The Vikings defense is one step closer to being healthy
The Minnesota Vikings defense are likely to have three key players playing despite being listed as questionable on the injury report.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, ILB Jordan Hicks is expected to return to the starting lineup. Joining him in playing will be nose tackle Harrison Phillips and ILB Ivan Pace Jr. are both expected to play despite being questionable on the final injury report.
The Vikings’ defense is primed to have a big game against a Lions offense and having those three in the lineup will be key. They will be without Byron Murphy Jr. who is dealing with a knee injury.
Thursday’s injury report saw some minor changes for the better
The Minnesota Vikings released their second injury report ahead of their week 16 game against the Detroit Lions and there were some minor changes.
RB Alexander Mattison (ankle): Did not practice
CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
NT Harrison Phillips (back): Did not practice
OLB Danielle Hunter (illness): Limited
DE Jonathan Bullard (ankle): Limited
NT Sheldon Day (ankle): Limited
ILB Jordan Hicks (shin): Full
The good news for the Vikings is Hunter took a step forward on Thursday by practicing in a limited capacity.
The other major impact for the Vikings was seeing Hicks practice in full for the second-consecutive day. That will only fuel the fire that Hicks will return on Sunday afternoon.
Not having either Murphy or Phillips practice for the first two days of practice is a really bad sign with the Vikings about to face one of the best offenses in the league.
Friday’s injury report will tell us if they are likely to miss the game.
Danielle Hunter and Harrison Phillips highlight the initial injury report
The Minnesota Vikings have a lengthy injury report heading into their week 16 winter whiteout game against the Detroit Lions. Their practice was a walkthrough so the report is an estimation.
OLB Danielle Hunter (illness): Did not practice
RB Alexander Mattison (ankle): Did not practice
CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
NT Harrison Phillips (back): Did not practice
DE Jonathan Bullard (ankle): Limited
NT Sheldon Day (ankle): Limited
ILB Jordan Hicks (shin): Full
The holdovers from last week are Nailor, O’Neill and Mattison. All three of them not practicing is important in their attempt to come back.
Hunter is the one to keep an eye on, as an illness is something that is difficult to measure and predict.
Murphy and Phillips are both new and didn’t appear to be injured against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hicks returned to practice after having his practice window open up this past Monday. There is real optimism he can play on Sunday afternoon.
The Lions have eight players listed on their initial injury report.
CB Jerry Jacobs (hamstring): Did not practice
TE Brock Wright (hip): Did not practice
LB Derrick Barnes (shoulder): Limited
FB Jason Cabinda (knee): Limited
DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee): Limited
DT Levi Onwuzurike (knee): Limited
RT Penei Sewell (shoulder): Limited
C Frank Ragnow (knee/back/toe): Full
The reports on Thursday and Friday afternoon will tell us more about the status of each player.
The Vikings tie pressure and coverage together like no other NFL team, and defensive coordinator/mad scientist Brian Flores is the reason.
In the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ defense under Brian Flores, there are some numbers you should know.
The Vikings under Flores in his first year with the team ranked 13th in Defensive DVOA through the first seven weeks of the season. Since then, they rank second in Defensive DVOA behind only the New York Jets.
For the season, the Vikings have by far rushed opposing quarterbacks with three defenders more often than any other defense — they’ve done it 113 times, and the Saints rank second at 59. They’ve also rushed six or more defenders by far the most in the NFL this season — 121 times, and the New England Patriots rank second with 44.
Especially after the relatively “vanilla” schemes put forth in the 2022 season by former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, Flores’ schemes look like a crazy quilt, and it took a few weeks for everybody to get on the same page. But that’s happened of late, and now, Flores’ defenders are playing his concepts not only with the advantages given when you throw things at quarterbacks they don’t see anywhere else, but with a discipline that makes it all work.
Vikings defensive lineman Harrison Phillips spoke this week with Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network about how things have changed for the better.
