mansquatch wrote:I thought the last half against Carolina was their best 2 quarters of football. That is saying something since Carolina's front 7 is pretty good. However, they have to continue to prove it. Jim is exactly right in saying they have been horrible through three games.
I still think we are seeing the low point of the season, due in part to some reasons that were known before the injury bug hit. (60% starting in new positions, two completely new players not on the team in 2015.) However, I'm not convinced there is much of a ceiling. Still it is worth asking if this line become average instead of awful, would that be enough to win the title in combination with our D and Special Teams? Time will tell.
Here is a point for optimism: Right now we are allowing on avg. 13.33 points per game. By comparison, the 2015 DEN unit allowed 18.5 PA, the 2013 SEA defense allowed 14.43 points per game, the '85 Bears allowed 12.4, and the 2000 Ravens allowed 10.3. Obviously there is a lot of football left before comparing to the last 2 in the last, but we are currently ahead of the 2013 Seahawks and not far from the 85 bears on our current trend. This provides context as to the level to which our D is currently playing. It is no stretch to say we are playing truly ELITE defense so far this season.
I agree. The question is: can they sustain it? It will be incredibly tough to maintain a ppg average that low and its worth nothing that right now there 5 teams allowing an average of 15 ppg or less. As more games are played, we'll probably only see one or two teams stay below that threshold, if any.
If this continues the level to which our offense needs to play is materially reduced. We are currently averaging over 21 PF, although not all of it is the offense. Main point here is if the D continues to play at this level we only need about 15-16 points to be considered favorites to win most games. That means we can play very conservatively, it also means we don't need as much from our OL as we would if we had a more statistically average defense. The flipside to this is if we get more consistency from our offense the defense could likely become something akin to the two historic juggernauts I mentioned earlier
My concern is that this level of defense will be unsustainable
without more from the OL (and the offense as a whole), particularly the running game.
I think the 538 article fails to consider how effective this defense has been as well as the quality of opponent it has successfully shut down. There is a lot of season left, but whan your PA is between the 2013 Legion of Boom and the Monsters of the Midway you are doing more than getting lucky.
They aren't just getting lucky but at least 24 of the team's 64 total points have been the result of defensive scores and special teams plays. Without those scores, the Vikings are averaging the same 13.33 points per game on offense they're allowing on defense. The offense won't be able to remain turnover-free all season, as they have thus far and as I think the article pointed out, a team can't count on return TDs every week. The Vikes really appear to have very little margin for error. That doesn't mean they
can't keep winning as they have but I think they need to start getting more from their offense soon to maintain their winning ways.