Mike Zimmer's current defensive dilemma on full display in final drive of Vikings loss to Lions

The Vikings rank second in the NFL this season with 36 sacks. They have pressured opposing quarterbacks at the fifth-highest rate in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. And in Jared Goff, they faced a quarterback Sunday who's been sacked 30 times and posted one of the league's worst passer ratings when pressured.

But on the game-winning drive in Detroit's 29-27 victory over the Vikings, Goff dropped back 12 times and was pressured just once, when the Vikings sent Nick Vigil and Harrison Smith on a six-man rush with 27 seconds left. Otherwise, the Vikings sent four pass rushers after him seven times and rushed just three on Goff's final four dropbacks, when he completed three passes for 20 yards and hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for an 11-yard score as time ran out.

When asked after the game whether he wished he would have brought more pressure after Goff at the end of the game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said, "Well, we weren't covering that great. Everything's hindsight, I guess."

As a play-caller, Zimmer has never been a heavy-volume blitzer, and the Vikings rank 12th in the NFL in terms of blitz frequency this season, sending extra rushers after opposing quarterbacks 24.1 percent of the time, according to Pro Football Focus. While he is famous for his blitzes — most notably the double-A gap pressures he's helped popularize around the league — he employs them selectively and with deception, rather than sending six defenders after the quarterback on a regular basis.

But his matter-of-fact answer on Sunday hinted at his predicament: By sending extra pressure after opposing quarterbacks, he might be siphoning resources from a secondary in need of help.

After letting three corners they'd picked in the first two rounds (Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander) leave in free agency last year, the Vikings first tried to rebuild their secondary through the draft, turning to one-year deals for veterans in free agency this spring when they were concerned their 2020 draft picks weren't ready.

Patrick Peterson, who's been the best of the Vikings' three corners on one-year contracts, wasn't available Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19. Neither was defensive backs coach Karl Scott, who was also at home because of NFL COVID protocols. That left the Vikings to start Bashaud Breeland and Cameron Dantzler against the Lions.

Breeland continued the struggles he'd had for much of the season (giving up seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus). While Dantzler had an interception and a strong day in coverage overall, he missed a key tackle on Detroit's final drive and was one of two defenders (along with safety Xavier Woods) backpedaling into the end zone on the game's final play, giving St. Brown a big cushion to catch the game-winner.

Even before the Lions' final drive, Zimmer opted to keep his defenders in coverage rather than sending extra pressure after Goff, blitzing him on just six of his 39 dropbacks on Sunday. Blake Lynch sacked him twice in the second half, but both were as part of four-man rushes. On a fourth-quarter drive that began with three straight Lions runs, Zimmer went back to playing two safeties deep on first down after Goff completed a third-down pass.

"I mean, we actually tried to keep some more guys in coverage, really," Zimmer said. "We just changed up fronts and how we're doing it a little bit."

The Vikings could get Peterson back in time for Thursday's game against the Steelers, and it's possible they'll have linebacker Anthony Barr, who was testing out his injured hamstring in warmups before Sunday's game. Having Barr or Eric Kendricks back would add another dynamic to the Vikings' pressure packages, while Peterson playing would mean the return of the Minnesota corner most adept at challenging receivers.

But the Vikings will not have Danielle Hunter the rest of the way, and they might not have Everson Griffen. That could mean leaving Zimmer with incremental choices between blitzing quarterbacks and helping his secondary.

Beyond this season, a defensive backfield to which the Vikings have devoted so many resources (five first-round picks and a second-rounder during Rick Spielman's 10 years as general manager) will again be an issue.

Peterson, Woods, Breeland and Alexander will all be free agents in March. Dantzler, Kris Boyd and Harrison Hand are the only corners signed through next year. Camryn Bynum might be ready for a bigger role at safety next to Smith (who turns 33 in February), but the Vikings' salary cap constraints could again prevent them from making major additions to the roster in free agency.

A secondary good enough to stand on its own can embolden a defensive play-caller to send more pressure. Zimmer evidently was worried about doing that on Sunday because the Vikings' coverage unit, against Goff and the winless Lions, was in need of help.

