Mike Zimmer Has His Work Cut out for Him in Fixing Vikings Defense

New Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is widely considered one of the NFL's preeminent defensive minds, a verified master of stopping offenses and getting the most out of whatever talent on defense is presented to him.

His toughest test yet is still ahead, as Zimmer is now taking over a Vikings defense that was arguably the NFL's very worst in 2013. And there's likely to be significant talent turnover on that side of the football this offseason. 

It's a challenge Zimmer, who has 20 years experience coaching NFL defenses, seems specifically made to take on, even if his appointment was a rare one in today's league. 

By hiring Zimmer, the Vikings bucked an otherwise steady trend of offensive coaches getting open head coaching jobs. In 2013, seven of the eight new coaching hires were from the offensive side of the ball (Gus Bradley was the lone exception). Before Zimmer, four of the five new hires in 2014 came from the offensive side, save for Lovie Smith in Tampa Bay. Overall, that's 11 of the last 13 head coaching hires with offensive backgrounds. 

The Vikings could have easily done the same. Minnesota finished 2013 ranked in the middle of the pack in yards and points on offense, and a still unresolved quarterback situation was begging for an offensive guru to come in and develop a young player. 

But the Vikings instead decided to go the defensive route, and looking at the numbers, it's easy to understand why. This is a unit that needed a miracle worker like Zimmer. 

	Total	NFL Rank
Points	480	32nd
Total Yards	6362	31st
Passing Yards	4595	31st
Passing TDs	37	32nd
Passer Rating	98.6	30th
Takeaways	20	27th
First Downs	368	30th
Sack %	6.0	22nd
Scoring Drives %	39.6	29th
Turnover %	9.1	30th
Third Down %	44.2	30th
Red Zone TD %	61.9	26th
Fourth-Quarter Points	133	29th

After finishing 14th in points and 16th in yards in 2012, the Vikings plummeted to 32nd and 31st this past season. Minnesota allowed 480 points, just four off the team's all-time record of 484, set in 1984. The Vikings also were the only team to give up at least 30 points a game in 2013. 

The defense bled yards, giving up the second-most passing yards (4,595) and 16th-most rushing yards (1,767). Only the Dallas Cowboys allowed more total yards than Minnesota's 6,362. 

And there weren't enough turnovers generated to offset the porous play. The Vikings had just 20 takeaways in 2013, ranking 27th in the NFL. Pressuring the quarterback wasn't a strength either, as Minnesota ended 2013 with a sack percentage of only 6.0, which finished 22nd in the league.

Overall, the Vikings gave up points on nearly 40 percent of their defensive drives (fourth highest) and forced turnovers on less than 10 percent of those drives (third lowest). On third downs, Minnesota's defense ranked 30th, allowing conversions on almost 45 percent of its opportunities. In the red zone, the Vikings gave up touchdowns at a rate of 61.9 percent, the seventh-highest mark in the NFL. 

Possibly no statistic was as damning to the Vikings season as fourth-quarter defense. Minnesota allowed a staggering 8.3 points on average in the fourth quarter in 2013. Only three teams allowed more points in the final 15 minutes of games. That rupturing of late points directly led to the Vikings blowing five different fourth-quarter leads. Minnesota went 0-4-1 in those games, helping the Vikings finish 5-10-1 in a division that had a winner advance to the postseason with a 8-7-1 mark. 

Michael Keating/Associated Press

Luckily for Minnesota, Zimmer has a strong track record of turning around bad defenses. 

In 2000, Zimmer took over an aging Dallas Cowboys defense that improved its points allowed numbers in each of the next four seasons. By 2003, the Cowboys were ranked second in points allowed and first in yards allowed. 

After a one-year stint in Atlanta, Zimmer was hired to coordinate a struggling Bengals defense that ranked 24th in points an 27th in yards in 2007. By the end of 2008, those rankings had improved to 19th and 12th, respectively. From 2009 on, Zimmer's defenses ranked in the top seven in yards allowed four times and four times the Cowboys finished in the top 10 in fewest points surrendered.

Zimmer prides himself on being able to spawn change. 

"I go out and I observe, to find out what needs to get fixed, and then I fix," Zimmer said during his introductory press conference Friday. "I do think I'm a fixer."  

His first fixes will likely be personnel-related. The Vikings have several big decisions ahead on the defensive side of the ball. 

Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, two of the team's longest-tenured players, are headed to unrestricted free agency. Both made significant sums of money in 2013 and would likely need to take sharp pay cuts to return to Minnesota in 2014. 

Overall, the two perennial disrupters have registered a combined 145.5 sacks during their careers with the Vikings. It's unlikely both are back in Minnesota next season. 

But the decisions don't end with Allen and Williams.

Everson Griffen, a young, versatile and talented pass-rusher, also has an expiring contract. He could be due a sizable pay increase. Given Griffen's unique skill set, it's likely he'll become one of Zimmer's biggest priorities. 

Erin Henderson, a starting linebacker, and Chris Cook, a starter at cornerback, also have shaky futures. Both have off-the-field issues, and neither made up for the headache with extraordinary play on the field. It's likely both are playing elsewhere in 2014. 

Other defensive free agents include Desmond Bishop, Marvin Mitchell, Fred Evans and Marcus Sherels. 

Maybe turnover is a positive thing for a defense as poor as the Vikings was in 2013. But losing that much individual talent could make Zimmer's renovation project a more difficult one, especially early on. He'll need to continue plucking talents in the draft and finding the right pieces in free agency. 

	Total	NFL Rank
Points	305	5th
Total Yards	4888	3rd
Passing Yards	3344	5th
Opposing Passer Rating	74.2	2nd
Takeaways	31	3rd
Rushing Yards	1544	5th
Sacks	43	10th
First Downs	282	3rd

One aspect that will determine roster decisions will be what defensive scheme Zimmer wants to run. He is well versed in both the 4-3 and 3-4, although he spent all his time in Cincinnati employing the 4-3. Minnesota played a four-man front in 2013, but as ESPN reports, there's a feeling that a switch to the 3-4 could be in the works. 

Regardless of what the Vikings run, expect Zimmer to have his hands on everything Minnesota does defensively. 

"I plan on it being very similar to what I've done in Cincinnati," Zimmer said. "It's always going to be a part of my little baby. It's who I am and what got me here."

In 2013, the Bengals finished third in yards allowed and takeaways, fifth in points and rushing yards allowed, 10th in quarterback sacks and second in opposing passer rating. While the San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks were often credited with possessing the season's best defenses, Cincinnati wasn't too far behind. 

Zimmer's defensive philosophy isn't a complicated one. 

"I want to stop the run and hit the quarterback," Zimmer said. 

Since 2008, the Bengals have allowed the seventh-fewest rushing yards while registering 217 total sacks. The Vikings lead the NFL in sacks during that six-year span, despite a downward trend recently. 

One former head coach thinks that Zimmer can get the Vikings defense turned around quickly, regardless of the personnel. 

"You look at what he did in Cincinnati with a cast of characters,'' said Brian Billick, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (St. Paul) "It's not like he had a perennial bunch of All-Pros there. He built that thing up with a combination of draft choices and free agents. He can take what you have and make it a good group.''

Zimmer's history suggests that the Vikings defense will eventually return to its former place among the league's best...and likely sooner rather than later. 

But the project ahead of Zimmer is without a doubt his most daunting to date, as the Vikings leave an agonizing season in the rearview mirror while looking ahead at the possibility of a serious roster turnover. 

If Zimmer gets this defense turned around, he'll have earned it.