Minnesota Vikings Counting On Improved Defense Driving Success In 2022

An objective look at the Minnesota Vikings reveals that this is a team that has a huge mountain to climb if it is going to be successful in the 2022 season. In addition to coming off two uninspiring seasons in which the defense underperformed on a consistent basis, the offense regularly struggled when facing top opponents.

The old regime of general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer is gone, and there can be no argument that another spin of the wheel should have been given to either man. The Vikings went backwards in 2020 and 2021, and it was quite clear that both men lost their ability to drive the team in a successful direction.

So give owner Zygi Wilf credit for realizing that changes at both positions had to be made. While the new leadership in general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell has plenty of enthusiasm and appear to be generating new ideas, both are completely inexperienced in the positions they have been given.

That’s certainly an issue, but inexperience doesn’t have to mean that Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are doomed to learn every lesson the hard way. While a few missteps are almost guaranteed, enthusiasm, innovation and intelligence can help the Vikings break out of the malaise that sunk the team and its previous regime.

The defense has a chance to turn things around significantly, especially with pass rusher supreme Danielle Hunter in top shape with training camp just weeks away. Hunter was unable to play in 2020 with a disc injury and was limited in 2021 with a pectoral muscle issue, but he is a game-changing player when he is in the lineup.

Hunter had back-to-back seasons of 14.5 sacks in 2018 and 2019, and this year he will be joined by former Green Bay Packer Za’Darius Smith, who had 26.0 sacks in 2019 and 2020. With both in the lineup, the Vikings have a chance to cause havoc on an every-game basis.

In addition to that one-two punch, the Vikings are changing their defensive gameplan under new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. Instead of changing the pre-snap look on an every-play basis, the Vikings are going to follow a league-wide trend that makes it more difficult for opposing quarterbacks to understand what they will see as a play unfolds.

The Vikings are not going to change their set up prior to the snap, so opposing quarterbacks will not be able to “read” how the defense is going to attack. Of course, they can guess based on down and distance, but the defensive set will not give anything away prior to the center putting the ball in play.

This is a system that several Minnesota rivals have used over the years, and it has caused havoc for Kirk Cousins and his offensive teammates. By employing a similar setup for the Minnesota defense, it will take longer for quarterbacks to figure out what is happening, and that should lead to more sacks and turnovers.

Cornerback Patrick Peterson is the Vikings’ most experienced player at that position, and he likes the direction of the defense and the confusion that it will cause for many signal callers.

“Because when you have a confused quarterback, you don’t have a clear indication on where to go with the ball. That gives Danielle (Hunter) and Z (Za’Darius Smith) an opportunity to get that much more pressure on him,” Peterson said. “I love the scheme. I love the way it’s structured, I love the way that it’s built, and I’m just excited to see how it’s going to unfold here in the fall.”

In addition to injury issues in the past two seasons, the Vikings primary defensive issue has been poor coverage by the cornerbacks. There are no guarantees that Peterson will get substantial help from rookies like Andrew Booth Jr. and Akayleb Evans along with holdover Cameron Dantzler, but the new system will give quarterbacks less time to diagnose where the weak spot is and that means it will be more difficult to complete big plays.

The Vikings are set up to play better defense than they did in either of the last two seasons. If that change turns out to be substantial, a surprising season could be at hand for their very inexperienced leadership duo of Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell.