The Falcons travel to Minnesota on Sunday for their season opener with the Vikings. Both teams embody the personalities of their defensive-minded head coaches.
In a conference call with Falcons reporters on Wednesday, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer talked about the respect he has for Dan Quinn.
“He’s terrific. He was great in Seattle. He’s been great everywhere that he’s been. Typically, that style of defense that they run, you get fast guys that keep a lot of eyes on the football and really make it tough for an offense to go a long way. I think that’s why they are always typically in the top 10 defensively in the league.”
The Falcons got away from that defensive excellence in 2018, primarily due to injuries to key starters Keanu Neal, Deion Jones and Ricardo Allen. Atlanta’s defense plummeted from top 10 all the way down to No. 25 in points allowed. They also allowed the fifth-most yards in 2018, prompting Quinn to fire Marquand Manuel and take over the play-calling duties.
This matchup in Minnesota will most likely be a defensive battle based on the last few times these two teams have played.
We’ll see if it’s Quinn or Zimmer who has the edge on Sunday.
