When the Minnesota Vikings brought in defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, they knew exactly what they were getting: a Vic Fangio-inspired defense that played mostly cover 2, quarters and variants utilizing both coverages. So far this season, Donatell has lived up to that and ranks among the bottom the National Football League in running man coverage.
#Vikings secondary/coverage tendencies are interesting… Zone coverage, free access, and open WRs all over this defense. Allowing a ton of yards and explosive pass plays
They DO NOT want to play man coverage.
Cover 1 – 31st
Cover 0 – 29th
2-Man – 27th
Press Coverage – 30th— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) November 30, 2022
This isn’t much of a surprise considering what style of defense he wants to run, but is it a mistake considering how the season has transpired?
The Vikings have been decimated at the cornerback position over the last few weeks, including Thanksgiving night against the New England Patriots where they were missing Cameron Dantzler, Akayleb Evans and Andrew Booth Jr.
Due to missing so many cornerbacks, you can make the argument that the Vikings should try to generate some excess pressure on quarterback Mac Jones and play man coverage.
They didn’t do that and instead played the same style of defense. Per Sports Info Solutions, the Vikings only had five plays where they played some form of man coverage and brought five or more rushers on only seven snaps.
There are two schools of thought when trying to hide your secondary. You can play zone or bring heavy pressure which can limit the amount of time that your corners are asked to cover the receivers.
The Vikings have been playing almost exclusively man coverage without putting extra pressure on the quarterback and it hasn’t been working. The Vikings are at the bottom in total defense (31st) and defensive DVOA (23rd) and we have seen very little willingness to make adjustments.
This has been a big criticism of mine for the entire season. Patrick Peterson, who is PFF’s 5th-ranked cornerback this season, thrives in press coverage and Akayleb Evans does a good job mirroring in man coverage. It might be time to change things up to make things easier for the Vikings offense.
We know it won’t, as we have 11 games worth of data and the Vikings still rank at the bottom. Times are changing, but Donatell is currently refusing.
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