Minnesota Vikings have the top ranked defense in NFL

The Minnesota Vikings defense makes life challenging for opposing quarterbacks. They are starting to receive recognition for the dominance on the field.

Through the first 6 weeks of the NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings reached a winning record of 4-2. They only had their starting quarterback Sam Bradford for the first game of the season. Bradford was sidelined due to a knee injury that is causing uncertainty for his future as an NFL quarterback.  Despite the quarterback situation, the Vikings have performed well as a team. A large reason is that of their defense.

Pro Football Focus recently ranked the Minnesota Vikings as the top defense in the NFL through the first six weeks. Harrison Smith graded as their best player with a rating of 93.9. The player with the worst rating was Trae Waynes who scores a 46.4.

They said the following about the top-ranked Vikings defense.

"“The Vikings under Mike Zimmer have always had a strong defense, but they have been particularly suffocating this season, with Linval Joseph leading their run defense up the middle and Harrison Smith patrolling the back end along with Xavier Rhodes at cornerback. As a unit, this team has 101 total pressures through six games.”"

Harrison Smith has set the tone for the team this season. He has compiled 3 interceptions this already. That’s more than he’s made during the last two seasons combined. Both of which were pro bowl seasons. Smith is always in the right position which makes it hard for quarterbacks. He is a hard player to fool through offensive trickery.

His hard work and leadership are trickling throughout the team. Even Waynes who graded low played well at times during the season despite his struggles.

This defensive unit also puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback and is tough against the run. Linval Joseph leads the NFL in run stops this season with 18. There are not a lot of holes on this defense between the defensive line and linebackers.

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This Minnesota Vikings defense is currently playing great football. Let’s not get too excited yet because they started off that way last season as well but slightly declined after their impressive start. Hopefully this number one rank does not go to their heads and they continue their domination.