Minnesota Vikings Unsung Heroes: Week 1 vs. the Green Bay Packers

Defensive Unsung Hero from Week 1:

Interior defensive line

As we all know by now, this was a horrendous showing by the Minnesota defense in Week 1. The young and inexperienced secondary had its struggles with the passing attack from Green Bay, which is to be expected. Aaron Rodgers looked at ease in the pocket and he flung the ball all over U.S. Bank Stadium.

For this week, it’s hard to single out any specific guys. Instead, we should give credit to the Vikings interior defensive line. Without Michael Pierce, who opted-out of the season, Minnesota was able to handle the Packers’ rushing attack for the most part. Green Bay ran the ball for 158 yards on 32 carries, but those numbers are skewed a bit by gimmicky runs.

Packers running back Aaron Jones ran the ball 16 times for 66 yards, much less than he had during his two performances against the Vikings last season. In two games last year, Jones carried the rock 46 times for 270 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Limiting Jones on Sunday with a depleted defensive line was a win for Minnesota.

The Vikings have plenty to clean up before next week’s road matchup against the 0-1 Indianapolis Colts. We’ll see what Mike Zimmer can do differently with his young roster.