Mike Zimmer: Pass Defense Has 'Never Been This Poor' After Jared Goff's 5 TDs

The Minnesota Vikings made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game a season ago with the help of a strong defense. On Thursday night, though, the unit got absolutely torched by Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams.

That poor performance left Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer concerned.

"At this point, I don't know," Zimmer said after the 38-31 loss, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "Probably, anywhere I've ever been, I've never been this poor in pass coverage, so we're going to have to look at everything we're doing at get back to doing things correctly."

Goff absolutely had his way with the Vikings defense, throwing for a career-high 465 yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions. Not only did he post a passer rating of 158.3, but he also joined some exclusive company:

Although only five Rams had catches, the third-year quarterback did a nice job of evenly distributing the football. Cooper Kupp (nine catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns), Brandin Cooks (seven catches for 116 yards and one touchdown) and Robert Woods (five catches for 101 yards and one touchdown) all had big nights, with Todd Gurley also finding the end zone through the air.

In other words, Goff threw where he wanted, when he wanted.

Afterward, Woods made it clear his team was just taking what the opposing defense gave it:

"We made some mistakes, we left a bunch of guys open and they have a good scheme," Zimmer added, per Cronin. "They don't give you too many drop-back passes were you can rush the quarterback. There's a lot of play-actions where they're blocking eight or nine guys, and it makes it difficult to get to him."

The Vikings now rank 26th overall against the pass, which is a far cry from their No. 2 ranking in 2017. Through the first four games, they are allowing 85 passing yards more than they did last season. Just as notable, they have gone from allowing just 6.0 per pass play to 9.2, the second-worst mark in the league.

Minnesota (27.5 points per game allowed) ranks 22nd this season in scoring defense.

The Rams boast one of the NFL's top offenses and are one of just three remaining undefeated teams. Although a loss is a loss, the seven-point margin was the closest any team has come to beating Los Angeles this season. Goff and Co. entered the game winning by an average of 22 games through the first three weeks.

Regardless of how talented the Rams may be, Zimmer knows his Vikings (1-2-1) have a long way to go if they hope to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders this season. Given he has been known as a defensive guru throughout his career, Zimmer may have some tricks up his sleeve to get the unit back to its 2017 form.