How are the #Vikings quietly morphing into a top defense under Brian Flores?
Fascinating answer here from veteran lineman (and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee) Harrison Phillips on The Insiders.
“I’m glad you mentioned the discipline piece, because I said just after the game (Minnesota’s 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders) when someone said, ‘This isn’t a typical 4-3 downhill attacking defense that you see some of these guys have,’ where it’s one man, one gap,” Phillips said. “Those defenses are really easy to understand. This one is a little more complex, because it’s not vanilla – Harrison, you have the A-gap. You could have the front-side A-gap, the front-side B-gap, the backside A-gap, maybe the backside B-gap. There are gap schemes within that, and oh, you might drop if we get this.
“We have so many different layers to the defense, I think what Coach Flores might have been shocked at himself when he came here… we have a veteran defense at a lot of the key positions. We’re able to get more complex and get two or three calls when the offense checks at the line of scrimmage, we can get into our second call. When they think we’re in a max look, we can go to another call. Being able to trust us and see the mental capabilities we have as a defense has allowed us to get deeper and deeper as we go on in the season and we get more reps. Guys are all getting on the same page, and there’s better communication. That’s another huge word when you talk about this defense.Â
“The success we’re having goes back to that discipline and that communication.”
The Vikings’ sack of Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell with 8:46 left in the first quarter was a great example of how Flores ties pressure to coverage, and how enemy quarterbacks can be placed out of their elements very quickly. Pre-snap, this looked like a seven-man pressure on second-and-18, but watch how the Vikings turn this into an effective four-man rush, accentuated by the subtle post-snap switches that took O’Connell’s options away. Pre-snap, it could have been a Cover-0 blitz (a Flores staple for years), but it turned into Cover-2, and that’s a lot for a young quarterback to take in.
Here’s another long-yardage situation that turned in the Vikings’ favor. In Week 7, the San Francisco 49ers had second-and-13 with 12:16 left in the third quarter, and Minnesota had a three-man rush with seven defensive backs. Again, the picture pre-snap and post-snap was very different. Linebacker Jordan Hicks and safety Theo Jackson could have blitzed, but they dropped into coverage along with safety Josh Martellus, muddying Brock Purdy’s underneath reads.
The Vikings beat San Francisco’s five-man protection with some cool pass-rush ideas, from Patrick Jones II’s pre-snap shuttle to either side of 49ers center Jake Brendel to Jones’ stunt with edge-rusher Danielle Hunter. Purdy didn’t have time to diagnose what the Vikings were doing to him before he hit the turf.
The Vikings also have an unusual situation in that Ivan Pace Jr. — an undrafted rookie from Cincinnati — is running Flores’ defense on the field. That’s a lot to keep in your head, but Pace was the closer in that Raiders game, flying across the field to jump O’Connell’s quick slant to Davante Adams.
“I think that’s what’s making them play at the level they are right now – it’s just consistent [with] the mix and match between keeping people off balance, using our playmakers at different positions to allow them to thrive in multiple roles,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said this week of his defense. “Using a guy like Byron Murphy to maybe match in coverage sometimes; other times, maybe just play his standard stop. Josh Metellus, Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum at the safety position. A guy like Mekhi Blackmon steps in and gives us some really good snaps.
“And then I.P. [Pace], you know, running the show as the green dot. His ability to just continue to improve. I think [inside linebackers coach] Mike Siravo deserves a ton of credit for the development of an undrafted, free agent rookie that we’re really lucky to have and, quite honestly, don’t know where we would be without him. But once again, just a credit to Flo, his staff, our players for the consistency at which they’ve been able to continue to communicate, execute and ultimately finish.”
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 10: Ivan Pace Jr. #40 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates with teammates after making an interception during the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on December 10, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
On Saturday, the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Jake Browning will be the nest to try and solve all of Flores’ puzzles. Right now, no defense is tying pressure and coverage together better in most interesting ways. In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys got deeper into it.
