So why is our defense so bad?

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@MaroonBells said:
He sounds confident.

https://twitter.com/WillRagatz/status/16...80608?s=20&t=vBMXF0aFMFtXcqcUO_8DrA

There is no middle-ground. This will either be a stellar or comment we never let go by 7pm on Sunday night. 

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@Bullazin said:

@AGRforever said:
So this is my entirely uneducated guess. 

PFF seems to significantly over value splash plays. We’ve had plenty of those this year so it help the ratings. 

Id also say that Hunter and Z smith have played like $hit especially given their contracts. Hunter needs to be able to cover in certain pass plays and cant. He’s also lost contain on run plays all year. Z. Smith is older and slower then his previous self. He fits the mold correctly, but just isn’t what he used to be. 

you bring up a good point here. 

I will say that we have been hurt by OS zone runs alot this year, not sure if its edge or lb’s fault. 

Our scheme has d hunt trying to cover the slot occasionally, can anyone say Stoopid?  Our S’s play deep and stay there and our LB’s have just now in week 20 or whatever been told to be more agressive to their gaps. Donatell has forgot more than any of is know but jeezus. We have too much talent to be this shitty on D 

My opinion, but was going to comment around some of it comes down to how PFF grades. Part of the grade is how the players handle their assignments. Schematically the defense is built around playing 2-high shell that shifts between cover-2, quarters, and cover-6 post-snap. Many iterations on how they drop into those coverages, but its the concept of it. More recently they transitioned into more man coverage which is allowing them to bring a bit more pressure. 

Ultimately I think you can make a pretty good case that most players are playing the system well. They just aren't getting the consistent negative plays you need to end drives prior to the red zone. PFF also grades off situation so the improvements in the red zone probably lead to some of the scores being higher. 

As I've watched the game cut-ups our defense has been very good when they've unlocked the safeties to let Harrison play at the line of scrimmage or force the offense to change their protections. He's the best chess piece we have and they're finally leveraging it in this system. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@StickyBun said:
I really have no idea. It seems one day its the D-line, the next game its the LBs and then another its the secondary. The Vikings don't do anything consistently well on defense. Opposing teams seem to have zero problem game planning for that D. I keep seeing these individual good ratings by PFF.com on the Viking's D and it doesn't add up to their overall shitty group play. 

I think the Giants are going to have a different plan offensively on Sunday for this Viking D. I wish I had more trust with Minnesota on that side of the football but its just been horrible.

IMO, the Giants biggest mistake last game was giving Saquon Barkley 14 carries. I think we're going to see enough of him this week to make us sick. 

I've seen defenses completely change personalities in the playoffs. '87 Vikes did that. They were horrible late in the year. Lost 3 or their last 4, "backed into" the playoffs, then came out and destroyed two heavily favored teams mostly due to a well-prepared, ridiculously amped up defense. 

One can hope. 

The difference with the 87 team was an up and coming plethora of young talent that was just starting to put it all together. I see a lot of old and slow on this version. I will gladly be proven wrong though.