It's time to say it - the vaunted Brian Flores Viking defense of 2024 is not getting it done in 2025. And it's primarily because they are getting killed by the running game.
Thursday night, playing a Chargers team down to a third-string running back, and with an offensive that barely tried to run the ball last week against Indianapolis, the Vikings gave up over 200 yards on the ground.
Former Gopher linebacker and Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Pete Najarian, said on the WCCO Morning News Friday it's been a season-long issue on defense.
"The defense didn't help out at all, and it's something that I've been pretty critical about for a while now," Najarian explains. "As a former defensive player and a linebacker and watching how these guys play, one of the things that bothers me is we're way too small in the middle. And all of a sudden everybody seems to have figured that out because if you look at how the defense plays against teams that run the ball pretty well, we really struggle."
That is almost a sure loss in the NFL. Teams just don't win games when they are grounded and pounded like that. Teams in 2025 are 2-11 when they give up 200+ on the ground. The Vikings are two of those 11 losses after the Thursday night game. They also gave up over 200 on the ground in their 22-6 loss to Atlanta in week two.
They gave up 119 yards to the Bears in week one. 131 yards to Pittsburgh in week four in Ireland. 140 yards to Cleveland in week five in the U.K. They held up really well against a bad Cincinnati team that gave up on the run early in a massive Viking victory. And they sold out to stop Philadelphia and Saquon Barkley last Sunday - only to give up massive plays in the passing game in that loss because they had to overcommit up front.
These aren't the worst numbers in the NFL. It's actually ninth worst. But this is a team built to win with defense first. The Vikings aren't going out there outscoring teams - which should be very obvious at this point in the season with the struggles on the offensive line and at quarterback.
Add in this - even though the Vikings were better in 2024, they broke down towards the end of the season, giving up over 100 yards rushing in five of their last six regular season games. They kept winning, but the cracks were showing. It's carried over to 2025.
"Some of it just can't be fixed right now because of the fact that we were very small up front in the middle, and as soon as somebody finds out and gets a little bit of momentum going, they seem to just get on to a big role," says Najarian.
Can they improve? O'Connell thinks there's plenty that is fixable. But so much of stopping the run on defense comes from effort - and the Vikings just looked lifeless playing on a short week Thursday night. Tackling was shoddy and the Chargers just pushed them around. Even Justin Herbert, an athletic, big QB, found plenty of room to run. He didn't bother to slide either, choosing at times to push his way upfield for more yardage and easy first downs.
"It feels like a lot of technique, fundamentals, things that are correctable," he explains. "I believe in our players wholeheartedly. I believe in every opportunity we have. We're going to go out there and put our best foot forward both on the practice field and every opportunity we have as a team."
What makes this even more concerning is that the Vikings invested big dollars in the offseason to add two former Pro Bowl defensive tackles, key to stopping teams up front. That move has not worked at all.
Former Washington Commandeer Jonathan Allen got a deal that guarantees him more than $31 million over the next two years. And former 49er Javon Hargrave got two-years and $30 million with $19 million guaranteed. Hargrave has seen his playing time drop already.
"All of a sudden then, you have to overcommit to stop the run and then they start throwing the football," Najarian adds. "So, it's a tough thing and it's something that I think that defense has been having to deal with for the majority of this year so far."
Sitting at 3-4, the Vikings need to improve quickly with a high-powered Detroit offense next week - and a running back in Jahmyr Gibbs that is tough to stop when you're playing well.
"You look at a competitive division, competitive conference, we have a decision to make," says defensive captain Blake Cashman. "I feel like you're staring down the barrel, but you can't panic. You got to stay connected and continuing to go back to work and just improve on the simple things."
Next Sunday, it's Detroit where the Vikings haven't won since 2020. Gibbs and David Montgomery are the best 1-2 punch in the NFL. Gibbs ran for 136 yards on 17 carries last week against a far better Tampa defense. He added 3 catches for 82 yards. If the Vikings are going to show life on defense and stop the running game? That would be a good place to start.