The truth is that the league is changing.
I was reading an article on SI.com today, and they were talking about how, during these first four games, the percentage of passes on first down league-wide is the highest it's ever been. Teams no longer run to set up the pass. They pass to set up the run -- if they run at all.
Check out these numbers:
SI.com wrote:• There have been 228 touchdown passes through four weeks, breaking the previous high-water mark of 205 (2013).
• The league’s collective completion percentage (65.4) and passer rating (94.5) are also four-week records, topping marks set in 2014 (64.3, 91.5).
• Passing yards through four weeks (32,215) also ran at an all-time high, edging the mark set in 2016 (31,616).
• Eleven quarterbacks have more than 1,200 yards through four weeks. The previous four-week high there was seven, in 2011.
• Seven quarterbacks have double-digit touchdown passes, and 10 have a triple-digit passer rating. Both are four-week high water marks.
• There have also been more touchdowns (344) and points (3030) through four weeks than ever before.
The other point the article makes is that all the rules changes over the past few seasons have turned the NFL into almost totally a passing league. And because they've softened the rules on tackling so much, little guys like Tyreek Hill are catching the ball over the middle with no fear. Remember just a couple of years ago? If you made a catch over the middle against Seattle, you might not get up off the ground. Now because you can't lower the head, and you can't contact the receiver's head, and the "defenseless receiver," and all the other rules, nobody is afraid to run routes over the middle. That sets up a lot of the stuff we've seen against the Vikings, like the wheel routes by WRs that are working so well.
SI.com wrote:Rules changes: This is the most obvious, and goes back a decade to when the illegal contact rules were emphasized, handcuffing defensive backs. Now, with the helmet rule and body-weight rule in the spotlight, teams see apparent examples on film of safeties pulling up on potential kill shots, and linebackers lowering their target area. So naturally, that goes into coaching. “The middle of the field is a danger-free zone,” one pro scouting director texted me. “You used to face certain teams, like Seattle, with certain players, and unless you wanted to lose guys, you stayed away. You don’t have to be as concerned about that, and even if you get hit, it’ll probably be a penalty.” Those flags extend drives and, at times, generate scoring chances and passing yards that weren’t there before.
Read the article here.
And here's the other thing. The Vikings aren't the only good defensive team that's having trouble. The Rams are struggling. So are the Eagles, whom we play this week. Pittsburgh can't stop anybody. The only way to slow down the passing onslaught, so it seems, is to have a ferocious pass rush. Enter: The Chicago Bears.
My opinion here: All of this is happening because of ratings and fantasy football (i.e. legalized sports gambling such as Draft Kings). More offense means more eyeballs on the TV, and it means more fantasy points. Even in fantasy, people love high-scoring games. Fantasy produces HUGE money for the NFL, and so does TV, of course. Give the people what they want, I guess.
As much as I like Mike Zimmer -- he's my favorite Vikings coach since Bud Grant -- all this nonsense does beg the question: Can a defensive-minded coach be successful in this climate? Or do you need to be an offensive genius, like Sean McVay, Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan, etc.? Just wondering.