Will the Vikings’ defense be better or worse in 2019?

Opposing offenses are catching on

Minnesota’s defense has been one of the best pretty much since Mike Zimmer became their head coach back in 2014. It’s an attacking scheme that relies on pressure up front to hurry quarterbacks and make them throw the ball before they are ready.

Zimmer is also a master at disguising different looks and making opposing quarterbacks see one thing when the reality is that something completely different is about to happen. It’s a defense that has been the backbone of the Vikings and it has been the reason for much of their success during Zimmer’s tenure with the team.

Running the same defense for many years has its advantages. Players get very familiar with the scheme and all the nuances and intricacies of the defense become second nature to them. The downside of running the same defense like Zimmer is that it also gives opposing teams more time to study the scheme and figure out ways to attack it.

A season ago, some of the teams Minnesota faced were able to find a few cracks. They had much more success running the ball as the Vikings’ run defense slid a few spots down the overall season rankings.

Minnesota’s defense was also susceptible to the swing pass. There was more than one time where the Vikings defenders gave up huge chunks of yardage to just an opposing running back rolling out in the flats. It was as if they’ve never seen such a concept.

So offensive coordinators will continue to study Zimmer’s defense until they finally figure out a consistent way to beat it. If it continues to stay relatively the same, they eventually will, and that could be as early as 2019.