New York Giants Week 16: First Look at Minnesota Vikings Defense

Let's take a look at what the Minnesota Vikings defense likes to run.

The New York Giants continue the tough stretch of their schedule by taking on the Minnesota Vikings, who are currently the second seed in the NFC and in a three-way tie for the second-best record in the NFL.

Personnel

The Vikings want to win at the point of attack, and their roster composition tells you that. Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith, Harrison Phillips, and Dalvin Tomlinson lead the way for this defensive front, with DJ Wonnum rotating in as the crucial third pass-rusher.

Hunter, Smith, and Wonnum have combined for 158 pressures and 23 sacks off the edge this season. Smith is far and away the leader of the pass-rush group with 72 pressures, although his pace for generating pressure has slowed significantly in recent weeks. After starting the year by consistently generating five or more pressures in most games, Smith has only been able to do that in one of his last three games.

On the interior of the defensive line, Phillips and Tomlinson are the ones that clog the middle of the line of scrimmage. While neither is known for being great pass-rushers, their 23 pressures each have them tied for fourth-most on the team.

Where Phillips and Tomlinson are at their best is manning the middle of the line of scrimmage as space eaters and run defenders. While the production numbers aren’t there, it’s clear that they make an impact based on how difficult it’s been for opposing offenses to run the ball in the interior.

At the second level, Eric Kendricks (who is limited) and Jordan Hicks are the only off-ball linebackers that get significant playing time. Kendricks has played the second most snaps on this Vikings defense, behind only Camryn Bynum.

Kendricks and Hicks have been liabilities in coverage this season, allowing a combined 99 catches for 1,158 yards and six touchdowns. Hicks has picked up 12 pressures on just 45 rush attempts when used as a pass-rusher.

In the secondary the Vikings have gone through their fair share of injuries, forcing them to start Patrick Peterson and Duke Shelley on the outside, Chandon Sullivan in the slot, with Camryn Bynum and Harrison Smith - who just returned to the lineup as well.

Despite being the most targeted Vikings DB in week 15, Bynum allowed just two catches on six targets for 15 yards. Peterson was targeted five times and allowed just one completion for 15 yards.

The outside of this defense didn’t give up any space to receivers, and the deep safeties kept everything in front of them. While the secondary has made their fair share of mistakes and have been dealing with injuries, they’ve been able to perform at a solid level.

Scheme

Up front, the Vikings operate out of a 3-4 that, when going to their nickel package, often uses two down linemen and two stand-up edge rushers. Hunter is the player who usually makes the shift from a hand-in-the-dirt end to stand-up edge rusher.

This week, the Gators play against a defense that disguises their coverages better than almost every other team in the NFL. One thing that allows the Vikings to be considered a defense that disguises their coverage so well is that they will often show up in a two-high shell, regardless of the coverage call.

While almost always showing a two-high look, the Vikings will play Cover 2, Cover 3, Cover 4, and Cover 6, and when they want to play man, they’ll usually play Cover 1. However, the main coverages to look out for are the zone ones, as Ed Donatell, the Vikings defensive coordinator, is a Vic Fangio disciple who believes that zone coverage is the name of the game about 80% of the time.

This isn’t an aggressive defense that will send five or six defenders frequently. The Vikings have no problem rushing their front four and keeping seven defenders in coverage on the back end.

When the Vikings use off-ball players to blitz, it’s almost always a linebacker or nickel defender. Safeties rarely blitz in this scheme, it’s not one of the principals, and with this being a defense with two-high looks, it’s almost impossible to blitz from that far back.

What This Means for the Giants

The weakest part of this defense in the passing game is the short and intermediate middle of the field. Against the Vikings, quarterbacks have done the smart thing to take easy completions over the middle of the field between 0-20 yards and allow their receivers to make plays after the catch.

While that’s how to pick up most of the completions, it’s important to take deep shots against Minnesota. The Vikings main goal defensively is to prevent big plays, but while the team has been trying to find its rhythm, they’ve struggled to successfully prevent big plays consistently.

Take what the defense gives you, which most of the time will be an underneath completion, but you have to keep your eyes downfield for a busted coverage.

Regarding running the football, the priority has to be running outside the tackles. That’s the strength of this Giants run game, but more importantly, that’s the weakest point of the Vikings run defense. The Vikings have Phillips and Tomlinson in the middle of the line to stifle any rush attempts but outside leads to explosive runs.

Final Thoughts

The most difficult part about preparing for this game against the Vikings is figuring out which team will show up. The Vikings may have one of the best records in football, but they’ve shown up as a different version of themselves week in and week out.

This is a winnable game for the Giants, especially if their offense can show up and exploit the very clear weaknesses in this Vikings defense.

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