The Vikings’ Oct. 24 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was the most innocuous night of the season for a defense that had led the NFL in quarterback pressures for much of the year. They finished without a sack for the first time this season, hit Matthew Stafford only twice and pressured him just four times in a 30-20 loss in which the 36-year-old threw four touchdown passes.
The Vikings returned home Sunday night to face the Indianapolis Colts’ Joe Flacco, another veteran quarterback who had used the NFL’s fifth-quickest release to keep pressure at bay. But an immobile 39-year-old, playing behind an offensive line missing two starters in a frenzied environment, proved to be the perfect mark for a pass rush looking to get right as the Vikings prevailed 21-13.
The Vikings sacked Flacco three times in the fourth quarter, hit him seven times in the game and pressured him on 13 of his 30 dropbacks. Ten of their pressures came from the 20 snaps in which they sent four or fewer pass rushers after Flacco, opting for stunts and deception over all-out blitzes.
And first-round pick Dallas Turner, who had played only three defensive snaps against the Rams, was on the field for 26 on Sunday night, generating four pressures while lining up more at left outside linebacker than he has all season.
“We wanted to make sure he was a little bit more involved in the game, and he showed up,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I thought it was a performance that I was not surprised by, and I’ve kind of had been telling you guys as we move forward here and based upon game plans and things like that, but I thought it was a real great step in the right direction for Dallas and one that I think he’ll build on. It’s still early on in his career and he’s learning and getting better every single day, but talented player, athletic. It shows up when you turn on the tape.”
Turner’s best pressure of the night might have been in the third quarter, when he lined up over Josh Downs at slot corner and took a direct line to Flacco from the far side of the field on a play where the Colts hadn’t accounted for him. He hit Flacco in 2.02 seconds, just as the quarterback was preparing to fire over the middle for Downs, and the pass fell incomplete with Josh Metellus and Ivan Pace Jr. dropping into coverage.
“It was a field blitz, and I just so happened to be the blitzer,” Turner said. “It was a matter of scheming it up the right way and timing the snap. They were away. We were home, so [the silent count] was going to be on the [right] guard [rookie Dalton Tucker], sticking his hand out. It was just cadence, timing and then preparation.”
