The NFL Network coverage of the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 15 game against the Cincinnati Bengals showed the ultimate curse for Minnesota’s defence at the beginning of the fourth quarter. A graphic was displayed to announce that the defence had not given up a touchdown for 166 minutes. Naturally, the Vikings then allowed a touchdown pass right away, as we all discovered:
The Bengals scored touchdowns on their final three possessions in regulation to tie the game before winning on a field goal in overtime after Tee Higgins’ score opened the floodgates.
It should be mentioned that the defensive effort wasn’t entirely awful because the Vikings limited the Bengals to three points in the first three quarters. However, the mistakes made in overtime and the fourth quarter can yield some important insights. With the Vikings playing the Detroit Lions this week, hopefully they use that to tighten up some defensive weaknesses.
The Vikings’ inventive defensive system, led by DC Brian Flores, has won them a lot of accolades this season. His strategy is based on balancing plays with maximum coverage and pressure. More often than not, the Vikings blitz six or more guys, and they drop eight players into coverage. That strategy, together with the defense’s consistent and diverse mug looks, throws the offence off-balance.
The offence must respond quickly with passes to offset any blitz by the Vikings. But if the offence launches themselves into a max coverage look, Minnesota ought to have the ball well covered and be able to attack the opposition fast. A three-man rush usually helps keep receivers from getting open, even if the offence makes a good guess and calls a long-developing pass into the max coverage. This is because having an extra defender in coverage.
Overall, the defensive scheme makes a lot of sense and has shown to be quite effective, as seen by the 11 quarters in which they failed to allow a touchdown and the 17 points per game that the defence has given up since Week 3. Offences have had a hard time breaking through Flores’ plan. However, there are flaws, as Cincinnati demonstrated./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72621716/1449755686.0.jpg)
The Vikings’ Tampa 2 looks presented a weakness that the Bengals routinely took advantage of. This year, Minnesota has come to prefer “Non-Traditional Tampa,” or NTT, coverage. These reports have been excellent. They provide additional people in the box to stop the run while also assisting with deep coverage, allowing the Vikings defence to present single-high or blitz looks before to the snap. An NTT has two deep half safeties, just like Cover 2. It also has a “high hole” player, though, who is positioned in the centre of the field to cut off any posts, deep crossers or seam routes. This player was a linebacker like Brian Urlacher in the old Tampa 2, but with the Vikings, it was more frequently Josh Metellus or Harrison Smith
