Any time a team is beating preseason expectations, there is going to be skepticism about whether that team will continue to ride the wave.
That is certainly the case with the Minnesota Vikings, though power rankers across the universe have moved the Vikings up into the top five slots in recent weeks.
While the Vikings’ start to the season has been excellent from a point differential perspective, it hasn’t been on the same level as the best of the best in the last 10 years. Five teams outscored their opponents by at least 90 points with the best being the 2019 New England Patriots, who trounced their opposition 155-34.
The metric “success rate,” which is defined as a play that gains at least 40% of yards required on 1st down, 60% of yards required on 2nd down, and 100% on 3rd or 4th down, is more friendly to the Vikings’ passing game. They are ninth in success rate per drop-back but only 24th in rushing SR. The bottom line on the Vikings’ offense is that they are certainly good enough to keep winning if they maintain this level of production through the air. But they likely need to maintain an elite defense for the rest of the season to put their hat in the ring as the best team in the NFL at the end of the year…Simply put: The Vikings have the best defense in football. By Aaron Schatz’s DVOA metric, which attempts to parse out the yardage that matters and compare teams vs.
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