At the beginning of the season, the Minnesota Vikings' biggest strength was the defense.
All Vikings fans knew at the beginning of the season that there would be growing pains with the offense with J.J. McCarthy starting at quarterback for the first time. That left a lot of weight on the defense to pick up the slack and help them through the early part of the season.
Minnesota's defense was certainly doing that and doing a stellar job, as the most points they had allowed all season before the bye week were 24 points. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores had his defense rolling, as the team went 3-2 heading into the bye week despite injuries piling up on offense.
All that work they put in did not last long at all, as the weight of carrying the whole team has fallen most painfully on the defense.
Analyzing the struggles of the Minnesota Vikings' defense over the last two games
Starting with Week 7 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Vikings struggled not only to pressure quarterback Jalen Hurts but also to contain the secondary, which was exposed in a big way by wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, who combined for 304 yards. Typically a reliable cornerback, Isaiah Rodgers had a rough day, allowing over 150 yards and a 79-yard touchdown to Smith.
After suffering a 28-22 loss to the Eagles, the Vikings only had a few days to get ready for the Los Angeles Chargers in a cross-country road game. Minnesota's defense needed more time as they got torn apart once again, but this was worse than the Eagles game.
The Chargers got it done through the air and on the ground against the Vikings' defense, totaling 212 yards passing and 207 yards rushing. Minnesota absolutely struggled to get the Chargers off the field, as Los Angeles never punted, scoring 37 points and converting 9 of 13 third downs.
One of the very few bright spots on the night for the Vikings was that they were able to get an interception on Justin Herbert in the second half, thanks to Josh Metellus. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard was the star of the night on defense with six tackles, three tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, and one sack.
Outside of that, it was an absolutely rough night for the Vikings' defense as they lost 37-10 against the Chargers. While the offense was just as bad as the Vikings, there are now legitimate concerns about what's wrong with the defense.
The biggest blame right now is on the secondary, who haven't been able to stop the passing games, allowing Hurts and Herbert to complete over 70% of their passes in the last two matches. Cornerback Jeff Okudah has struggled the most in the secondary as the Chargers constantly attacked him deep.
Flores has a lot of work to do over the mini bye week to figure out who needs to be on the field and who needs to be on the bench. Something has to change to get the now 3-4 Vikings back into the playoff conversation.