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With a Week 16 matchup between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings on tap, we go behind enemy lines for a chat with Vikings Wire.
The New York Giants (8-5-1) and Minnesota Vikings (11-3) will square off on Saturday afternoon in a Week 16 matchup at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Giants opened the week as 4-point road underdogs and that’s where the spread remains as of this writing.
With this matchup on tap, Giants Wire took the opportunity to hold a Q&A with Vikings Wire managing editor Tyler Forness.
These players could be game-changers on Saturday
This Christmas Eve, the Minnesota Vikings are playing host to the New York Giants after they just completed the biggest comeback in NFL history one week ago.
The Vikings are 11-3 and are slated to host at least one playoff game since they won the division, but this game still holds plenty of weight. The Vikings are trying to hold off the 49ers for the number two seed and, even though the odds are slim, there still is a chance the Vikings can snag the number one seed in the NFC.
Let’s look ahead to this week’s matchup for some players to keep an eye on.
The injury report looks a lot better than it has in past weeks
The injury luck for the Minnesota Vikings might just be getting better after all. There were only four players on the initial injury report.
Center Garrett Bradbury did not practice after re-aggravating his back injury in a car crash on Saturday after the game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The linebacking corps is hit the hardest, as both Brian Asamoah (ankle) and Eric Kendricks (hip) were both limited.
Patrick Jones II is back practicing in full after missing Saturday’s game with an illness.
One thing to watch as the week progresses: Cameron Dantzler dressed, but didn’t play a single snap on Saturday. Until we hear further information on Dantzler, it’s something to keep an eye on.
First #Vikings injury report of Week 16 pic.twitter.com/NCAMlYbi9o
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 20, 2022
The Vikings have finally shown the ability to adapt on defense
The defensive woes for the purple and gold have been well documented. They are currently the worst defense in the league per total defense allowing a shade under 400 yards per game.
They needed to make some changes, as the defense was becoming stagnant and predictable. That can be the case with the defense that Ed Donatell is running. It runs a lot of the same coverages and, without the players to maximize the system with checks and disguises, it becomes very predictable and easy to manipulate.
On Saturday against the Colts, we finally saw some adjustments and it came when the Vikings needed it most: in the second half.
For a team that had been blitzing about 17% of the time, they did so on 12/20 dropbacks in the second half, a whopping 60% of the time. They utilized a lot of linebackers with their blitzes and Brian Asamoah is getting some real run with the Vikings’ defense, including playing a career-high 21 snaps. Getting him more playing time could be key in turning the defense around.
The Vikings showed that they adapt on defense. Now it’s time to keep that up and keep the momentum going.
Vikings blitzed on 12 of 20 dropbacks after halftime. Total of 16 plays with an extra rusher in 37 dropbacks. By far a season high. Mostly LBs: Eric Kendricks (10 times). Jordan Hicks (8), Brian Asamoah (3). Also, S Harrison Smith (4).
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) December 20, 2022
The Vikings draft class hasn’t been very impactful this season. Is it a cause for concern? Let’s break it down
Let’s face it, when you lose, it’s human nature to want to place the blame somewhere and often times, it ends up with the unknown. In this situation, that lies with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s draft class.
Yes, the Vikings haven’t had the best start from their draft class, but there is already a narrative building about this draft class and it’s not a good one. There is a large portion of both fans and analysts that are incredibly frustrated with the lack of production in this class and they are starting to get more vocal.
The Vikings drafted defensive players in rounds 1-5 because they knew they needed more, better players on that side of the ball. They've gotten zero help from that draft class and it shows.
— Paul Charchian (@PaulCharchian) December 11, 2022
Is it fair to be frustrated? Absolutely! It’s especially frustrating when you see players like Christian Watson and Jameson Williams, both of whom were selected with picks that the Vikings traded, are having success.
How frustrated are you allowed to be until it borders on being unfair to the team and front office? Well, it’s all circustantial and we will talk about that and how the rookies have been doing.
We have spent a lot of time this season grinding the film
The Minnesota Vikings have had an incredible season thus far and we have broken them down in a lot of different ways.
One of the ways we have analyzed this team is with the Vikings Film Room.
In the Vikings Film Room, we dive into specific topics each week to see what is really going on with this team and how they are impacting the game.
In this piece, there are 16 different breakdowns that we have done from this season to help you catch up on what the 8-1 Vikings are doing well so far this season.
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The snap counts from Sunday don’t have a lot of surprises
The Minnesota Vikings found a way to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday by a score of 34-26.
Throughout the game, there weren’t a lot of backups that played in the game. This has been a trend throughout the season, especially with how good the Vikings injury luck has been this season.
Despite all of this, there are a few interesting takeaways from Sunday’s snap counts.
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The defense has been solid but there is room for improvement. Here is one thing to watch for from each position
The Minnesota Vikings take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon and the defense is in an intriguing position.
Going into week eight, the Vikings’ defense are 5th in points allowed and 14th in yards allowed with a lot of room for improvement. The unit itself has shown flashes of being great and a bye week to scout themselves and improve.
As we move into the last 11 games of the season, here is what to watch for with each position group on defense.
These 5 players should start seeing more playing time after the bye week
The Minnesota Vikings will be using the bye week to learn more about themself as they have a new coaching staff that is still figuring out how to prepare this team for success.
One of the things that they will be looking at is giving players more playing time, specifically rookies.
In the course of the next 11 games, this week will be important in rotating players in and out to both get players more experience and also to help give starters a little bit of a rest.
We identified five players who will see more time after the bye week.
Despite not seeing much of this year’s rookie class this year, there shouldn’t be any concern that they aren’t making a big impact yet
The Minnesota Vikings rookie class has been a major cause for discussion over the first few weeks. The main reason? We haven’t seen a lot of this class thus far.
What does this mean? Well, each player either playing or not playing is its own story. Context is the most important thing when discussing the rookie class, especially after only three weeks. The Vikings are 2-1 so it’s hard to fault them for the approach they have taken.
Let’s take a look at what each rookie has done thus far and why their accomplishments are what they are.
