Vikings' Pass Rush. What happened to it?

cross your fingers for a Panthers loss so some of these guys can sit out or limit their minutes/exposure.

I think Griff can't really cut and spin with a jacked foot but he is still playing the run pretty good so he gets the reps.  Hopefully it comes around after a little more rest.  I think I saw Weatherly taking some reps last night.

Dunno, but tell ya what...I've sure enjoyed seeing a bunch of goose eggs every quarter the last two games.  Whatever they're doing / not doing....keep doing / not doing it..

frustrating is watching QBs run it on us though

I wonder if we will see more pressure against less mobile QBs?

It's called three blind mice---they called like one hold  and that was when the OT nearly took griff to the ground stretching his jersey.   Holding all night long was horrible

i watched the lineman in the last several series against the Packers (when there was zero pressure) and it appeared everbody was taking a strqight ahead bull rush.  No spins, no stunts or twists, nothing but stand and dance with man in front of you.  

Not sure what was going on but like Jimmy said, contaiment was important last night against the Packers.

@"ThunderGod" said: i watched the lineman in the last several series against the Packers (when there was zero pressure) and it appeared everbody was taking a strqight ahead bull rush.  No spins, no stunts or twists, nothing but stand and dance with man in front of you.  

Not sure what was going on but like Jimmy said, contaiment was important last night against the Packers.

I wonder if they were concerned about losing footing if they spun, stunted or twisted.

There was a slow motion replay during the second half I think that showed every D lineman being held by the outside of their shoulder pads. I saw our guys look at the refs multiple times when Huntley scrambled. Holding could have been called every play, but it’s the packers so it wasn’t.  But at the same time, it seemed contain was top on the list last night. 

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. 

Interesting, Vikes are actually #11 in sacks this year, higher than I would have thought. 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/defense/sort/sacks

How does #2 in pts allowed tickle your fancy? And this is through 15 games vs 14 for everyone else.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/sort/totalPoints/position/defense

@"ThunderGod" said: i watched the lineman in the last several series against the Packers (when there was zero pressure) and it appeared everbody was taking a strqight ahead bull rush.  No spins, no stunts or twists, nothing but stand and dance with man in front of you.  

Not sure what was going on but like Jimmy said, contaiment was important last night against the Packers.

Looked more like the footing was horrible and they chose to contain rather than try a move that would expose the d if they slipped

If i'm coordinating against this defense, i dont want my QB taking 5 and 7 step drops, i dont want him holding the ball trying to read progressions. I want him to make quick decisions and get rid of the ball.

Newton and Hundley are a couple guys that can still thrive off plays breaking down. If the first read isnt there the last thing they want to do is stay in the pocket.

I think the pass rush will show back up against Chicago. Trubisky will be more willing to hang around the pocket, more willing to go through progressions. They'll play call to get the ball out fast, it'll breakdown occasionally and Trubisky wont be able to get out of there like Hundley or Newton.

Last night the footing was terrible and because Hundley was taking off they just bullrushed and stayed in the lanes. At one point I saw Brian would make contact and bullrush to a point and then wait for Hundley to take off then apply pressure.
As far as the second half of the season, OCs are terrified of iur passrush and many have elected to just get rid of the ball quicker, short passes, dropoffs, and screens to negate it. 
Most of the time they do attempt something long the QBs are usually on the run, out of the pocket, or tucking the ball and running up the middle. Not anything wrong with the passrush, just not too many teams willing to test it at this point.

@"96POPS" said: Last night the footing was terrible and because Hundley was taking off they just bullrushed and stayed in the lanes. At one point I saw Brian would make contact and bullrush to a point and then wait for Hundley to take off then apply pressure. As far as the second half of the season, OCs are terrified of iur passrush and many have elected to just get rid of the ball quicker, short passes, dropoffs, and screens to negate it.  Most of the time they do attempt something long the QBs are usually on the run, out of the pocket, or tucking the ball and running up the middle. Not anything wrong with the passrush, just not too many teams willing to test it at this point.

Yah, its #11 in sacks as I posted above. More importantly, the Vikings D is #2 in pts allowed and thats's an amazing feat in a league that values offense. 

I *think* that it's possible that the plan is to bull-rush, because that enables them to better make a play if the QB should try to take off running (not that it helped vs. Carolina or GB).  It seemed like they tried to keep both QBs "in the pocket".  That would limit their "moves".

Oh i wasn't guessing. After his first run (Hundley) they did bullrush the rest of the game to keep him from running and keep him in the pocket. 

@"96POPS" said: Oh i wasn't guessing. After his first run (Hundley) they did bullrush the rest of the game to keep him from running and keep him in the pocket. 

Yes it was pretty obvious.  I don't recall a stunt or spin move all night

@"96POPS" said: Last night the footing was terrible and because Hundley was taking off they just bullrushed and stayed in the lanes. At one point I saw Brian would make contact and bullrush to a point and then wait for Hundley to take off then apply pressure. As far as the second half of the season, OCs are terrified of iur passrush and many have elected to just get rid of the ball quicker, short passes, dropoffs, and screens to negate it.  Most of the time they do attempt something long the QBs are usually on the run, out of the pocket, or tucking the ball and running up the middle. Not anything wrong with the passrush, just not too many teams willing to test it at this point.

All good points. We did not sack Matt Ryan when we played the Falcons. He got rid of the ball so quickly which negatively impacted their passing game by not letting plays develop. The weather played a big factor in footing last night, but we gave Hundley a lot of time. A better QB would have made us pay but I get that Zimmer would adjust according to the competition. Still, it seems that our effectiveness has declined since the bye. 

It would have been better if it was a "Frozen Tundra" as mentioned a thousand times...ugh

@"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.