Cracks start to appear in vaunted wall against rush

Browns receiver Braylon Edwards chatted with cornerback Antoine Winfield on the field after the season opener and told him his team's game plan hinged on running the ball against the Vikings. That seemed like an odd strategy, considering the Vikings are the first team since 1970 to lead the NFL in run defense for three consecutive seasons.

Then the Lions used a similar game plan against the Vikings last week.

The results were even more eye-opening than the game plan. Both opponents had success running the ball, leaving the Vikings ranked 15th in the NFL in run defense after two games.

The Vikings say they're not surprised opponents are trying to attack them on the ground despite their history of snuffing out the run.

"You're the champ. Doesn't everybody go towards the champ?" said defensive end Ray Edwards. "Of course they're going to come and try and run the ball on us and see if we got lackadaisical in that spot. Now we just have to buckle down more and show who we are and what we do."

They will get a tough test in San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore, who rushed for 207 yards Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, including touchdown runs of 79 and 80 yards.

"It's a huge challenge," said linebacker Ben Leber. "We've proven that in the last few weeks we can be a little leaky in the run game and we're going to shore that up this week. But he's a top, elite back in the league and we're going to really have to be on our P's and Q's and watch a lot of film and make sure that we can get a lot of guys on him at all times."

Criticism of the Vikings' run defense has been scarce in recent years. They have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 25 consecutive games, the second-longest current streak behind the Baltimore Ravens' 36. Vikings opponents have averaged only 70.8 yards rushing per game the past three seasons combined.

The Lions, who ranked 30th in the NFL in rushing last season, rolled up 94 yards on the ground in the first half of Sunday's 27-13 loss.

"You have to make tackles," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said. "That's all it is. We missed some tackles in the first half that we made in the second half. That's the bottom line. We make those tackles and it's a different stat line."

The Lions were held to 35 yards on 10 carries in the second half.

"Sometimes we get in this mode that everybody wants to 'make a play,'" Leber said. "You've got to be happy that guys want to do that, but sometimes we're getting out of our gaps that we're supposed to be in and guys are trusting that you're going to be there. Those one or two missteps will hurt you, so I think we need to sit back and get back to fundamentals and understand it's a team defense."

Several players said the Lions also were more creative in their run scheme, using reverses, counters and wide receiver Calvin Johnson in the backfield. The Vikings are strong up the middle with Pro Bowl tackles Kevin and Pat Williams and linebacker E.J. Henderson, so teams might try and exploit other areas.

"I think that's part of the reason why we're on our heels this last game," Leber said. "They had a nice steady mix of some reverses, different types of run plays. They tweaked their run game a little bit. We expected certain types of runs and they changed it up just a little bit. So a lot of credit to them."