Balance of POWER

Sporting News, The, Oct 30, 2000 by Dennis Dillon

In their quest to tip the scales of NFC supremacy in their favor, the VIKINGS have made upgrades on defense that have given the team a quietly effective unit

Most discussions about the 7-0 Vikings begin with offense. Daunte Culpepper is cruising in rarefied air for a quarterback who has started only seven NFL games, Robert Smith is an elite albeit underpublicized running back, and Cris Carter and Randy Moss are the best wide receiver tandem in the league.

An eighth trip to the playoffs in Dennis Green's nine seasons as coach appears to be a fait accompli. But prying off the Rams' grip on supremacy in the NFC will require a concerted effort. That means the defense will have to step up and be counted.

In the past five years, seven of the 10 teams that went to the Super Bowl had defenses that ranked among the top 10 overall. Right now, the Vikings' defense is about in the middle of the pack. It hasn't overwhelmed opponents, but it has been quietly effective and has kept the team in position to win.

"They have a bend-don't-break kind of philosophy," says Bears offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, whose team lost to the Vikings, 30-27, in the season opener and 28-16 in Week 7. "They do enough to try and keep everything in front of them and not give you big plays. They want to make you go all the way down the field."

Here are three reasons the defense is better than most NFL observers expected it to be.

An end run. John Randle's switch from tackle to left end--the Vikings used him at right end occasionally in previous seasons--not only reduces the number of double-team blocks he faces but also gives him a chance to use his speed off the edge. After going sackless in the first four games, Randle picked up one sack in each of the first two games he started at end.

Rookie Chris Hovan's development helped precipitate the move. A high-intensity, instinctive player who recognizes plays and blocking patterns as they are developing, Hovan had been sharing time at nose tackle with Tony Williams. Green decided they both should be playing full time. Now, Hovan starts at the nose and Williams plays the undertackle position. Talance Sawyer is the right end.

"The biggest difference is moving Chris Hovan into the starting lineup," says Mark Dominik, the Buccaneers' pro scouting coordinator. "That's allowed them more flexibility with Randle. That's their four best defensive linemen, and they've found a way to get them on the field all at the same time."

The foursome of Randle, Hovan, Williams and Sawyer hasn't elicited any comparisons to the Purple People Eaters just yet. And the four weigh barely over half a ton collectively, with Hovan (305) the only player over 300 pounds. But Green thinks they give the Vikings a better run defense.

"We're probably the smallest (defensive line) in the National Football League," says Green. "But with Randle and Sawyer on the outside and Hovan and Williams inside, we're a very explosive front four."

The Kailee shuffle. Let's see if we've got this straight. Kailee Wong, who played strongside linebacker last season, is now in the middle. Ed McDaniel, the middle man last year, is now the weakside 'backer. And Dwayne Rudd has switched from the weak side to the strong side.

There was a method to this maneuvering madness. All three linebackers now are in the best spots for them to make plays.

"I think those moves have helped them," says Dominik. "I think that's why they're competitive and have played better than I think people were expecting them to."

The Vikings visualized Wong as a middle linebacker when they drafted him in the second round in 1998. But because Wong had played defensive end at Stanford, the team felt it would be easier for him to make the transition to outside linebacker. Green had hoped to make the move last season, but the timing wasn't right.

At 6-2, 247 pounds, Wong is more stout in the middle than McDaniel (5-11,229). Green calls Wong a "good, straight-ahead, attack-style linebacker." McDaniel led the team in tackles for the third straight season in 1999, but he is undersized for the middle. He is making just as many tackles playing on the weak side, where he won't have to take on as many blocks. He leads the team with 63 tackles. Rudd is a prototype outside linebacker. He has exceptional speed and can cover tight ends man-to-man.

Savvy addition. On the final preseason cutdown, cornerback Cris Dishman was released by the Chiefs. Less than a week later, he was starting for the Vikings in the season opener. This was a key pickup because cornerback was clearly the weakest position on the team and was badly in need of some experience after Jimmy Hitchcock left in free agency.

Dishman is 35 and 13 NFL seasons are starting to take their toll, but he has brought some stability and savvy to the position. "He doesn't run as well as he used to. I can see that on film," says Crowton. "But you can see he's smart and has been around. He gives them experience back there."

Both Dishman and Robert Tate, the other cornerback, who was converted from wide receiver midway through the '99 season, can play bump-and-run pass coverage. That enables strong safety Robert Griffith, one of the hardest hitters in the NFL, to be more active. He can line up as the eighth man in the box to help shut down the run or blitz the quarterback.