The Vikings have a chance to make a statement on defense against the Raiders
After a week of well-needed rest, the Minnesota Vikings go on the road to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders at 3:05 p.m. CST.
Minnesota has had a lot of changes throughout the year, new quarterbacks, pass catchers have had to step up, but one change that can be felt from game to game is the vast improvement of this Vikings’ defense.
At this very moment, Minnesota is eighth in EPA allowed per play and ninth in defensive success rate. They’re top-ten in defensive passing DVOA (10th), defensive rushing DVOA (6th) and total defensive DVOA (8th).
Compare that to last season’s 27th-ranked defensive passing DVOA, 18th-ranked defensive rushing DVOA and 24th-ranked total defensive DVOA.
This defense has been the engine on this team’s path to the playoffs and will have to continue to be as they look to crash the dance this season.
The Raiders have been playing better as an offensive unit but there are still areas that defensive coordinator Brian Flores can exploit. To get this team back on track, the defense must follow these four keys to victory against a Raiders team looking to play spoiler.
The Vikings defense has been a much-improved unit this season. To stop a surging Broncos offense, they need to follow these keys.
The Minnesota Vikings go on the road to Mile High Stadium to face the Denver Broncos in primetime on Sunday at 7:20 p.m. CST.
These are two of the hottest teams in the National Football League with the Vikings on a five-game winning streak and the Broncos on a three-game winning streak.They face off in an important game with both being potential wild-card teams.
Denver is coming off of a monumental win against the Buffalo Bills that has them back in playoff talks, as they are only a game out of the seventh seed.
Minnesota controls their destiny as they have a 1.5-game lead on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFC’s third and final wild-card spot.
Denver’s success has come from a resurgence from the offense that has them 10th in EPA/dropback and 11th in EPA/rush since their winning streak started in week seven.
It will be a difficult task for Brian Flores and this Vikings team to get them off track. But to do it, they will need to follow these four keys.
The Pro Football Focus grades from Sunday reflect well on the defense
The Minnesota Vikings have one of the better defenses in the National Football League over the last five games.
During that five game winning streak, the Vikings are third in EPA/play (-0.139), sixth in dropback EPA/play (-0.128), fourth in success rate per dropback (41.7%) and eighth in EPA/rush (-0.162).
Against the New Orleans Saints, they were excellent, especially in the first half. They swarmed the ball and made Derek Carr’s life miserable as he tried to attack the Vikings defense. Once Jameis Winson came in, they made him pay with two interceptions in the fourth quarter.
The grades from Pro Football Focus are out and the defense was graded pretty well.
Minnesota’s defense has been on a tear during this win streak. To keep the momentum going, these keys will be crucial to getting a win
After an emotional win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Minnesota Vikings will stay in the NFC South as they face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
New Orleans is coming off of escaping the Chicago Bears behind a great showing from their defense. But their offense was able to do just enough to squeak by with the 24-17 victory.
This offense for New Orleans has had their bad days, but they are also capable to go off for 500+ yards and almost 40 points like they did against Indianapolis.
During this four-game win streak, Minnesota is sixth in the NFL in EPA/play allowed. Brian Flores has this defense playing at a high level, and will need for it to continue if they want to have a shot at the postseason.
Before talking playoffs, there is the task at hand of beating the Saints on Sunday. To do that, they will need to follow these four keys to success on the defensive side of the ball.
Jaren Hall took over for Cousins and played only 11 snaps but didn’t look like a disaster at the spot. He will be the likely starter on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
As a whole, the defense looked really stout, especially early on. They forced the Packers into three and outs on their first four drives and only 10 points.
The Pro Football Focus grades are in and were a little too critical of an impressive defensive performance.
Despite a 2-4 start, the Vikings have good underlying metrics and Pro Football Focus has the offensive line as one of the best units in the National Football League.
As we head into week seven, here are the PFF grades for each member of the Vikings defense.
