Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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3. Health at safety
As mentioned above, injuries played a big role in the story of the 2020 Vikings defense. And if you add it up, the combination of Hunter, Barr, Pierce, Kendricks, Dantzler, Mike Hughes, Cam Smith, Troy Dye and Kenny Willekes missed a total of 105 full games this past season.
But one position that fortunately stayed healthy was safety, where Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris not only started all 16 games, but also played 95-plus percent of Minnesota's defensive snaps.
Harris was the Vikings only defensive player to not come off the field in 2020, as he played all 1,074 defensive snaps. He is scheduled to be a free agent this offseason after playing the 2020 season on the franchise tag.
Smith was third on the Vikings with 1,030 defensive snaps (95.90 percent), and it likely would have been more without a controversial disqualification after he made a tackle at Houston. After the season, he commented on what the season was like for the veteran safeties with young players around them.
"As a safety, especially in this defense, you're always asked to — no matter how many vets or whatever are on the field — [to help with] the communication, the pre-snap stuff, kind of between us and the linebackers," Smith said. "That has to be handled every year no matter what. If you're working with some new guys, you might have to spend a little more time on it but the role of a safety here, you have to do that no matter what.
"So, I don't think it's any different," Smith added. "I think you just have to understand who you're always working with and how you can best set up the defense and the secondary to be successful."
According to analytics website Pro Football Focus, Smith ranked 12th with a season grade of 74.3 among safeties with 800-plus snaps. Harris was 28th among the same group with a grade of 66.1.
2 stats that need to improve in 2021:
1. The pass rush
Mike Zimmer made no secret what a big focus will be for the Vikings defense this offseason.
"A priority for me is that we continue to get more pass rushers," Zimmer said. "I've always said since the day I walked in here that you've got to have people that can cover and you've got to have people that can rush.
"So, we need people that can rush the quarterback," Zimmer added. "And whether it's a linebacker, a cornerback or safety you've got to have guys that can cover in today's NFL. So that makes a big difference."
It's no surprise that Zimmer wants to improve the pass rush. The Vikings finished with just 23 sacks, the lowest total on franchise history since sacks became an official stat in 1982. And the player that finished with the most sacks in a Vikings uniform was Yannick Ngakoue, who had 5.0 but also wasn't on the roster after Week 6.
The Vikings sacks total ranked 28th in the NFL, and was the same ranking as Minnesota's sack rate on pass attempts, which was 4.25 percent. The Vikings produced 23 sacks on 541 pass attempts by opponents.
Hunter was sorely missed in this aspect. He posted back-to-back seasons with 14.5sacks in both 2018 and 2019.
2. The run defense
By the time the 2020 season ended, the Vikings ranked 27th in rushing yards allowed per game at 134.3.
Oddly enough, the Vikings gave up just six rushes on 20-plus yards, which tied for the third-fewest in the league. But that means Minnesota gave up plenty of runs that moved the chains but didn't hit the 20-yard mark.
In fact, the Vikings gave up 136 runs that went for a first down. That stat ranked 29th in the league, as did a first-down rate allowed, which was 28.8 percent. In simpler terms, Minnesota allowed a first down on the ground more than a quarter of the time an opponent ran the ball.
All in all, the Vikings gave up at least 95 rushing yards in all but one game in 2020. And they allowed 100-plus rushing yards in 12 of 16 games.
The lowlight for this aspect was the Saints game, of course, as Minnesota allowed 264 rushing yards in New Orleans. That total was the most under Zimmer, and the most allowed by the Vikings since 1991.
The Vikings also allowed seven total rushing touchdowns in that game, including six to Alvin Kamara, who tied an NFL record for the most in a game. That record was set by Minnesota native Ernie Nevers in 1929.