Vikings' rise keyed by championship-caliber defense

[Mothman]

Great read from Bucky Brooks about the Vikings defense:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap100000 ... er-defense

[PurpleMustReign]

Idk, I'm not ready to say they are too dominant just yet. I think they are good... but not consistent enough for an extended postseason run... yet...

[losperros]

Good article. The Vikings need the D to keep hitting and playing precisely as the season progresses. The games are going to get more difficult.

Also, intangibles could still play a part. Hopefully, there are no bad injuries. If there are, we'll see if the Vikings D has the necessary roster depth to maintain their good play.

[Angels Wings]

The fact that we have played 4(5 after Thursday's game) home games has also helped(and will hurt down the stretch) us so far...

[Sinatra]

The Vikings' defense is currently ranked 12th in the NFL by DVOA.

The Packers, by comparison, are ranked 10th. No one's calling that Packer defense "championship-caliber" or "dominant."

http://footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratin ... oa-ratings

[Mothman]

The Vikings' defense is currently ranked 12th in the NFL by DVOA.

The Packers, by comparison, are ranked 10th. No one's calling that Packer defense "championship-caliber" or "dominant."

http://footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratin ... oa-ratings

The adjectives used to describe the defense don't really matter. I thought the article was interesting because it goes into some depth about the defense and how it works.

[mansquatch]

Solid article. I’m becoming convinced that the Harrison Smith pick was as pivotal a the Kalil pick in terms of shoring up a position and group and turning a weakness into a strength.

Hopefully Musgrave and Ponder can figure some stuff out over the next 3 weeks to find some consistency/confidence going into the meat of our NFC North Schedule. I’m not sold on us winning the division, but I no longer think it is outside of the realm of reason. I thought Tim Ryan, one of the announcers last Sunday, hit it right: The team will go as far as its offense can take them, the Defense is legit. I’m really looking forward to the games against Chicago. Who has the meanest defense in the NFC North?

[Mothman]

Solid article. I’m becoming convinced that the Harrison Smith pick was as pivotal a the Kalil pick in terms of shoring up a position and group and turning a weakness into a strength.

Hopefully Musgrave and Ponder can figure some stuff out over the next 3 weeks to find some consistency/confidence going into the meat of our NFC North Schedule. I’m not sold on us winning the division, but I no longer think it is outside of the realm of reason. I thought Tim Ryan, one of the announcers last Sunday, hit it right: The team will go as far as its offense can take them, the Defense is legit. I’m really looking forward to the games against Chicago. Who has the meanest defense in the NFC North?

Detroit might be the meanest but it's not the most effective. The Bears are easily the most opportunistic.

None of the NFCN defenses are particularly easy to face. This is a tough division!

[Angels Wings]

The Harrison Smith pick was not liked by some on this board that would have preferred us to keep our 2nd round pick which of course was a high #2 pick that the Ravens used on LB Courtney Upshaw. I didn't know anything about Smith, but figured the front office did their due diligence on him to trade up for him. So far, he has proven to be the right choice.

[mansquatch]

Detroit might be the meanest but it's not the most effective. The Bears are easily the most opportunistic.

None of the NFCN defenses are particularly easy to face. This is a tough division!

I bet if you asked Calvin Johnson that question he might have a different answer.

[Mothman]

I bet if you asked Calvin Johnson that question he might have a different answer.

LOL! I'll be he would too.

[VikingLord]

All I can say after watching this defense against the Bucs is

I've seen championship-caliber defense. The Vikings don't have anything resembling a championship-caliber defense. Should have brought some lube to this game...

[Angels Wings]

All I can say after watching this defense against the Bucs is

I've seen championship-caliber defense. The Vikings don't have anything resembling a championship-caliber defense. Should have brought some lube to this game...

Well the offense didn't help either...

[radar55]

This so called championship defense just got schooled tonite by a less than stellar offensive team. Just imagine what Green Bay will do to us.

[NextQuestion]

I actually thought Tampa Bay was the most explosive offense we'd seen so far (even before the game) and feared this outcome. Cook with broken wrist huh?