Watching the Minnesota Vikings thus far has felt like one exceptionally long bad day. A day before you head to work, you spill coffee on your work shirt. You’re already running late and traffic is only going to get worse. Plus, you got that report due at noon…just an overall bad day.
And it may be getting worse.
The San Francisco 49ers come into town on Sunday and they can’t be too happy about dropping their first game to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday.
So now, Minnesota has to avoid becoming the proverbial get-right game and compete against the Super Bowl favorites on Monday at 7:15 p.m. CT.
If they want a shot at taking down Goliath, here a few stones that they can put in the slingshot on the defensive side of the football.
Make Purdy uncomfortable
Against the Browns was the first time we’ve seen Brock Purdy look like a rookie in his first 11 starts.
Cleveland utilized a lot of man coverage and sent their vaunted pass-rush at Purdy.
Minnesota doesn’t have Myles Garrett, but they do have Danielle Hunter, who is tied for the league lead in sacks with Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt.
Hunter must utilize his game-wrecking ability to fluster Purdy and derail this potent Shanahan offense. It will also be up to another player to step up in the pass-rush department in the absence of Marcus Davenport.
The fun part about Brian Flores’ scheme is that could be anybody on the defense. Harrison Smith had three sacks to help close out the Carolina game. Josh Metellus caused the sack that led to Jordan Hicks’ 42-yard scoop-and-score.
Make Purdy uncomfortable, make him second-guess his reads and the Vikings may have a chance to give Purdy back-to-back disheartening performances.
Control the outside run game/motion
Kyle Shanahan uses motion to get the opposing defense off of their spot. Like, a lot of motion.
According to ESPN’s Seth Walder, the 49ers utilize motion 77.5% of the time, the third most in the league. To put this number into perspective, Minnesota uses motion 46% of the time. That’s only seven percent more than San Francisco utilizes motion at the time of the snap (39%).
With this in mind, setting the edge with the players outside the tackle box will be critical. This includes the strong safeties Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus or the linebackers Jones, Hunter, Brian Asamoah, Ivan Pace, etc.
Long story short, it will take a team effort to keep these outside runs and motions in check.
They didn’t do a great job of that against the Chicago run game, as three of their nine rushing first downs came on outside runs, including two first-down runs from receiver Velus Jones.
Names like Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffery and Ray-Ray McCloud are littered throughout this roster, making stopping this run game crucial to controlling the tempo of this game.
Rally to the football
Another aspect of Shanahan’s system is putting playmakers in space in the passing game.
Whether that’s in the quick passing game or down the field on a crosser, Shanahan wants to get his pass-catchers in space and gain yards. Their 5.7 yards after catch per reception ranks fifth in the league.
One of the teams in front of them is the Chicago Bears at 5.8 YAC per reception. Minnesota held them to just over 4.1 YAC per reception in their matchup, with most of that production coming from one catch from Darnell Mooney.
The Vikings rallied to the football and constricted the yard after catch opportunities for Chicago.
They will have to do the same against the 49ers. Cleveland made life difficult for the San Francisco offense and they still were able to gain over 5.9 YAC per reception.
If Minnesota can rally to the football the same way they did against Chicago, they can significantly help their chances to pull off the upset.
Bend, but don't break
This 49ers offense is going to move. They are going to have success, and that is just a fact.
Unless Purdy regresses for a second week in a row, this team will be moving the football. They’re just too talented, and Shanahan is too good of a play-caller.
What Minnesota needs to worry about is being able to limit these drives to field goals instead of touchdowns.
Only 15 drives have reached the red zone for this Minnesota defense, the 7th-least in the NFL. But they’ve allowed ten touchdowns. That 66.7% red zone percentage ties for the 5th-worst.
If Minnesota wants a shot at pulling off this upset, they must limit this offense to field goals.
Much easier said than done.
