4 biggest takeaways from the Vikings Week 3 loss to the Titans

Minnesota’s pass defense is bad, like real bad

It’s been a long time since the Vikings pass defense has performed as poorly as they have during their first three games this season.

So far this year, Minnesota has given up the third-most passing yards in the NFL and they’ve allowed four pass plays of 40 yards or more, the second-highest amount in the league right now. During the entire 2019 season, the Vikings only gave up a total of seven pass plays of 40 yards or more.

Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill enjoyed his time against Minnesota’s pass defense on Sunday. During Tennessee’s win over the Vikings, Tannehill racked up a total of 321 passing yards, the most he’s had in a game since Week 14 of 2019.

There are a few things that can be attributed to this ugly start for Minnesota’s pass defense. The Vikings’ lack of experience at corner this season has turned out to be a bigger disaster than anyone ever thought it would be. Combine this with Minnesota’s lack of a pass rush so far this year and it’s resulted in opposing quarterbacks licking their chops when they take the field against the purple and gold.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a so-called cornerback guru, so most assumed he would be able to work around the inexperience of his corners and figure out a way for the team’s pass defense at least be average this season. At this point though, an average pass defense would be a dream for Minnesota.

So what can the Vikings do moving forward to fix this element of their defense? Do they look to free agency to maybe add a veteran corner to their roster or should they just roll with who they currently have on their roster? Whatever they end up doing, Zimmer has some serious work to do before things get even worse.