Minnesota Vikings: 3 Early bold predictions for the 2020 season
3. Defense will take a bit of a step back
Over the course of the past few seasons and really ever since Mike Zimmer took over as head coach in Minnesota, the Vikings have consisted of one of the top defensive units in the league and one that many NFL teams grew to fear over the years.
With that continuing to be the case once again in the last year or two, the departure of multiple key players on the defensive side of the ball this offseason could lead to that unit taking a bit of a step back during the 2020 campaign.
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After departures of key players such as defensive end Everson Griffen, cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes, Mackensie Alexander, Trae Waynes and others, the defense has seen a large amount of turnover and will result in some new players required to step up on that side of the line of scrimmage during the upcoming regular season and beyond.
Last season, the Vikings defense put together a solid performance while allowing the offense to take care of business on their end of the field.
In the passing attack, Minnesota gave up 3,737 yards (15th in NFL) through the air, allowing opposing offenses to complete 394 passes (tied for 3rd-worst in NFL). The defense did manage to force the opposition into throwing 17 interceptions (3rd-best in NFL) while giving up 23 touchdowns in the pass game.
In the running game, the Vikings defense allowed opponents to run the ball 404 times (11th least in the NFL) for a total of 1,728 yards (ranked 13th-best) and just eight touchdowns (2nd-best mark in the league) on the ground.
It would be weird to see a Zimmer-led defense not thrive under his command, but it will be likely that we see Minnesota’s defensive unit take somewhat of a step back and not be as dominant this season, although the group could still keep the purple and gold in games to put together an overall solid campaign.