Spotty run defense in preseason opener gives Vikings something to work on

The Vikings won Friday night's coin toss, deferred and sent their kicking team onto the field. So far, so good for a team built upon the NFL's most basic bedrock principles of stout defense, a power running game and conservative efforts to maintain favorable field position.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they spent 16 of the next 18 minutes and 31 of the next 34 snaps playing defense. By the time Teddy Bridgewater and the offense got to their fourth snap and second net yard gained, Cincinnati had 132 yards of offense, nine first downs and five third-down conversions.

The Vikings would win the game, 17-16, lifting coach Mike Zimmer's preseason record to 10-1. But it's also understandable why the boss said, "Not good enough" when assessing his team's performance.

Typically, when the Vikings falter as they did early in Friday's game, a root problem is a worrisome level of inconsistency in executing the fundamentals of Zimmer's run defense. Looser-than-normal pass coverage, particularly by second-year cornerback Trae Waynes, contributed to unfavorable downs and distances. But some familiar woes could be spotted when the Bengals ran the ball.

"We were soft in some areas, and they creased us on a couple of plays," defensive tackle Tom Johnson said Sunday. "It was a small adjustment, small things. We're really not worried about it. We're going to go out and dominate teams, but we didn't do it that night. But we have run defense as our emphasis point this week, so we're going to come out and battle and tweak a few things around for Seattle [on Thursday]."

In fairness, we shouldn't sound the poor-run-defense alarm too loudly too early. Three defensive starters sat out because of injuries, including two up-the-middle guys in tackle Sharrif Floyd and middle linebacker Eric Kendricks. And all of the established starters were on the sideline when the Bengals put together a 22-play drive on their second possession.

But the first unit did surrender a 10-yard rush into field goal range on the fifth snap of the game. And many of the backups being counted on to supply depth in the ultimate sport of attrition were on the field when Cincinnati ran the ball on four consecutive third-and-one conversions during its 22-play drive.

An optimist would note the Bengals were scoreless after those first two possessions. They missed a field goal and were dropped for a 1-yard loss when rookie middle linebacker Kentrell Brothers and second-year end Danielle Hunter stuffed running back Cedric Peerman on a dive play on fourth-and-1 at the Vikings 3-yard line.

Zimmer called that play "the perfect example" of the team's inconsistencies against the run. He said the Bengals ran the same play against the same defense eight plays earlier and gained 5 yards.

"And it really was nothing different," Zimmer said. "We had the exact same call. … But we did that one right. It's just some corrections. I'm not discouraged with it yet."

Zimmer's defense ranked fifth in points allowed a year ago. But when it wobbled in five regular-season losses, the 17th-ranked run defense (108.8 yards allowed per game) usually was the first domino to be tipped.

For example:

• In the season opener, the 49ers rushed for 230 yards, their season high by 97 yards.

• In a three-point loss at Denver, the Vikings gave up a 72-yard touchdown run to a team that was averaging 57 yards rushing a game.

• In the first game against Green Bay, Packers running back Eddie Lacy ran for 100 yards after averaging 34.2 yards through nine games.

• Seattle rushed for 173 yards in the rout at TCF Bank Stadium.

"I think our strength is rushing the quarterback," Zimmer said. "So in order for us to rush the quarterback, we have to be in [the right] situations."

Friday night proved that the run defense still has some work to do in the final three preseason games.

"There were a couple things in there that we misfitted," Zimmer said. "There were a couple of plays that we hadn't seen. The perimeter run plays a couple of times. The corner jumped inside. The linebacker didn't get to where he was going. It was all correctable things."

And there was some good news, according to the boss.

"I actually thought the defensive line did really good," Zimmer said. "They played their blocks good."