PurplePTSD: Drastically Different Opinions Surround Vikings 2021 Defense

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

August 7, 2021

This tweet illuminates the Minnesota Vikings defensive fall from grace during the pandemic season:

This documented example of cliffdiving is staggering. If you watched the bulk of Vikings games last year and something felt wickedly different, this is the evidence. Minnesota’s offense was actually quite good. But it was overshadowed by the crummy defense. Gary Kubiak, who since retired, engineered the NFL’s fourth-best offense via yards gained and 11th-best for points scored.

Not bad.

General Manager Rick Spielman responded to the defensive nightmare by signing free agents galore. These are those men:

Either the Vikings will return to a 2014-2019 version of defensive prowess — or head coach Mike Zimmer suddenly stinks at coaching a defense.

And the national opinion of this mixed.

For example, Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic ranked all NFL defenses heading into 2021, and he shockingly asserts that Minnesota will be the very best. Whooda thunk it? On Minnesota at number one, Kapadia wrote:

“With Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr still in the mix at linebacker, the Vikings project to have one of the league’s top front sevens. There are some questions on the back end, but the Vikings added veterans Patrick Peterson, Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander to give themselves options at cornerback. Cameron Dantzler figures to improve in his second season. On paper, it’s probably not the most talented group, but coach Mike Zimmer is one of the smartest defensive minds in the NFL. The Vikings finished first, third and fourth in defensive efficiency from 2017 to 2019. Barring another bout of terrible injury luck, they’re talented enough to get back into that range this season.”

This is the highest forecast for the Vikings anything to be found anywhere in 2021. Kapadia evidently believes in Zimmer’s return to form. For context, immediately following Minnesota in these rankings are the Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Then, there is the counterpoint from Pro Football Focus. Sam Monson of PFF considers the Vikings a mid-tier defensive unit. He ranked all NFL teams into five defensive tiers — and the Vikings inhabit Tier Three with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, and others. Monson said about the Vikings:

“Minnesota’s defense was uncharacteristically soft last season for a Mike Zimmer group, but much of that was due to losses or personnel circumstances that have changed. Danielle Hunter missed all last season, but in 2019 had his best season as a pro, notching 80 total pressures. He now teams up with Michael Pierce – who opted out last year – and Dalvin Tomlinson to give Minnesota three new linemen that weren’t there last year. Patrick Peterson may not be the player he once was but could see a mini-revival in this defense in 2021, and if nothing else shouldn’t be gashed as badly as the young players they had manning the cornerback spot last season.“

The Vikings likely won’t finish first in the NFL per The Athletic’s vision. That’s a lofty prediction to fulfill. Yet, the middle of the road projection is probably too low.

Without a sure-fire defensive end opposite Danielle Hunter — it’s Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, and Patrick Jones II for now — but a robust linebacking corps and group of cornerbacks, Minnesota can reasonably expect to finish as the NFL’s 7th-to-12th best defense per Zimmer’s pre-2020 resume.

The defense needs to be that good. If Zimmer cannot coach a defense as he did effectively in years past, it may signal changes for the Vikings leadership. 2021 is shaping up as a make-or-break season.

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.