Written by Sam Ekstrom
It took nine minutes for somebody to ask head coach Mike Zimmer about his defense’s third down struggles during Monday morning’s press conference. The coach looked ashamed. Like a parent whose child was given detention at school, Zimmer expects more from his pupils than what he’s getting.
“It’s terrible,” said Zimmer of the team’s abysmal 33 percent success rate stopping third downs on Sunday. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m extremely disappointed in that. We’ll put a lot more time and effort into it than what we have. It’s disappointing because that should be one of our strengths.”
The Atlanta Falcons went 8 for 11 in the first half on third downs and finished the game 10 for 15. The 66.7 percent opponent third down conversion rate was tied for the third worst in the NFL during Week 4, according to Team Rankings.
Also take into account the Saints’ 9-for-13 effort in Week 3 against the Vikings – the second worst opponent conversion rate in the NFL that week – and the Vikings now find themselves tied for 30th league-wide after a quarter of the season.
“We have to do what we’re supposed to do,” said Zimmer, whose Cincinnati defense was second in opponent conversion percentage last year. “When we’re in position to make a tackle, we have to make a tackle. We have to understand what the situation is, what the down and distance is. We have to understand how to rush the quarterback, what the rush lanes are and the concepts. We should be better.”
Injured linebacker Chad Greenway said Sunday’s game, which he watched from the sidelines, reminded him of last year’s Vikings team that finished 30th in third down stops.
“Stuff broke down,” said Greenway. “[Matt Ryan] was able to get out of the pocket and make some throws. Long yardage ones especially are the ones that just kill you. It kind of takes you back to last year where we gave up a lot of those 3rd-and-longs that just had no business getting done.”
Only Cleveland and Atlanta were worse at getting third down stops last year than Minnesota, who allowed opponents to convert 44.2 percent of the time. This year, they are allowing a 50 percent conversion rate with only the rival Packers posting a higher number.
The Vikings are not strangers to third down struggles either. Barring a turnaround in the final dozen games of the season, Minnesota will finish in the league’s bottom 10 in third down defense for the fifth consecutive year. Their last quality season in terms of opponent third down percentage was 2009, where they finished second in the league and made it to the NFC Championship Game.
A nasty trend like this starts in the secondary as most teams are forced to throw the football in third down situations. Take, for example, the last two weeks.
In Week 3, New Orleans faced 15 third down situations and converted eight through the air, two via defensive penalties and one on the ground. Of their four failures, two were pass attempts, one was a rushing attempt and one was a botched snap. On the Saints 11 successful conversions (including penalty-aided plays), they faced an averaged distance of 7.8 yards. Those aren’t 3rd-and-shorts we’re talking about; those are 3rd-and-longs that should result in a punt at least two-thirds of the time.
Sunday’s game against Atlanta wasn’t much better. Like the Saints, the Falcons faced 15 third down situations and converted seven through the air and three on the ground. Each of the five failures were passing attempts: three falling incomplete, one resulting in a quarterback scramble and another resulting in an Anthony Barr sack. The average conversion distance was 3rd-and-6.4.
“First and second down, you really don’t have an opportunity to get off the field unless you get a turnover,” said free safety Harrison Smith. “Third down, you have third and long, third and medium, you have to get off the field, so just like coach said, it’s terrible right now, and we need to get it corrected.”
Smith is perhaps the only player not culpable for the third down failures. The cornerbacks – Xavier Rhodes, Josh Robinson and even veteran Captain Munnerlyn – have had their struggles. So has Robert Blanton, a first-year starter at the strong safety position.
“They caught us in a couple pressure situations, and we didn’t cover as good as we need to,” Coach Zimmer summarized on Monday.
You can see what Coach Zimmer means by looking at a couple plays from Sunday’s game.
In the first quarter, the Vikings’ left Roddy White wide open on a 3rd-and-7. White was lined up in the right slot against Captain Munnerlyn with Julio Jones set up outside against Josh Robinson. The Vikings sent eight men at the quarterback and left no safeties in the secondary. Ryan faked a hand-off and immediately looked to the right side. Jones took a couple steps backward as if ready to receive a pass at the line of scrimmage, while White ran a hard five-yard slant. Munnerlyn bit at Jones’ bluff and stepped up as White snuck behind him into open space – remember, no safeties to help out on this play. Ryan hit White in stride for the Atlanta touchdown. The Falcons took advantage of the Vikings’ blitz, and the corners failed to communicate.
On Devin Hester’s touchdown catch and run on another 3rd-and-7 in the third quarter, Smith blitzed off the left tackle, but the pass went to the right, essentially taking the Vikings’ top ball hawk out of the play. Hester caught the ball 12 yards from the first down line, ran nine yards and met Captain Munnerlyn head on. Munnerlyn tried to hit Hester high and ended up whiffing on the tackle, allowing Hester to score his 10th career touchdown against the Vikings. Again, the Vikings were caught without safety help and compounded it by not tackling well.
Though there’s no video link available of the Falcons’ 3rd-and-20 conversion in the second quarter, it stemmed from a breakdown in coverage, primarily by Anthony Barr, when Ryan left the pocket. That allowed Julio Jones to break free and make a 21-yard reception. Atlanta scored a touchdown seven plays later.
“We could have blown that game open earlier,” said Greenway of Sunday’s eventual 13-point win.
The Vikings will have to emphasize assignment integrity even more on Thursday against the shifty Aaron Rodgers. Zimmer complimented Rodgers mobility on Wednesday and called him the best in the league against the blitz.
“We’re going on the third first-ballot Hall of Famer in four weeks,” said Zimmer, who was presumably including Tom Brady and Drew Brees in that exclusive group.
The NFL does not include penalty-aided conversions in the third down stats, which means the Vikings have allowed 19 third down conversions over the past two weeks, or 9.5 per game. Over the past five complete seasons, no team has allowed seven third down conversions per game, meaning the Vikings’ recent pace is far below the cellar.
Things won’t get any easier at Lambeau.
Sam Ekstrom is a staff writer for Cold Omaha at 105 The Ticket. He has previously served as a play-by-play broadcaster in Iowa and South Dakota and has covered Minnesota sports since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @SamEkstrom for further insights.