Alan Williams isn’t big on moral victories. So while the Vikings have been solid defensively the last two weeks in Chicago and Green Bay, the defensive coordinator points to only one thing: the Vikings still lost.
“Still not good enough,” Williams said. “They still scored too many points.”
The Bears and Packers combined to convert 57 percent of their third downs (20-for-35). Connected with that, the Vikings’ defense has also been chewed up by lengthy, draining, time-consuming drives. In Week 12 in Chicago, the Vikings allowed a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter.
Last week, the Packers ran 11 minutes off the clock to open the fourth quarter, marching 73 yards in 17 plays before Mason Crosby kicked a game-sealing 31-yard field goal. There were no major defensive breakdowns on that series. But there were no big plays either.”
“It’s one guy here, one guy there, not getting our job done, not taking care of our assignments,” Williams explained. “It builds up and when you have a team like that, if you don’t take care of your assignment on every play, they’ll make you pay.”
There's more at the link.
The defense isn't bad but they have to be better, they have to clean up the penalties and find a way to stop giving up the long, time-consuming drives they've been giving up this year. They can't be expected to be perfect but it's fair to expect them to be better.
Has anyone else noticed just how under-the-radar Allen Williams has been since he's been signed? The guy seems almost invisible. I'm not saying this is good or bad, mind you. Just interesting. It's nice to see he's fitting right in with traditional Vikings defensive schemes over the past 15 years or so, that being allowing what feels like the most opposing third down conversions in the league. I'm anxious to see what moves are made in the offseason to continue advancing the defense, particularly DT and MLB. Has Guion and Brinkley done enough? I'd argue they are "just guys" in a scheme where their positions are of the utmost importance.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
dead_poet wrote:Has anyone else noticed just how under-the-radar Allen Williams has been since he's been signed? The guy seems almost invisible. I'm not saying this is good or bad, mind you. Just interesting. It's nice to see he's fitting right in with traditional Vikings defensive schemes over the past 15 years or so, that being allowing what feels like the most opposing third down conversions in the league. I'm anxious to see what moves are made in the offseason to continue advancing the defense, particularly DT and MLB. Has Guion and Brinkley done enough? I'd argue they are "just guys" in a scheme where their positions are of the utmost importance.
...and I'd agree with you. Neither is a bad player but the Vikings could be much, much better on defense if they upgraded those two key positions. I think Henderson is another "just a guy" player.
There are a few nice NTs available in FA this year, also the MLB from the Bengals is of interest. Henry Melton is available. If that happens the Bears FO is truly the worst ever.
I think the D is pretty close to where it needs to be. Frasier's philosophy over the years seems to be built on creating 3 and outs and ball control. They are close to being able to do that consistently, but need a just a few more pieces.
Losing Chris Cook was HUGE. Brinkley is getting better, but he isn't there yet. DT/NT opposite KWill doesn't seem to be fully solidified. Despite PFF, I think Erin Henderson could be upgraded.
I think at the end of the day I'd prefer if they drafted to fix the WR issues unless they can get a beast of LB or DT in the draft this year. DL is a stength of this draft so it wouldn't surprise me if we see them find KWill's replacement if no WR are available at our position in the 1st round.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
mansquatch wrote:There are a few nice NTs available in FA this year, also the MLB from the Bengals is of interest. Henry Melton is available. If that happens the Bears FO is truly the worst ever.
LOL! I doubt it will happen but I'd love to see Melton playing for the Vikes.
I think the D is pretty close to where it needs to be. Frasier's philosophy over the years seems to be built on creating 3 and outs and ball control. They are close to being able to do that consistently, but need a just a few more pieces.
Losing Chris Cook was HUGE. Brinkley is getting better, but he isn't there yet. DT/NT opposite KWill doesn't seem to be fully solidified. Despite PFF, I think Erin Henderson could be upgraded.
I think CB remains a concern, mainly because Cook can't be trusted at this point and bless him for all he's given the team but at some point, Antoine Winfield's game will fall off or he'll retire. I think he can give them at least one more good year but they have to think about his replacement. All things considered, I'd say the Vikings defense is still 4 or 5 players away from what they'll need to become a dominant unit (not that they have to be dominant to win it all) and at least 3 away from becoming what they really need to be for the team to take the next step and be not only a playoff contender but a reasonably good road team.
I think at the end of the day I'd prefer if they drafted to fix the WR issues unless they can get a beast of LB or DT in the draft this year. DL is a stength of this draft so it wouldn't surprise me if we see them find KWill's replacement if no WR are available at our position in the 1st round.
That would be fine with me. All I ever want in the first round is impact players. If they can get one at any position where they lack one now, I'll be happy. Ideally, it's good if they can get a player like that at a position of need but I just want them looking for game-changers in the first round.
dead_poet wrote:I'm anxious to see what moves are made in the offseason to continue advancing the defense, particularly DT and MLB. Has Guion and Brinkley done enough? I'd argue they are "just guys" in a scheme where their positions are of the utmost importance.
