Chiefs Defensive Plan Gives The Vikings A Scheme To Follow In 2023

The outcome of the Super Bowl was the best possible outcome for the Minnesota Vikings.

In the copycat league that is the NFL, it will be much easier for the Vikings to emulate the Kansas City Chiefs than it would have been to follow the Philadelphia Eagles example.

Going into Super Bowl LVII, the large majority of the player and team evaluations had the Eagles as the more complete team. They had the best offensive line and the best defensive line. The Chiefs had a few good defensive players, but the Eagles were quite a bit better on that side of the ball.

The Chiefs were far more dependent on scheme than the Eagles when it came to defensive play. Their play in the first half of the Super Bowl had them on the path to a significant loss. But the improvement in the second half gave them a chance to deliver one of the most entertaining wins in Super Bowl history.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has a signature in the NFL. He is a heavy blitzer, studying film all week to find the weakness in opposing offensive lines and designing blitzes that will produce sacks, batted down passes, fumbles and interceptions.

It has worked well enough in the past, but Spagnuolo went against type in the second half. He knew the Philly offensive line was just too strong to defeat with blitz after blitz. He saw the Eagles move up and down the field in the first half and he had considered that possibility in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.

He was not going to ignore the pressure game, but he knew that his defense could muster enough through Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Carlos Dunlap to disrupt Jalen Hurts and the Eagles passing attack. What he needed was outstanding performances from his linebacking crew of Nick Bolton, Leo Chenal and Willie Gay.

Those three delivered consistently and the Chiefs found a way to short-circuit the Philadelphia offense.

How does this help the Vikings defense and new defensive coordinator Brian Flores? It lets them know that they don’t need a team of Pro Bowlers on defense to be successful.

Certainly the Vikings need an upgrade in talent on that side of the ball, as their leaders – Danielle Hunter, Za’Darius Smith and Harrison Smith — did nothing of the sort when the team needed them most. The Vikings do have to get their equivalent of Kansas City’s Jones and Clark, but that doesn’t mean they need an Aaron Donald or Von Miller. The Vikings are $21 million over the salary cap and it seems impossible to get those type of players. Instead, they need consistency, anger and skill.

Flores is at a very similar level to Spagnuolo with his tendencies and game management. He will make significant adjustments as the game moves along and won’t stick with vanilla coverage schemes the way Ed Donatell did last season.

The decisions that general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, head coach Kevin O’Connell and Flores make in the offseason won’t be easy. They have to decide which players on the roster they can live with and which ones have to be replaced.

It seems obvious that the pass rush and the secondary are the ones that need the biggest upgrade, but it’s not that simple. Linebackers Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks led the team in tackles with 137 and 129 respectively, but neither one is a game changer. Kendricks had one fumble recovery while Hicks had one forced fumble and an interception. That’s not good enough.

From this corner, it doesn’t look like any of the three defensive position groups are good enough with the 2023 season on the horizon. But the Vikings are not going to replace 11 starters from one year to the next.

That’s why the Vikings brain trust must come up with the right answers. It’s clear that ranking 31^st in yards allowed and 30^th in points per game allowed is not good enough, and that a new scheme with different personnel must deliver much better results.

The offense is on track to play consistent, winning football. The combination of Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and T.J. Hockenson is good enough to rank with the best in the NFC. O’Connell will make sure the offense stays at a high level or gets better.

Now it’s up to the defense to make a winning statement.