If a season-ending injury to prospective franchise quarterback Teddy Bridgewater didn’t sufficiently temper expectations for the Minnesota Vikings in 2016, then surely the loss of All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, out until at least mid-November with a meniscus tear, and left tackle Matt Kalil, done for the year with a torn labrum, left even the team’s most optimistic supporters in lament.
Instead Mike Zimmer’s Vikings are one of only two 4-0 teams in the NFL after Monday night’s comprehensive 24-10 win over the New York Giants and, improbably, have the look of a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Before a ear-splittingly loud sellout crowd of 66,690 at their new $1.1bn downtown stadium, Minnesota backed up previous statement-making wins over the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers with another exhibition of stout defense and workmanlike offense that augurs big things as the season moves forward.
“In the NFL it’s adapt or you get eaten up,” said Zimmer, the 60-year-old head coach who spent 35 years as a college and pro assistant before the Vikings offered him his first top job in 2014. “I think our offensive coaches have done a nice job adapting to the personnel that we have and trying to use everybody that we have.
“As long as I’m here, our expectations are never going to change. It doesn’t matter who is playing. We expect them to perform. [General manager Rick Spielman] has done a great job of bringing in here a lot of depth, a lot of high-character guys. Really, I say it all the time because it’s true about this football team. It’s so important to have the right kind of guys in here. Guys that when it gets down to it, we fight.”
There’s nothing Minnesota nice about this defense, which has surrendered a scant 50 points through four games. They’ve recorded 15 sacks, second in the league only to the Denver Broncos. And while none of those came Monday against the Giants, they applied enough pressure on Eli Manning, who was 2-of-8 for seven yards with an interception against the blitz, to prevent the quarterback from finding his receivers downfield. Behold Odell Beckham Jr, who was limited to a career-low 23 yards and whose frustrations boiled over with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the second quarter.
New York’s star wide receiver was held in check by a ravenous secondary marshaled by Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith and corners Captain Munnerlyn and Terence Newman, an ageless marvel at 38. But the engine room of the defense is a talent-stacked front seven led by defensive tackle Linval Joseph, defensive end Everson Griffen and linebacker Anthony Barr.
The Giants were finally able to beat the Vikings for a big play when Paul Perkins busted a catch and run for 67 yards early in the fourth quarter that cut Minnesota’s lead to 17-10, but Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford responded by marching 76 yards down the field in eight plays.
“That was a pretty big response for us,” said Bradford, who passed for 262 yards and a touchdown. “Obviously our defense has played fantastic all year and I think it was time for us to respond and give them a little break and allow them to catch their breath. To score and go up two possessions, that was the biggest turning point of the game.”
The decision to trade for the former No1 overall draft pick after Bridgewater dislocated his knee and tore his ACL on a non-contact play during the preseason was not without its critics, but early returns have been encouraging. The Vikings have the NFL’s best turnover differential plus-10 and have not committed an offensive turnover this year, their lone giveaway coming on defense after forcing an Aaron Rodgers interception in week 2.
Bradford’s limitations are well documented, but he’s also never enjoyed the luxury of a stout defense. Never in six previous NFL seasons has the former Heisman Trophy winner played behind a defense that finished the year ranked higher than 12th in the NFL in yards or points allowed per game. This year’s Vikings ranked seventh and second respectively in those categories and it’s greatly helped his assimilation.
“I’ve tried to learn a little bit more of the offense each time we step on the field,” Bradford said. “I think it’s gone pretty well. There are still some things I can do better and there’s things we can do better as an offense, but obviously being 4-0 right now, I don’t think you ask for a lot more.
“When I first got here I was having a tough time just calling the plays. They were a little bit wordy. Obviously, everything was new. They’ve been awesome, code-wording things. Things that I’ve done in the past and trying to incorporate those into the offense. Things that I feel comfortable with. I’ve spent a lot of time with [quarterbacks coach] Scott Turner. He’s done a great job just helping me get comfortable in this system.”
Now Minnesota will have a short week of preparation for a home meeting with the Houston Texans before their bye week. And with preseason favorites Carolina and Arizona in early disarray, it seems the sky is the limit.
“I think this team likes to win,” Zimmer said. “I just think they like to win. I think they like to compete. I think they like to go out there and prove to everybody that they can be talked about with as good of teams as there are in the league. We still got a long way to go.”
