7 takeaways from the Vikings win over the Broncos in Week 11

Zimmer has some serious work to do during the bye

What in the world has happened to the Vikings’ defense? They went from being a top-three unit during the last few seasons to not being able to shut down a journeyman Broncos quarterback in Brandon Allen.

During the first half of Sunday’s matchup, Allen and the Denver offense had no problems moving the football against Minnesota’s defense. Three of the Broncos’ first four drives of the afternoon resulted in points and people in the stadium were left wondering where the Vikings’ vintage Mike Zimmer defense was.

In reality, the performance by Minnesota’s defense on Sunday shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The unit hasn’t been playing very well for the past few weeks and it’s led to the Vikings’ offense having to pick up the slack.

In their last six games, Minnesota has given up at least 375 total yards and 20 points to their opponent five times. The Vikings only did this twice during the entire 2018 season.

Minnesota is off for an extra week before their next matchup against a tough Seattle Seahawks team on December 2. During this time off, Zimmer is going to have to dig into his toolbox and see if he has anything that can get the Vikings’ defense back on track or else it could result in the team’s championship aspirations falling short once again.