It likely needed to happen but he might have cooked up too much. Then after a couple weeks they settled into some more simple things although they were still doing some different things like having Kearse out there. Now that they are settled in he will likely be trying out some more new things here and there. After a tough start it's really looking like they may have gotten things back on track and they have had some guys missing games and young players stepped up.