The defense is finally starting to gel under Capers 3-4. It took a bit past halfway in the season to do it, even with the few round pegs in square holes we had going into the season. Our defensive line doing it's job containing the run since the Cincy game has been a big reason why imo.

Our pass rush and secondary depth still concern me looking down the stretch though and it's no lock we'll even make the playoffs, but I sure as heck like our chances a lot better now versus had you asked me right after the Tampa game.

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Rain - That's what I was thinking. It suddenly "clicked." Took more than half a season.

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I have been saying for awhile now that we need to give it a little time. I felt early in the year we would need the pressure off the D by scoring points and putting them in a position where they could work their way into creating more pressure.

As for the Vikes games I would have liked to been able to catch one game later in the season when the D got to where it is now. Having said that those games did the D no favors in field position. I counted one game where they started at or beyond the forty EIGHT times. You just cannot do that against a good offense. Especially at their place.

We were also not getting the kind of DL play we are getting now which I think is the key to why we are also getting improved LB play as well. The D line is asserting itself and it's not just the blitzers getting in. The pocket is disolving quickly and the edge guys are lighting it up because the QB has not had the luxury of staying in or stepping up which has left them targets for Mr. Mathews.

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