The Vikings have given up more than 400 yards of offense in five consecutive games, the longest streak in franchise history. They have gone without a sack in both of the losses during that stretch, have allowed a league-high 159 completions of 10 yards or more and gave up two long touchdown passes in their loss to the Lions on Sunday, when they became the first 10-3 team ever to be outscored through 13 games.
So there's little doubt that the league's 32nd-ranked defense needs to change, and in a hurry. The question is, what can the Vikings do about it?
On Monday, coach Kevin O'Connell spoke as directly as he has this season about the need for adjustments on defense, continuing his call for more aggressiveness in how the Vikings rush the quarterback. They have blitzed only 16% of the time this season, the sixth-lowest rate in the league, and they could bring extra pressure after Matt Ryan on Saturday in an effort to change the flow of their game against the Colts.
A team that wants to lean on a four-man rush and keep its safeties in deep coverage, though, needs more from its top two pass rushers. Za'Darius Smith is still getting the most attention from opposing defensive coordinators while playing through a knee bruise; he has had just one sack in the Vikings' past six games.
Opposite Smith, Danielle Hunter had four sacks in November. He has posted just one quarterback hit in the Vikings' past two games; they will need more from him in the coming weeks, especially if Smith continues to face extra attention while playing through injury.
On the back end, the Vikings aren't likely to scrap their zone schemes, but the number of big plays they have allowed has been directly tied to breakdowns in coverage. If the Vikings start devoting more players to the pass rush, though, their secondary will have to hold up with less help in coverage.
"We understand that we may have to change our scheme a little bit, because before, we were relying on those guys to get [to the quarterback] by playing zone coverages in the back end," cornerback Patrick Peterson said on KFAN-FM on Monday. "If anybody knows zone coverages, there's holes everywhere. But you rely on your guys up front to harass the quarterback and move him off his spot, to have guys be able to react a little bit better."
One thing O'Connell made clear on Monday is he's not currently considering stripping play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. The Vikings have two other former defensive coordinators on staff (associate head coach Mike Pettine and inside linebackers coach Greg Manusky), but O'Connell doesn't seem inclined to explore that possibility right now.
It's safe to assume the Vikings will have some frank conversations between coaches and players about what needs to change. It's too late for them to revamp their scheme this year or make major additions to the roster. If they're going to fix their defensive problems, they will have to do it primarily with the people they have.
"At this point in the season, it's hard to completely revamp everything that you do," O'Connell said. "But I also think when you have enough inventory and information telling you certain things, I think we've got to find ways to provide different looks and change-ups to the offense while staying true to hopefully the aggressive nature of trying to put your players in positions to make successful plays and activating the players we rely on to make plays in critical moments."
Do you have a big question about the Vikings? Email it to Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer or Michael Rand, or tweet it to @AccessVikings and listen for answers on the Access Vikings podcast later this week.