"Weren't tight enough in coverage," Smith said. "He did make some good throws, but whether our [pattern] matches were a little off or we weren't tight enough, it was kind of a mixture of those things."

TWO PLAYERS WHO STOOD OUT:
Justin Jefferson: Even after Adam Thielen left with a high ankle sprain and the Lions started double-teaming Jefferson, the second-year receiver showed again why he should get the ball so often. He set career highs with 11 catches and 182 yards, hauling in a 50-yarder off one of the many play-action throws the Vikings used on Sunday, and passed Jerry Rice for the third-most receiving yards in the first two years of a player's career during the Super Bowl era. Jefferson needs 117 yards to catch Randy Moss for second on the list, and 146 to match Odell Beckham's record.

Lynch: Playing a career-high 71 snaps with bothBarr and Kendricks out, Lynch was the Vikings' best pass rusher of the day, working a stunt with Kenny Willekes for the first of his two sacks. Then, on the Lions' perplexing fourth-down bootleg call, Lynch didn't fall for Detroit's run fake, chasing Goff down for a strip sack.

TWO TRENDS TO WATCH:
Whether teams keep kicking to Kene Nwangwu: The Lions had four touchbacks in six kickoffs on Sunday, but kicked short enough for Nwangwu — the first player with two kick return TDs in the same season since Cordarrelle Patterson in 2015 — to bring the ball out twice. He had a 44-yard return on Sunday, and would seem to be reaching a point where kickers will avoid him altogether. With night games in Chicago and Green Bay still on the Vikings' schedule, though, Nwangwu could get a few opportunities if cold weather keeps kickers from booting the ball through the end zone. He's shown how dangerous he can be when he gets his chance.

Whether play action is back for the Vikings: They used play action on 17 of Kirk Cousins' 45 dropbacks on Sunday, and have used it more than 30 percent of the time in each of their last three games after calling it that often just twice in their first nine (per PFF). On Sunday, Cousins was lethal off play fakes, completing 13 of his 15 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown while using bootlegs to move the pocket and buy himself time to set his feet before downfield throws. Analytics suggest most teams could stand to use play action more, and as valuable as it's been for Cousins over the years, it'll be interesting to watch whether the Vikings call more of it down the stretch.

ONE BIG QUESTION
After a loss to the Lions, can the Vikings save themselves? After the Vikings lost their second straight road game on Sunday, heading into a Thursday game against the Steelers, Zimmer said, "Obviously our backs are to the wall, but they've been back against the wall for a while." That's true, but it raises the question whether they're good enough to get off of it.

The Vikings are 5-7, still only a game out of the NFC's final playoff spot but trailing a 49ers team that owns a head-to-head tiebreaker after beating Minnesota a week ago. Washington is also 6-6, but is 5-2 in the conference. The Eagles are 6-7, with a bye this week before the first of two games against Washington.

It could take nine wins for the Vikings to reach the playoffs, meaning they'd have to win four of their final five in a slate that includes three night games (two on the road in NFC North cities) and back-to-back matchups with NFC playoff teams (the Rams and Packers). We've said it for several weeks, but if the Vikings reach the playoffs at this point, they'll have done so with the kind of run that validates Zimmer's early-season protestations about how his team is better than outsiders think it is.

And if not? It's anyone's guess how the Wilfs — who live in New Jersey and rarely speak publicly — will react. They've remained loyal to Zimmer and Spielman despite only two playoff wins in the pair's first seven seasons together, but if the Vikings miss the playoffs for the second time in as many years, change could be in store. Zimmer is in his eighth season as coach; Spielman is in his 10th as general manager, having been in charge of the personnel department since 2006. In Spielman's first 15 seasons with the team, the Vikings have been to the playoffs six times: twice in five years with Brad Childress as head coach, once in three years with Leslie Frazier and three times in seven years with Zimmer. During that time, the only NFC teams not to reach a Super Bowl are Washington, the Cowboys, the Lions and Vikings.

That's enough to try anyone's patience, and after the Wilfs have devoted considerable resources to the team — building U.S. Bank Stadium and TCO Performance Center while routinely spending cash over the cap to field a competitive roster — they might come looking for a bigger return on their investment.

The current Vikings regime could be down to its final weeks to deliver one.