The Minnesota Vikings’ defense got off to a bad start, but over their last three games, they’ve been and looked like one of the elite defenses of the NFL.

Other than Week 1, the Vikings’ defense looked awful through the first five weeks. They swallowed up Aaron Rodgers in the backfield and held them to seven points. It was an impressive performance, but it’s clear that the Green Bay Packers are not a good team anymore.

Here’s a recap of the Vikings’ defensive performances through the first five weeks (Week 1 not included):

• Week 2: Gave up 24 points to the Philadelphia Eagles – looked better in the second half
• Week 3: Gave up 24 points to the Detroit Lions
• Week 4: Gave up 25 points to the New Orleans Saints w/o Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara
• Week 5: Allowed the Chicago Bears to dice up the defense and score 22

Weeks 2-5 were brutal defensively, and they could never play competently for four quarters. The offense was rolling, and it’s the main reason they were able to win every week except for the Eagles game.

Over their last three weeks, it’s been the defense that has won games for Minnesota.

• Week 6: Gave up 16 points to the Miami Dolphins – blitz packages improved immensely
• Week 8: Arizona Cardinals scored 26, but it was a weak 26 points
• Week 9: Washington Commanders put up 17 points

Opposing offenses are not having as much success, and the Vikings’ blitz packages look a lot better. They’re getting to the quarterback, and in turn, Minnesota is getting turnovers and causing the other team to go three and out.

Here’s how the Vikings rank defensively over the last three games:

• Opponent Points Per Game: 19.7, 10th
• Opponent Pass Yards: 269.3, 29th
• Opponent Rushing Yards: 96.0, 7th
• Opponent Third Down Conversions: 3.7, 2nd
• Takeaways: 2.3, T-1st

Other than the passing yards, the Vikings have been a top-10 defense.

The 3-4 defense didn’t look good through the first five weeks of the season, but over the last three weeks, Minnesota has tightened things up. The blitz packages are improving, and the secondary has stepped up and caused turnovers.

Ed Donatell was receiving a lot of flak for how poor the defense looked, but the Vikings were patient with his system. That has paid off, and in turn, Minnesota’s defense has kept them in games when the offense hasn’t played well.