5 things Minnesota Vikings must change in 2020

Minnesota Vikings Change No. 1: Improved Run Defense

The Vikings once prided themselves on their run defense. When they made it to the NFC Championship game in 2017, they ranked second in the league in stopping the run.

Since then those numbers have drastically declined.

In 2018, the Vikings run defense fell to 13th in the league, and it dropped again last year, as it fell to 17th as they gave up an average of 111.7 yards per game on the ground. The Vikings figured they fixed this issue when they brought back defensive tackle Shamar Stephen last offseason. He didn’t look like the player he did in 2017, though. He was more of a liability than anything when he saw the field, as he was easily moved out of the way by opposing teams’ linemen. It also didn’t help fellow defensive tackle Linval Joseph was banged up and the Vikings linebackers were seeing blockers in their faces instead of getting clean looks into the backfield.

The Vikings cut Joseph and replaced him with Michael “The Juggernaut” Pierce. This guy is a force against the run and absolutely swallows up running backs. He can take up multiple blockers and should free up the Vikings linebacking corps to make plays.

The Vikings can’t allow opponents to average more than 100 yards on the ground per game. They have to return this aspect of their defense to be a strength again if they are going to improve their record in 2020.