SI.com's Breer: 'When we stopped being heroes, the defense got a lot better'

[StickyBun]

Albert Breer, SI.com:

"I’m not sure if the Vikings’ defense is fixed, but it seems to be trending that way—Minnesota has held each of its last four opponents under 300 total yards, and it kept the Lions out of the end zone entirely on Sunday. When I talked to captain Harrison Smith after the 24-9 win, he at least intimated that earlier in the year, guys might have been trying to do too much. And now that’s calmed down. “We have a lot of really good players,” Smith said. “We all want to make plays all the time. And sometimes that can hurt you. When you just get back to just saying, ‘OK this is what I gotta do, I’m gonna go do it, and I know the guy next to me is gonna do it, the guy in front of me, he’s gonna do it.’ Then everything takes care of itself. You don't have to be Superman out there.” Smith pointed to Danielle Hunter’s 32-yard return of a Matthew Stafford fumble for a touchdown as a prime example. “That’s guys up front getting off the ball and getting pressure, and guys on the back end, linebackers covering,” Smith said. “And then once he starts scrambling, just everyone running like a madman to the ball. That's when opportunities come. It may looks like luck but there’s another play in the game where Xavier [Rhodes] strips the ball, and we got three other guys swarming to the ball. Unfortunately the ball is just out of bounds, instead of us picking it up and scoring. But we get another chance at that later because everyone is running to the ball. Good things happen when the whole team is running like your hair’s on fire.” The Vikings were my Super Bowl champion in August, by the way. Sunday did make me feel a little better about that."

[Guest]

Kinda what many of us called out in the early games.  Players trying to justify their pay raise, or the defense a bit too complex and players not trusting each other.

[Guest]

We're starting to see glimpses of what this team can be. We've seen glimpses of dominant defense and glimpses of really good offense, but so far haven't really put it all together. Get Diggs and Cook and Reiff and O'Neill and Rhodes all playing in the same game and I think you'll see something pretty special. 

[Guest]

@greediron said:
Kinda what many of us called out in the early games.  Players trying to justify their pay raise, or the defense a bit too complex and players not trusting each other.

It's human nature to look for a single answer as to why the falloff was so precipitous. But the reality was there were several facotrs.

First there were personnel changes. BRob had been a fixture in the locker room and on the field for so long and one of the signal callers for the Front 4. Same thing for Newman to a lesser extent.

So now you get more snaps for Mac Ax, who struggled some early. And Weatherly. Plus, Zimmer showed right out of the gate that he was serious about playing a lot more guys to keep people fresh for later in the season.

Jaleel Johnson, Jayln Holmes, Parry, Bower, Wilson, Kearse and Harris were all getting minutes. Gedeon was in on more than just obvious run downs.

That many guys getting more than just 'emergency fill in' reps means more chances for miscommunication.

And then there's the new wrinkles. Didn't Mike just say that since more than half the League had started using his schemes that meant a lot more chances for OCs to practice against it and find ways to beat it. So he went maybe too Mad Scientist with all the man/zone hybrids and when player x hands off coverage to player y, etc.

Confusing new wrinkles, lots of new guys getting serious minutes, and dudes who got paid trying hard to justify their new deals by going for splash plays instead of sticking to the basics.

And then you lose Griff in an unimaginable way. And the inevitable injury bug kicks in. And the new rules really hamper Rhodes' style of play. Not to mention the baffling roughing calls.

But through it all the Coaches and Players found a way to right the ship. Simpler schemes, a return to unselfishness, and the new faces are getting up to speed to the point where I don't worry when I see Wilson or Kearse or Harris in or Zim rotating the D-Line.

Very tough road ahead with little margin for error. But if the team stays some what healthy there are reasons for optimism.