Vikings Film Review: Harrison Smith’s new role has changed Minnesota’s defense

One of the biggest individual changes that has impacted the Minnesota Vikings this season has been Harrison Smith’s new role as a centerfielder.

Against the Washington Commanders in Week 9, the Minnesota Vikings came back from being down 17-7 in the fourth quarter to get a win that improved their record to 7-1 and increased their lead to 4.5 games for first place in the NFC North.

This Vikings team is a lot of fun to watch. Exciting games aside, this is a roster that blends experienced veterans with exciting young talent, which has created a team that can lean on several different areas of itself to win football games.

All the turnover from this past offseason has familiar faces in a few different places. Danielle Hunter has gone from being a traditional 4-3 defensive end to a versatile 3-4 outside linebacker/edge rusher, and Minnesota’s offense is using a lot more three-wide receiver sets than they have in the past as well.

New role of Harrison Smith has made a big impact on the Minnesota Vikings

For years, Harrison Smith was very successful rolling down in the box, stopping the run, and as a blitzer. Smith currently ranks 14th all-time in most career sacks by a defensive back with 16.5. This season, Smith is on pace to break his all-time single-season career high of five interceptions. He currently has four this year, including one in Minnesota’s last three games.

This new role for Smith of playing centerfield has allowed him to play more freely and cover more ground in the Vikings’ secondary. The result has led Minnesota to be a very opportunistic defense, as they’re currently tied for fourth in the NFL for most takeaways with 14.

Smith’s interceptions in the past three games have come at incredibly opportune times for the Vikings, who were able to convert each of his interceptions into points against the Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, and Commanders.

Before Smith’s interception in Washington, Minnesota was battling a case of the third-quarter blues, which has plagued the team this year. The Vikings ran nine offensive plays for 13-yards in the quarter as the Commanders turned a 7-3 halftime deficit into a 17-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

On a key fourth down on Minnesota’s 37-yard line, Washington went for the first down, and the Vikings’ defense forced an incomplete pass. The turnover on downs was due in large part to tremendous coverage by Minnesota rookie corner Akayleb Evans. While Evans did have Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin in a seat belt, Smith was roaming over the top and taking away a corner route run by Washington tight end Logan Thomas.

The Vikings played cover-1 “robber” coverage on this fourth down. Cover-1 is a type of man coverage with one high safety over the top. The “robber” tag to this coverage means they rolled the boundary safety – Smith – down as the hole defender while the field safety – Cam Bynum – covered over the top.

Smith’s ability to play both receivers forced Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke to make a decision, which wound up being a throw to the covered McLaurin. While Evans made a great play, Smith was quick to close on the ball, and he was in a great position to make a play had Evans not been there.

Smith has been a true leader for Minnesota’s defense this season, and his playmaking ability as both a free and strong safety has ignited a defense that has struggled in recent years.

Taking a look at the interception, which brought a mostly-purple crowd to its feet, Smith was lurking deep in the secondary, and he made a huge play off of an overthrow by Heinicke. The Vikings played a cover-3 “cloud” look, where they dropped three players deep into coverage, but Evans was used as the “cloud” corner playing sticky to the flat.

Playing in his centerfield position as the deep middle man, Smith saw that Heinicke was going for Thomas over the middle, and he put himself in a great position to make a play on the ball.

The interception came at a huge time for Minnesota, as they were down 17-10, and they were able to tie the game two plays after the interception off of a beautiful pitch and catch from Kirk Cousins to Dalvin Cook.

The Vikings continue to find ways to win. This was one of the more complete games they have played all season.

Minnesota’s offense had to battle poor field position for the majority of the first half and was sluggish during the third quarter, the Vikings’ defense stepped up in a big way and smothered the Commanders’ offense, and Minnesota kicker Greg Joseph was perfect on his field goal and extra point attempts on the day.

The Vikings find themselves at 7-1 and heading to Buffalo to face the Bills this weekend in what will surely be their biggest test of the season. Minnesota road wins mean more videos of an iced-out “Kirko” Cousins, which there is simply no such thing as too much of.