After a 2020 season that ended without a playoff berth thanks to back-to-back losses where they gave up a combined 463 yards on the ground, the Vikings believed the return of injured players and a series of offseason investments would bring their run defense back to form in 2021.
Through four games (and three losses), that hasn't been the case. The Vikings are 25th in the league in rushing yards, after finishing 27th a year ago, and rank 28th in expected points added against the run despite the addition of Dalvin Tomlinson and the returns of two starters who didn't play a down for them last year (Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce).
The Vikings allowed 184 rushing yards last week in a 14-7 loss to the Browns, though coach Mike Zimmer said on Sunday he wasn't worried about the run defense, pointing out that 33 yards for the league's top ground game came on a third-and-20 draw play.
This week brings a chance for the defense to re-establish itself against a winless Lions team that has the NFL's 20th-ranked running game, but the Vikings could have to do it without Pierce after an elbow injury last week.
Pierce has told teammates he will be out for the foreseeable future, according to a league source, and he spent Wednesday's practice rehabbing his injury.
"He's doing OK," co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson said. "He's in the training room, rehabbing, and we'll see how the week goes with him. Armon [Watts] played very well in the game for us on Sunday. I feel very comfortable with him and giving James Lynch a chance to play if [Pierce] can't play, so I feel comfortable with my group and don't have any concerns about it."
Tomlinson played nose tackle for most of his career with the Giants before the Vikings signed him this spring; he has lined up next to Pierce this season, though Patterson said Tomlinson had between eight and 10 plays at nose tackle last week because of how the Browns lined up, forcing the Vikings to shift their defensive front.
"I can rotate any way that I want," Patterson said. "They all have to know how to play three-technique [tackle]. They all have to know how to play nose. I've got all kinds of options I can use, and I'm just going to roll with what I think is the best option."
Even if Pierce is out, the Vikings' run defense will have two things going for it on Sunday: It could face a Lions offensive line without three starters — center Frank Ragnow and tackles Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker — and it could have linebacker Anthony Barr back for the first time in 13 months.
Barr missed 14 games last season with a torn pectoral muscle, and hasn't played yet this season because of a right knee injury. The Vikings listed him as questionable last week, though Barr said Wednesday "I wasn't going to play" last week against Cleveland. By the end of this week, he'll have gone through three weeks of practice; he indicated that would likely be enough for him to return.
The linebacker has a longstanding history of knee issues, sources have said, though Barr demurred Wednesday when asked if he's dealing with knee tendinitis or arthritis.
"I'm not sure that really matters," he said. "I'm feeling good. I don't think I'll have any setbacks going forward."
Nick Vigil, who has struggled against the run in Barr's absence, would likely remain on the field in the Vikings' base defense, though Barr and Eric Kendricks could provide a stronger presence against the run in sub packages than the Vikings have had in recent weeks.
"We pride ourselves still the same: being great on run defense, third-down defense, red zone defense, get after the quarterback," Barr said. "I think we've accomplished some of those goals. Some of them, we fell short. But going forward I'm confident that we're going to kind of get back to what we know how to do and be successful at it."
After a game that ended with the Browns doing enough on the ground to get past the Vikings, the first step for the run defense is putting things back together against the Lions.
"There's always things we need to go clean up," Patterson said. "Whether that's in the run game, or that's in our rush plan, or whether that's in the back-end coverage-wise, there's always things that we have to clean up.
"But they ran the ball 38 times in the course of the game, and the two draws were the most explosive run plays. We were hoping for three [-yard gains], or fours, or twos, or one. That's what you gotta do against a team like that."