Very good point. Look at the Vikings defense and Guion and Brinkley are in the two key positions that have to work or the entire scheme breaks down. I'm not saying they're horrible players but upgrades at DT and MLB are necessary.
On that note, the Vikings need to add some speed and big play impact to their defense. Many of us, including myself, are calling for better playmakers at WR on offense. I also think this defense needs at least a couple more playmakers who can cause big things to happen at critical moments. A big hit, or a forced fumble, or an INT, or even just a timely stop can shut down those lengthy drives against our D that the article says is a problem.
It would probably be wasting Griffen's talent as an outside rusher, but I would not mind seeing Everson lining up at DT for more than a few snaps a game. Hell, I think Everson Griffen needs a huge increase in snaps. I also think we need to give Christian Ballard a shot at starting at DT. Letroy is garbage.
A Randy Moss fan for life. A Kevin Williams fan for life.
Mothman wrote:I think Henderson is another "just a guy" player.
I really thought he played well last season and was surprised the Vikings just let him dangle in the wind without much of a backup plan behind him. Then signed him to only a one-year deal. He's responded by being very "meh" this season, which is surprising given how important this was to him securing a long-term deal (here, or elsewhere). He certainly hasn't garnered the PFF love this year. I know that's crushing to hear, Jim. Outside of Greenway (who I think is better than a lot of fans give him credit for), our LBs aren't anything to write home about. It's nice to see we're shoring up the secondary, but I'm concerned with as many problem areas as we seem to still have that LB (and DT) are going to be neglected for another year, which makes me cringe.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
HardcoreVikesFan wrote:It would probably be wasting Griffen's talent as an outside rusher, but I would not mind seeing Everson lining up at DT for more than a few snaps a game. Hell, I think Everson Griffen needs a huge increase in snaps. I also think we need to give Christian Ballard a shot at starting at DT. Letroy is garbage.
Evans has surprisingly excelled in limited action, though I think that's probably how he's best utilized – as a solid backup, rotational player. We certainly miss Pat.
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.” --- Bill Shankly
dead_poet wrote:
I really thought he played well last season and was surprised the Vikings just let him dangle in the wind without much of a backup plan behind him. Then signed him to only a one-year deal. He's responded by being very "meh" this season, which is surprising given how important this was to him securing a long-term deal (here, or elsewhere). He certainly hasn't garnered the PFF love this year. I know that's crushing to hear, Jim.
Outside of Greenway (who I think is better than a lot of fans give him credit for), our LBs aren't anything to write home about. It's nice to see we're shoring up the secondary, but I'm concerned with as many problem areas as we seem to still have that LB (and DT) are going to be neglected for another year, which makes me cringe.
I agree about Greenway and I'm also concerned that they won't upgrade at LB (I think they may actually see DT as a pretty big need but time will tell) . Maybe they'll surprise us. I doubt they'll replace Brinkley next season but with Henderson only under contract this year, I won't be surprised if they replace him in 2013.
A lot may depend on where they pick in the draft and who is available to them when those picks come up.
I think Brinkley is more likely to find competition than Henderson. Mike is far more important to the scheme the OLB. NT is also a big need. They really need a playmaker at Mike, that would be huge.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
Unfortunately a lot of that is just the bend but don't break mentality. By design it's "okay" to give up smaller chunks of yardage, even on third down as long as you don't get beat deep. For the most part, losing TOP with the best running back in football is just something we'll have to live with.
What they need to be a little less horrible is stopping the run better, of all things. That probably means upgrading the DT and LB's which might be tough to do. However, if teams are able to run the ball a bit, this unit struggles hard and it's a snowball effect. Because teams can run we have to respect it, if we have to respect it the DE's can't go crazy rushing the QB, they can't abandon their area. Some times we even bring a safety into the box and viola we're super vulnerable in the back end. Most QB's worth anything can easily pick apart a cover 2 with little pass rush so it's no surprise to see exactly that happening, it's a very vulnerable scheme to good QB's.
With any luck it'd be nice to see the draft play out #1 WR #2 DT, #3 LB
the bigger issue I've seen is they get themselves into 3rd and 7+ and then they allow a big completion. That to me is unacceptable. If you've gotten to 3rd and long, your defense has "worked". Now it needs to close, which it isn't always doing.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
The MLB for the Bengals, can't recall his name, is a FA this year. Naganaua or something like that. I do not know a great deal about him, but he is out there. I could see them getting a player at this position for a lower FA price than say a WR.
Winning is not a sometime thing it is an all of the time thing - Vince Lombardi
If that happens the Bears FO is truly the worst ever. 