Vikings' Pass Rush. What happened to it?

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@purplefaithful said:
I agree with OP and called this out weeks ago...That pass-rush has not been there with the same frequency and ferocity we've seen it in years past. And yah, it could potentially hurt us post season.

Exotic blitz packages Zimm likes are even better with a solid down 4 rush or even better when you dont have to use em.

Last night imo took the lack of pass rush to extreme - and they were down some starters on their OL too.

Hundley had a lot of time back there (a lot) and Bahktiari pretty much OWNED Everson last night. Griffen is not the same and it's probably highly correlated with his plantar fasciitis, the field sucked and we had to move the DL from more rush to contain after those Hundley runs.

Bigger pix? We are sorely missing a healthy Floyd @ 3T. 

Not sure moving to Danielle over is proving to be a slam-dunk move either. Wonder if he's destined to backfill EG eventually at RDE?

It is what it is this year and they held a toothless Packer offense to a goose-egg so there is that. Faster track, warmer climes and the din of USB will be a big help as will a bye week. 

I was never keen on Hunter being a starter at LDE.  He looks like an RDE or a super sub.  He needs to move around the DL to be most effective.  Alas, that role may now go to Bower as he will unlikely get big enough for full time DE.  I see where Weatherly is slowing working in the rotation, but I think he and Bower needs to spend more time in the weightroom.  More sets on the bench press and incline press.

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Lambeau field is absolute crap so that definitely negated the pass rush. The boatload of holding didn't help. There are still other areas of the defense that are thriving. Third down opponent conversion percentage and points allowed per game are key areas of success for the defense.

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@TBro said:
Since Griffin injured his foot in London, our pass rush has not been the same after the team returned
from the bye week. It's great that we are still beating teams, but I believe we will need that dominate
Pass Rush to regain its form in the Playoffs to make our SB run. Our Sack numbers are down, QB Hits
are down, and there appears to be a noticeable lack of pressure on the QB the past several weeks putting
more responsibility on our secondary and linebackers to make plays in coverage. On a positive note, the
defense forcing turnovers has been excellent over that same period, especially interceptions. 

Is this all a grand plan by Zimmer focusing his game strategy more on coverage, or is this something we
need to be concerned about when we start our playoff run in January? 

at least in the packer game they were on poupose holding up and containing hundley.  there were many many plays where they literaly stopped rushing and covered the running lanes

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@Maple Surple said:
It would have been better if it was a "Frozen Tundra" as mentioned a thousand times...ugh

What? You didn't like the obligatory "Ice Bowl" mini-documentary Michaels and Collinsworth prattled on about when waxing poetic about the cold weather? 

I guess they feel every football viewer in America needs to pay homage every f****** time it gets cold in Cheezeville. 

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Recent wins at 34-7 and 16-0 will tell you that although the sack counts aren't there, the pressure is. 

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Okay, which one of you is named Connor?

Monday Morning Mailbag: Keenum's Play, Pass Rush vs. Packers, More


Very satisfying to sweep the Packers and get a shutout. But where was the pass rush? Especially with all the injuries on the Packers’ offensive line, this unit should have done a lot more. Was it a fluke? Was it the cold? Do we need to be concerned about them?
-- Connor
No, there is no need to be concerned. In fact, head coach Mike Zimmer said during a conference call with reporters on Sunday that the Vikings changed their game plan mid-stride Saturday night, taking the emphasis away from sacking Hundley and instead focusing on keeping Hundley in the pocket because he was making plays as a rusher. In the end, the Vikings wound up with 26 pressures of Hundley, which came out to pressures on 37% of his dropbacks, an impressive number for the Vikings defense.
http://www.vikings.com/news/mailbag/arti...7a6a68937e