Vikings Hope Fans & Home-Field Advantage Return in 2021

[Viktor]

It's worth noting that the 31.1 points allowed per game are the second-most in Vikings history behind the 1965 team still trying to find its footing (32.4 per game) in the franchise's fifth season, so that's not the identity that the Minnesota Vikings have hewn.


It's also important to mention that three of the five highest-scoring seasons in NFL history are the past three seasons:


1. 12,692 in 2020


2. 11,985 in 2013


3. 11,952 in 2018


T-4. 11,680 in 2015


T-4. 11,680 in 2015


"I think the scoring will come down this year. That's my personal opinion," Zimmer said. "Especially if we have a normal offseason, I think this thing will get back under control. I know the penalties were way down this year. There was a lot of things that teams got away with, I guess is the best way to say it."


The departure of Everson Griffen (he voided his contract with Minnesota before the full effects of the pandemic set in) and injury to Hunter led to defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo going from a rotation on the edge and some productive snaps inside to starting all 15 of the games he played. They were the first 15 starts of his career. His sacks total went from 7.0 on 368 defensive snaps in 2019 to 3.5 on 696 defensive snaps this season, and Odenigbo described a personal anger with how the season played out.


The Vikings struggled to affect passers throughout the season in home and away games, and Minnesota also experience growing pains with young cornerbacks before a revolving door of injuries throughout the defense.


That's a bad combination, and Odenigbo said the absence of fans didn't help.


"I think, if you want to be frank, I think because we don't have fans, so when you eliminate U.S. Bank Stadium with third-and-long and people can't hear the snap count, it makes it a lot easier, but not playing with fans turns it into a scrimmage, so throughout the league, it was high-scoring," Odenigbo said. "This year was kind of an outlier because it was a high-scoring offense all year, but obviously that's not an excuse.