After breaking the 12-year drought against the Seattle Seahawks, it seems as though the Minnesota Vikings have swiftly gotten their season back on track. Kirk Cousins hatred is at an all-time low after his blazing-hot start, and all Minnesotans are singing Kumbaya down First Avenue. Or at least something close to that.
Mike Zimmer’s first win of the season was a big one, both for his team’s season success and his employment status. But something seemed a little different with this iteration of Zimmer’s Vikings. Racking my brain as I watched the game, I picked up the pen looking to find some answers. After countless hours spent analyzing the enigmatic problem, I found this quite self-evident solution:
This defense flat-out stinks in comparison with Zimmer’s squads of the past.
It’s an obvious conclusion, but it comes as quite the shock considering Rick Spielman spent most of the team’s cap space acquiring pieces in free agency to patch up the defense. Many of these players were pitched to the Minnesota faithful as grizzled veterans who would elevate the unit to the next level.
While some additions have been integral to the team’s success (Everson Griffen, Michael Pierce, and Dalvin Tomlinson on the defensive line), others have missed the mark so far (Bashaud Breeland).
The mix has left Zimmer in a position he’s never been in as a head coach: fielding a playoff-contending team without an elite defense. Since he took over, Zimmer has never made the playoffs without a top-five scoring defense. The Vikings have the 20th-best scoring defense in the league right now. That metric can be improved upon, but Minnesota also has one of the toughest schedules in the league.
So it must be asked whether this sort of Zimmer squad can legitimately compete for a playoff spot. However, another spin through the history books suggests that Minnesota could be in a better spot than in the past. Every team that has made the Super Bowl since 2016 has had a top-five scoring offense. It’s no secret that the current NFL is driven by quarterbacks and skill position players, but a Zimmer team has never had an offense that ranked in the top five.
In fact, he’s only produced two top-10 scoring offenses during his seven years in Minnesota. This isn’t to say it’s time to throw the importance of defense out the window, but weirdly, this current iteration of the Vikings could be the most competitive version that anybody has seen.
Cousins’ stats speak for themselves (918 yards, eight TDs, and a 73.9 completion percentage), but the Minnesota offense runs much deeper than that. Not only are Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen producing, but Minnesota has a legit WR3 for the first time in forever. Second-year wideout K.J. Osborn has developed a clear rapport with Cousins, and it’s shown through his first three games (14 receptions for 193 yards and one TD).
The offense is starting to click on all cylinders with newly-appointed offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak at the helm. It would be ideal if the defense could catch up, but one last trip to the history books suggests that it might not be integral to the team’s success.
The 2000 season was the last time Minnesota fielded a top-five offense and a defense outside of the top 20. With Daunte Culpepper, Robert Smith, Randy Moss, and Cris Carter leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship game. This year, they have an eerily similar core with Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Jefferson, and Thielen, and there’s no reason to think that they couldn’t drive winning every week.
Only time will tell how far this Vikings team will be able to get with its struggling secondary, but there’s no doubting the talent they have on the offensive end of the ball. It’s a much different look for a Zimmer-led team, but maybe that’s what Minnesota needs. After all, they have been stuck as a relevant but not good enough team under Zimmer. Maybe changing their style is exactly what’s required to take them to another level.
This isn’t to excuse the defense’s various deficiencies thus far, but there also may not be as much reason to press the panic button on the defense. It’s an offense-driven league, and maybe this year, Zimmer is just catching up to the times and ready to put together his most competitive team yet.
