An Interesting Look at Team Stats from SBNation

[VikingLord]

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, and if so, my apologies, but I thought it was pretty interesting, especially in the context of the draft that is underway and thought I'd share it to get some discussion going on what the Vikings did and didn't do well last season relative to the other teams in the league.

https://www.sbnation.com/a/nfl-stats-da ... ytics-2018

For me, a couple of things jump out.

- Offense was average or below average in every way, including passing. With the skill position players the Vikings have, its really hard for me to believe this is anything other than inconsistent offensive line play the Vikings got last year. The Vikings offense had some high relative rankings, but mostly underwhelmed or even dragged the bottom of the rankings. Have to believe if the offensive line is better, these rankings have the potential to flip quickly in a positive direction.

- Defense surprised in a few areas. While the defense generally was ranked highly in most categories, there were some glaring areas where they literally were almost the worst in the NFL, including percentage of 1st downs allowed on 1st and 2nd down (30th!), and dead last in opponent mid-field success rate.

Are the defensive deficiencies related to scheme, or personnel? Given the secondary players the Vikings have, I'd be hard-pressed to believe it's personnel, but then again, maybe opposing OCs have found some chinks in the armor and tendencies in the Vikings DBs that they can consistently exploit. The Vikings did seem to struggle at times with getting off the field. I kept thinking that was more a function of the poor offense and their inability to stay on the field, and there may be some truth to that, but these stats suggest the defense also had trouble getting off the field, at least in the mid-field area.

How does the team get better at the things it didn't do well?

In the draft, I think they took a step with Bradbury, and I'd be OK if they went OL in the 2nd round too.

Defensively, if it's scheme that mainly contributed to some of those failures, players won't help, but if it's players (for example, interior defensive line and/or strong safety maybe), then who is Spielman going to target in the draft/FA/trade to shore those up?

Anyway, further discussion is welcome. I really like what SBNation did with this as it highlights key areas where the team needs improvement.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere, and if so, my apologies, but I thought it was pretty interesting, especially in the context of the draft that is underway and thought I'd share it to get some discussion going on what the Vikings did and didn't do well last season relative to the other teams in the league.

https://www.sbnation.com/a/nfl-stats-da ... ytics-2018

For me, a couple of things jump out.

- Offense was average or below average in every way, including passing. With the skill position players the Vikings have, its really hard for me to believe this is anything other than inconsistent offensive line play the Vikings got last year. The Vikings offense had some high relative rankings, but mostly underwhelmed or even dragged the bottom of the rankings. Have to believe if the offensive line is better, these rankings have the potential to flip quickly in a positive direction.

- Defense surprised in a few areas. While the defense generally was ranked highly in most categories, there were some glaring areas where they literally were almost the worst in the NFL, including percentage of 1st downs allowed on 1st and 2nd down (30th!), and dead last in opponent mid-field success rate.

Are the defensive deficiencies related to scheme, or personnel? Given the secondary players the Vikings have, I'd be hard-pressed to believe it's personnel, but then again, maybe opposing OCs have found some chinks in the armor and tendencies in the Vikings DBs that they can consistently exploit. The Vikings did seem to struggle at times with getting off the field. I kept thinking that was more a function of the poor offense and their inability to stay on the field, and there may be some truth to that, but these stats suggest the defense also had trouble getting off the field, at least in the mid-field area.

How does the team get better at the things it didn't do well?

In the draft, I think they took a step with Bradbury, and I'd be OK if they went OL in the 2nd round too.

Defensively, if it's scheme that mainly contributed to some of those failures, players won't help, but if it's players (for example, interior defensive line and/or strong safety maybe), then who is Spielman going to target in the draft/FA/trade to shore those up?

Anyway, further discussion is welcome. I really like what SBNation did with this as it highlights key areas where the team needs improvement.

A big reason the offense looked so bad is our QB. Unless Cousins gets to stand there like a robotic pure passer, he cant make anything happen. Ofc, when you are getting hit or chased on every passing play, things are going to be rough. Last night Rick finally got his head outta his butt and drafted a talented Center (thanks Kubiak!). I hope that trends continues with our 50th pick.