Thank you for submitting questions for this postgame Vikings mailbag after their 28-25 win over the Saints in London. You can always send questions to @Andrew_Krammer on Twitter or andrew.krammer@startribune.com, and listen for answers on the weekly Access Vikings podcast.
Vikings mailbag: Where's the blitz? How does this 3-1 team stack up? What's most improved?
You had questions and Andrew Krammer had some answers after watching the Vikings escape against the Saints.
October 3, 2022 at 4:16AM
Q: Why doesn't this team blitz? We let quarterbacks sit back there with no pressure. — @tomdattnyr210
AK: That's not Ed Donatell's style. The Vikings defensive coordinator entered Sunday's game with the fourth-lowest blitz rate in the league at 16.9%, ahead of only the 49ers, Bears and Bills, according to Pro Football Reference. Donatell did start to send more rushers toward the end of the game, when safety Harrison Smith came off the edge and helped force an incompletion by Saints quarterback Andy Dalton on third down. Linebacker Eric Kendricks has voiced his opinion that the defense could be more aggressive at times, showing the adjustment required between this defense and its veteran players.
Q: Is this the worst Vikings team to ever reach the quarter pole at 3-1? — @boldyforcalder
AK: This is the 11th time the Vikings have started 3-1 or 4-0 since 1990, previously doing so in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012 and 2016. Eight of those 10 teams made the playoffs, but only one team that started 3-1, the 2004 squad, won a playoff game, doing so against Green Bay at Lambeau Field. Time will tell how this group stacks up, but this team is more talented than 2004's. These Vikings had as many Pro Bowlers last year, a losing season, on the initial all-star roster as that 2004 team. They're capable of doing more, but will they?
Q: Where was that from Justin Jefferson last week? — Danny
AK: Coach Kevin O'Connell clearly prioritized getting Jefferson involved early and often during his 10-catch, 147-yard day against the Saints. Jefferson was thrown to on the first play at the line, turning upfield for a 10-yard gain against cornerback Marshon Lattimore. He saw a lot of Lattimore, the Pro Bowl defender, and could've had an even bigger day had he not dropped two passes — one thrown behind him in the end zone. Part of Jefferson's success seemed to be the Saints relying on Lattimore to handle him alone, unlike the Lions and Eagles who deployed their top corners on Jefferson but also schemed up a lot of help from other defenders.
Q: Have we improved in any area so far from game one to now? — @bigbadragz
AK: Special teams have been the most consistent units through this 3-1 start. Kicker Greg Joseph missed what could've been a costly extra point, if not for his career-high five field goals and a game-winning 47-yard kick. Punter Ryan Wright's 13-yard throw to convert a fake punt on fourth down shows the kind of game-changing aggressiveness the Vikings had on special teams when they've been great before.
Q: Does Kevin O'Connell fully trust Kirk Cousins, because play calling seems to suggest no? — @sureman87
AK: O'Connell certainly wasn't pressing the gas to start this game against the Saints, when the first touchdown on third-and-goal (from the 15-yard line) was a dump-off running back screen that Alexander Mattison happened to take for six. Then the decision to kick a 28-yard field goal instead of attempt a fourth-and-1 play inside the red zone didn't show a lot of confidence in the offense, a choice O'Connell made after Cousins' interception on a late throw and tight end Johnny Mundt's drop on third down. It wasn't a great day for many players on offense, so perhaps his conservatism was justified at times.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
