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Minnesota Vikings applying intense pressure to quarterbacks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Minnesota Vikings are applying a ton of pressure to opposing quarterbacks. How good has their pass rush been through three games?

The Minnesota Vikings’ defense is playing out of its mind.

No kidding…

This season has been a daunting task for the Vikings’ defense, having faced Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton in consecutive weeks. That has been a walk in the park for this talented unit, which has held Rodgers and Newton to a combined 24 points.

The Vikings have 15 sacks in their first three games. Everson Griffen has been a man possessed so far, and had arguably his best game of the season this past week against the Panthers, racking up four tackles, three sacks, and four QB hurries…

Griffen has really developed into a heck of a player since the Vikings gave him a new contract. While on his rookie contract, his career high for sacks in a season was eight. In the two seasons after he signed his new contract, he racked up 12 sacks and 10.5 sacks.

He already has four this season, including three on Cam Newton this past weekend. Look at the speed he’s getting off the snap…

While Griffen has established himself as a star edge player in this league, his partner in crime Danielle Hunter is quickly ascending and showing signs of potential dominance. Look at this demolition job he does on Michael Oher before sacking Cam Newton for a safety…

My word…

Hunter, who is just 21 years old, is not only making a name for himself at getting pressure on the quarterback, but making plays behind the line in general. While he has three sacks this season, he’s shown an ability to do this:

That is the type of play that’s going to earn him additional reps in Mike Zimmer’s defense, and it’s why at the end of the season, people are going to be talking about him as one of the next best edge defenders in the game of football.

Hunter is the total package, and the scary thing is — he’s still learning.

We would be remiss if we didn’t credit the interior of the Vikings’ defensive line for their success on the edges as well. You’ll often see this with great pass rush tandems, because the players on the interior are occupying gaps and taking up space for the quicker pass rushers to make plays on the edge.

While the Vikings have a great gap clogger in Linval Joseph, they also have another massive player that can collapse the pocket on his own. This is Joseph going against one of the best centers in the NFL:

This Vikings defensive front is unreal. Of course, there’s talent at every level, but they have 15 sacks by a combined seven different players. They’ve also forced five fumbles in three games. This is incredible production and if the Vikings can keep this up, people will continue to overlook their offensive deficiencies.

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