Let’s be clear: Mike Zimmer doesn’t really care about sacks.
The Minnesota Vikings head coach would much rather see disciplined rushers that keep the quarterback contained and don’t neglect their run responsibilities.
Yes, even with a bevy of talented pass-rushers like Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison and Tom Johnson.
“It’s all a combination of things,” Zimmer said Thursday. “When you look at quarterback ratings against us, you look at quarterback completion percentage, when you look at, especially, third-down percentages, I think those are all factors in pass rush just as much as straight pass rush.”
Per Zimmer’s criteria, the Vikings have held opponents to the eighth-lowest completion percentage, the fourth-lowest passer rating and the lowest third-down percentage by a wide margin.
Who cares if they’re merely tied for 13th in the league with 35 sacks?
“Sometimes, depending on who we’re playing and the quarterback, we don’t allow guys to just rush,” Zimmer said. “They have to try to maintain the quarterback in the pocket, and that’s all part of the plan of trying to win, moreso than getting sack totals.”
All this is to say that sacks are largely a side effect of the Vikings’ holistic defensively approach. “Rush and cover, cover and rush,” as Griffen puts it.
So the data below? Just a fun exercise to see which pass-rushing units are ‘getting home’ most often this season.
Yours truly watched all 35 sacks from the first 14 weeks and broke down the personnel, the situation and the blitz.
Below are the personnel groupings for each Vikings sack this season. The first number represents how many sacks that group recorded. The players are listed from left to right beginning with the left defensive end.
6: Hunter, Robison, T. Johnson, Griffen
5: Hunter, T. Johnson, Robison, Griffen
4: Hunter, T. Johnson, Joseph, Griffen
4: Robison, Stephen, Joseph, Griffen
3: Hunter, Joseph, T. Johnson, Griffen
1: Hunter, T. Johnson, Griffen, Robison
1: Hunter, T. Johnson, Stephen, Griffen
1: Griffen, Robison, Joseph, Hunter
1: Hunter, Stephen, Joseph, Griffen
1: Griffen, Stephen, Joseph, Hunter
1: Robison, Joseph, J. Johnson, Griffen
1: Robison, Griffen, T. Johnson, Hunter
1: Griffen, Robison, T. Johnson, Hunter
1: Robison, Stephen, Joseph, Hunter
1: Hunter, T. Johnson, Joseph, Robison
1: Weatherly, Stephen, J. Johnson, Bower
1: Weatherly, Stephen, T. Johnson, Griffen
1: Hunter, Joseph, Stephen, Griffen
As you might expect, Hunter, Robison, Tom Johnson and Griffen are the most successful group, teaming up for 11 sacks this season if you consolidate the instances when Robison and Johnson switched sides.
Swap Robison for Linval Joseph and you have the second-best unit with seven sacks — again, accounting for times when Joseph and Johnson flip-flopped. As you might expect, most of Joseph’s work comes on first down, second down or third and short
In terms of individuals, Griffen (no surprise) has been on the field for the most sacks this season.
32: Griffen
28: Hunter
24: Johnson
22: Robison
18: Joseph
11: Stephen
2: Weatherly
2: Jaleel
1: Bower
Griffen is obviously the preferred right defensive end, but occasionally Hunter spells him or switches spots with him. The Vikings managed five sacks when Hunter was facing off against the left tackle.
27: Griffen as RDE
5: Hunter as RDE
2: Robison as RDE
1: Bower as RDE
Interestingly enough, three of the five sacks recorded with Hunter at right defensive end came against Brett Hundley and the Green Bay Packers — this Saturday’s opponent. Two of the three coincided with safety blitzes by Harrison Smith. Food for thought.
In terms of blitzing, the Vikings tend to wait for third down to send extra pressure. Twenty-three percent of their sacks came with help from a blitz, and all of those instances occurred on third or fourth down.
27: no blitz
8: with blitz
And finally, most of Minnesota’s sacks have come in the fourth quarter as teams have been forced to pass when trailing by large margins. That being said, the Vikings don’t have a sack in the second half of a game since Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions.
9: first quarter
8: second quarter
6: third quarter
12: fourth quarter
There you have it. More sack stats than you bargained for. It’s a stat that the head coach may not care much about, but his players sure have a lot of dances prepared for when they happen.
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