
Against a Rams offense with speedy threats accounting for the fourth-most explosive pass plays in the NFL, the Vikings attacked what they felt like was the source: Todd Gurley.
"If you stop the run, then you stop the bootleg," nose tackle Linval Joseph said. "You pretty much have them bottled up."
On early downs, you'd often see safety Harrison Smith or Anthony Harris roam near the line of scrimmage against Los Angeles on Sunday. And even after the Vikings took an early punch from Gurley via 31 yards and an opening-drive touchdown, the defense again became a brick wall.
With Gurley gaining little, the offense was forced into Jared Goff's hands. Blitzes and a crafty Vikings secondary were waiting.
The Rams entered the game converting 47 percent on third downs. They went 3 of 11 on Sunday.
"They wanted to run downhill," defensive tackle Tom Johnson said. "So once we were able to [shore] up the interior, they had to bounce it outside. So we made them do things they didn't want to do and our secondary was able to come in and make big plays."
Let's take a look at how the Vikings secondary manipulated and varied its coverage and pressures against Goff, a key to Sunday's Vikings win over the Rams. Here to help is Dan Hatman, a former NFL scout and Director of Scouting Development at The Scouting Academy. You should follow Dan on Twitter @Dan_Hatman.