7 biggest Vikings questions heading into the 2022 offseason
By Adam Carlson
How can the Vikings fix their defense?
This is a question that is a bit surprising to be asking about a team coached by Mike Zimmer. Through 16 games this season, the Minnesota Vikings have the 31st ranked overall total defense in the league and can take the top spot if Chicago racks up yardage in the season finale.
Minnesota also invested a lot in their defensive line that saw teams be able to run the ball at will against them, picking up 4.7 yards per carry (30th), 126 rushing first downs (27th), and a total of 2132 yards (27th).
The pass defense hasn’t been good either. Minnesota allows 7.5 yards per attempt (26th), 4,034 passing yards (26th), and 28 passing touchdowns (29th).
Considering starters Anthony Barr, Patrick Peterson, and Xavier Woods are all set to become free agents and the team doesn’t have much salary cap to spare, adding talent to this older defense will be a real challenge.
Maybe all they need to to be healthy at once. It’s also possible that a new defensive philosophy could be more successful going forward. But all we know is that this will be a tough task for Minnesota this offseason.