After the Minnesota Vikings absorbed a 31-24 defeat at the hands of the New York Giants in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, it seemed that it would just be a matter of time before the team parted company with defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

The Giants ripped through the Minnesota defense throughout the game, and that was thoroughly predictable. Even though the Vikings won the NFC North with a 13-4 record, the team's defense was awful throughout the season. The Vikings ranked 31st in yardage allowed, and if the Minnesota offense had not been as productive as it was, the team would have struggled to come up with a winning record.

Donatell deserves some of the blame, as he was fired Thursday night by the team. He changed the 4-3 defense that the previous coaching regime used to a 3-4 set up, but it was always a work in progress. The label of “vanilla” for the defense does not begin to say how easy to read it was for most opponents.

The vulnerable defense was not just a 2022 problem for the Vikings. They were awful in 2020 and 2021, and that indicates the large majority of the problems are personnel related.

3. Where is the Vikings pass rush?

Za'Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter are the big-name pass rushers on the Vikings, and their statistics indicate they were at least somewhat involved. Smith had 10.5 sacks this season while Hunter had 10.

However, there was no consistency from this unit. Smith got off to a solid start in his first year after coming over from the Green Bay Packers, but he slowed down quite a bit in the second half of the season.

Hunter was an even bigger issue. He was one of the top pass rushers in the league in 2018 and 2019, contributing 14.5 sacks in each of those years. Injuries slowed him dramatically in 2020 and 2021, but he was healthy this season. He would occasionally come up with a few surges, but he could not bring consistent pressure and that left opposing quarterbacks with easy looks at open receivers.

Minnesota's pass rush managed a 23.9% pressure rate during the regular season, ranking 23rd in the NFL.

2. Impact play from linebackers missing

If the Vikings were going to show any improvement on defense from the previous seasons when former head coach Mike Zimmer devised the game plan, it would have shown up with the linebacker play.

Eric Kendricks is a linebacker who plays with excellent effort and led the Vikings with 137 tackles and he also had 8 tackles for loss. However, when it came to creating big plays, Kendricks did not do much in that role. He did not have an interception or force a fumble and he only had 1 fumble recovery.

Fellow linebacker Jordan Hicks was second on the team with 129 tackles and he did have 3.0 sacks. As for big plays, he had 1 interception and 1 forced fumble.

Their two primary tacklers simply did not produce enough big plays, and when it came to covering opposing running backs and tight ends, they were regularly chasing them down from behind and unable to prevent key receptions.

1. Secondary issues continue for Vikings

This has been the biggest issue since the start of the 2020 season. The Vikings attempted to make changes prior to the season when they drafted safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth with their first two selection. Cine looked like he might be able to provide an upgrade, but he suffered a compound fracture of his left leg early in the season against the New Orleans Saints.

Booth's season was also slowed by injuries, and he had just 12 tackles in 6 games. Veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson was one of the best in the league during his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals. While he still has the know-how, he no longer has the speed or quickness needed to cover speedy receivers.

Veteran safety Harrison Smith also fits that same description. He is a 33-year-old who has a fairly good idea of how the offense will attack, but he just can't get to the spot to prevent big plays any longer.

As a result of the shortcomings on defense, the Vikings gave up an average of 265.6 yards per game through the air, ranking 31st in that category.

Conclusion

While the 3-4 scheme the Vikings employed this season was not helpful, it was the lack of talented personnel that was the big problem. Great defensive teams nearly always have a signature player who will take over a game and dominate a game with his strength and mean streak.

The Vikings do not have that player. They need to get faster, more instinctive and meaner. Until that happens, the Vikings are destined for more defensive failures.

Ed Donatell did little to help, but unless they improve their personnel, the next coach may have similar issues.