Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

Minnesota is 5-3 and beat the following... SF was a fluke.. Minnesota is a .500 ball club why are we having a conversation about their defense?

1-5 Jac
5-2 SF
2-4 Det
3-4 Ten
4-3 Arz

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

OK, sure if that is all you're going to take away from it.

Anyways, it doesn't matter - we can agree to disagree on this matter.

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

Tampa went 48 yards- FG
48 Yards- td
36 yards- FG
37 YARDS- td
80 Yards- td
38 Yards- fg
81 Yards- td

So I agree that you can't take the points as an absolute showing of their D. Like you said a lot of shorter fields (I wouldn't call them "short" fields). They did allow drives of 80 and 81 yards for TD's, so I wouldn't call them stout either. So I think the answer lies somewhere in between Fin's and Tobias' assessment.

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

By comparison, if you take away our interception that gave the Bucs the ball on like our 11 (a short field) and the BS TD when they were given like 12 plays from our 12 yard line we only allowed 14 points, and if you give them 3 from our 12 when they were stopped minus the BS call on Harp, our D played as well as the Vikes or close to a well.

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

You can't blame Spags. He comes to a team with no coach. Leader of the Defense is out. Gm is gone. There is no control. Everybody is concerned with boutygate. I hoped we would be better but really how would be. Now quit blaming Spags he gets a pass this year.

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

Who are you talking to?

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

I have grown fond of using the word "unconventional" to describe the Saints defense this year. Like Danno said, our best defensive series all year gave up 96 yards. What the &*$ are the pundits and fans supposed to make of that.In the second half of the Bucs game, the Bucs had 31 snaps inside the Saints 30...31 snaps! 8 plays inside the Saints’ ten gained zero points for the Bucs. They held an offense to under 100 yards rushing for the first time all year, held a team to only 7 points in the second half for the second or maybe it was third time in a row. Tampa ran 42 plays for 301 yards and dominated time of possession, but only 7 points in that second half. Huh? On paper it's a ridiculous mess, but something is going on in the second half with this defense, clearly something is happening out there, because whatever Tampa Bay was doing in the first half against the Vikes, they were doing it in the second half as well. As for what Tampa did against the Saints, I dunno, it is kind of fuzzy or a gray area, debatable. Flip it around, put the shoe on the other foot, if you're a Tampa Bay fan, I just don't know if you can look at Freeman and be happy with his performance in the second half against the Saints, and he's supposed to be this up-and-coming Comeback Kid type of QB in the 4th quarter. They were hugely frustrated by the Saints .

Re: So the Vikings defense was ranked #9 entering tonight's game...
 

Still, the time of possession was, at least in my opinion, the major difference in that game. Tampa Bay had the ball for 37:45 while Minnesota had it only for 22:15.

The overall offensive performance comes to a very different light when we keep that disparity in time of possession in mind and look at some of the offensive stats from that game.

Tampa Bay had 416 total net yards in the game while Minnesota had 369. Tampa Bay had the ball relatively 40% more in the game than Minnesota, but were only able to gain about 12% more yards with that advantage of snaps.

Freeman threw for only 11 more yards than Ponder - who was terrible in that game - on as many completions (19), so it's hard for me to say that the Bucs somehow dominated the Vikes' defense in that regard at least.

And the final nail in the coffin was the fact that Minnesota's offense turned the ball over thrice while Tampa Bay's offense didn't have any turnovers. Especially that late 2nd quarter fumble by AP was a really big moment in the game, because Minnesota was finally moving the ball really well. It looked like they were going to score before the halftime and gain some serious momentum going into the second half of the game, not to mention making it a 1 point Minnesota lead. Instead, AP fumbles the ball and Tampa Bay scores a TD making it a 13 point game at that point... and in the process inflates the whole dome.

And, again, Minnesota was able fix the run defense in the second half and pretty much eliminated Martin's great running game from the first half - Martin had twice the number of carries than AP, but still he only gained a meager 12 yards more. Also Minnesota's secondary was able to blanket Vincent Jackson the whole game through allowing him to only have 2 catches in the game.

I'm not saying the defense had an excellent outing on Thursday, but they certainly weren't the reason why the Vikes lost that game, and neither would I call their performance bad when we consider all the facts.