Any hope the Minnesota Vikings had of salvaging their season appeared to be slipping away in the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Carolina. The Carolina Panthers held a 13-7 lead and had a first down at the Vikings’ 21-yard line. Considering how Minnesota’s first three games had gone, a Carolina touchdown likely would have represented a fatal blow.
But two plays later, with the Panthers at the 28 because of a penalty and a 2-yard rushing loss, safety Harrison Smith turned back the clock and changed the game. Smith not only sacked Bryce Young for a loss of 12 yards, but the first-overall pick in the draft last April lost the ball, allowing D.J. Wonnum to pick it up at his own 49 and go 51 yards for a touchdown.
The Vikings took a one-point lead en route to a 21-13 victory that finally gave them a win and kept the Panthers winless.
During the Vikings 0-3 start, there had been plenty of discussion about whether general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would start to shop veterans like Smith, defensive end Danielle Hunter, or even quarterback Kirk Cousins, as the Oct. 31 trade deadline neared. Losing on Sunday would have only increased the discussion that the Vikings should look to 2024.
The 34-year-old Smith halted that talk for at least a week with one of the best games of his 12-year NFL career, all spent in Minnesota. The game-changing sack of Young was one of three he had on the day and he also finished with a team-leading 14 tackles. There are some who feel Smith will be headed for the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his career is finished, but he acknowledged he hadn’t been at his best in losses to Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and the Chargers.
“I felt like I wasn’t really a difference-maker, and I’ve always thought of myself that way,” he said.
So what was the difference?
One key is the Vikings have a far more aggressive defensive coordinator in Brian Flores than they did last season with one-and-done DC Ed Donatell. Donatell promised a system that was expected to keep opponents off balance, but instead delivered vanilla looks that offenses picked apart.
Flores’ defense has had its struggles in the first three games — including giving up 259 yards rushing in Week 2 at Philadelphia and 445 yards passing to the Chargers in Week 3 — but his commitment to the blitz and trying to confuse opponents is clear.
There was never a doubt that Flores would find far more use for Smith than Donatell. Smith played in 14 games last season and did not have a sack — the first time that happened since 2013 (his second season) when he had no sacks in only games.
Smith is a master at lining up in different spots and then either blitzing or dropping back into coverage. But Donatell primarily wanted him to play a deep safety last year and that led him to tying his career high with five interceptions. It also made the Vikings defense far too predictable.
That wasn’t a problem Sunday as Smith had as many sacks in one game as he did in setting his career-high for sacks with three in 2014, 2018 and 2021.
“I can remember talking to (Flores) the first time I ever sat down with him last winter and, as we started talking about the possibilities and that safety group as a whole, it was an exciting conversation that all centered around No. 22 (Smith),” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Getting him around the line of scrimmage, getting him involved in the rush, getting his hands on balls in coverage, making plays in space, tackling. He’s been doing it for his whole career and it’s just good to see him back in positions to make huge plays to impact football games.”
What’s interesting is as Flores walked in the door at TCO Performance Center there was no guarantee he would have Smith on his roster. Smith considered going elsewhere in March when the Vikings told him they were cutting his salary from $14.7 million to $8 million with $2 million in incentives. Smith told reporters last spring that “it felt right to stay,” and that Flores was “honestly a big draw in staying here.”
It helped that Young is a quarterback who is being forced to play by the Panthers and not because he deserves to be starting ahead of veteran Andy Dalton. If Dalton had gotten the start against the Vikings, it might have been a different outcome. But these struggling Vikings will take whatever they are given.
That’s especially true with the Chiefs on the schedule next Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium and the 49ers coming to town two weeks from Monday. It helps that the hapless Bears are sandwiched in between.
The Vikings aren’t out of the woods when it comes to some calling for veterans to be dealt. There are four games before the deadline, including the Packers on Oct. 29 in Lambeau. But for at least a week, Smith’s performance should be a focus instead of his potential departure.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
