EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — With the Minnesota Vikings holding a 10-point lead at Tennessee midway through the fourth quarter, Titans quarterback Will Levis lined up in the shotgun formation for a crucial fourth-and-4 play from the Minnesota 43.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores ordered six men up on the line, once again threatening to blitz without guaranteeing his team would actually bring it. Sure enough, the linebackers dropped back at the snap, leaving the pass rush for the front four.
Patrick Jones powered past Titans right guard Peter Skoronski, the 11th overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, and pulled down Levis for a 6-yard loss with 8:32 left to force the turnover on downs and all but seal Sunday's 23-13 victory that moved Minnesota to 8-2.
The Vikings have been hounding quarterbacks all season, often without any extra help.
“We were just all out there rushing together. Just trying to work off of each other,” said Jones, who had two of the five sacks of Levis, none of which required an extra rusher. “We were all just playing free out there. Just having fun.”
With Andrew Van Ginkel (eight), Jonathan Greenard (seven) and Jones (seven), the Vikings are on pace to have three players with 10-plus sacks for only the third time in franchise history. The Purple People Eaters produced three — Alan Page, Gary Larsen and Jim Marshall — in 1968. When the Vikings had a team-record 71 sacks in 1989, Chris Doleman, Keith Millard and Al Noga all reached double digits.
“That group as a whole is really a strength,” coach Kevin O'Connell said.
The addition of Greenard and Van Ginkel in free agency, even while letting four-time Pro Bowl pick Danielle Hunter leave, has fueled a pass-rushing renaissance for the Vikings. Flores still calls blitzes at a league-leading rate (36%), according to Sportradar, but the frequency of extra rushers is significantly down from last year (53%).
Regularly removing all of the interior linemen and putting four edge rushers on the front, Flores has found an effective formula for pressure without relying on the blitz. Yet he's still sending extra rushers often enough — including inside linebackers Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace and safeties Josh Metellus and Harrison Smith — to ensure the opponent is constantly guessing about where the protection is most vulnerable.
“Our guys up front did a great job. First, stopping the run. Second, getting after the quarterback,” Smith said. “That makes it hard, no matter what you know at that point. You've got guys trying to put pressure on you all day.”
The defense against the run, as Smith alluded to, was nearly impenetrable. Titans running back Tony Pollard had his least productive game of the season with nine carries for 15 yards, and the Vikings stopped five running plays for negative yardage.
The presence of mammoth defensive tackles Jeffery Simmons and T'Vondre Sweat in Tennessee made running the ball inside difficult, but the Vikings need more production on the ground to keep their offense on the right track. They averaged a season-low 2.48 yards on 33 attempts against the Titans.
QB Sam Darnold deftly bounced back from a two-game stretch with five interceptions and a lost fumble. Though he was charged with another lost fumble on a toss that was bobbled and dropped by Aaron Jones, Darnold didn't force any throws that weren't there and stayed plenty aggressive when he needed to. He ranks fifth in the NFL in touchdown passes, sixth in yards per attempt and 10th in passer rating.
“It speaks to kind of where he’s at right now. Just really proud of the way he played," O'Connell said.
The game at Tennessee marked a low moment for the 2022 draft class that has been a drag on this otherwise well-constructed roster.
Among the five players who remain, right guard Ed Ingram was benched for Dalton Risner, wide receiver Jalen Nailor dropped what would've been a 46-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and running back Ty Chandler — now third on the depth chart — took a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on punt coverage. Linebacker Brian Asamoah and cornerback Akayleb Evans are in special teams-only roles.
Tight end Josh Oliver departed the game with a sprained ankle, putting his availability for the week in question. Oliver's overall effectiveness has allowed the Vikings to ease T.J. Hockenson back into action in his return from knee surgery. Oliver played 41 of 73 snaps against the Titans, and Hockenson played 35.
With an average of 3.5 sacks per game, the Vikings are third in the NFL and have matched their second-best single-season rate on record. The 1989 team had 4.4 sacks per game.
The friendly placement of the struggling AFC South in the middle of the schedule has passed, but there's a transition period before a challenging final three-game stretch. Minnesota plays at Chicago on Sunday, the first of two games in four weeks against a Bears team that has lost four straight games.
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