Welcome to Around the Horns, our daily look at what's happening on the Minnesota Vikings beat:
The charge that the Tampa 2 defense is obsolete, or too predictable, or too easy to solve, is one that Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has heard since he was running the same system as the Vikings' defensive coordinator and head coach. It's not one that Mike Zimmer, his successor in Minnesota, is prepared to levy this week.
Zimmer went so far as to say he copied the Tampa 2 scheme -- popularized by Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin and perpetuated by former Dungy assistants like Mike Tomlin, Lovie Smith and Frazier -- when he was first starting as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator in 2000. He recalled talking to Kiffin after a game against the Buccaneers during his second season, when Buccaneers safety John Lynch went up to Kiffin and said, "Hey, they're running our defense."
Many Vikings fans -- not to mention some Vikings players -- were happy to see Zimmer bring in a more aggressive style of defense when he replaced Frazier, but the Vikings play some Cover 2 shells, as do most teams in the league. So why did Zimmer go away from using the scheme as his primary defense?
"It's usually just personnel," Zimmer said. "But we still do some of it. We play with a little bit different technique. The things we run have different names for them, but a lot of the blitzes are still the same. I think everything is evolving all the time in the NFL, and things come back. It's very cyclical. I mean, it used to be the wishbone; now it's the zone read. Everything just kind of evolves. ... They've adjusted. They're not doing the same thing every play, and neither are we. Coaches find different ways to attack different things. But I don't think the defense is obsolete or anything like that."
In case you missed it on ESPN.com:
We took a look at whether there's any reason to be concerned that facing so much pressure will 'ruin' Teddy Bridgewater. The answer? Probably not; there have been a number of top-end quarterbacks who were pressured consistently as rookies.
Frazier offered support for Adrian Peterson, as well as former Vikings receiver Percy Harvin, saying he wished both of his former players "nothing but the best."
ESPN Buccaneers reporter Pat Yasinskas and I previewed Sunday's matchup.
The Vikings should get John Sullivan back Sunday after the center cleared the NFL's concussion protocol.
Defensive tackle Tom Johnson will make a pre-trial appearance in court Dec. 9 after pleading not guilty to trespassing and disorderly conduct charges.
Best of the rest:
Everson Griffen is delivering on the new contract the Vikings gave him in March, writes Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The Buccaneers' spring spending spree hasn't paid off yet, Mark Craig of the Star Tribune says.
The Vikings' defense, which was the team's weakest unit last season, has become the strength of the team, according to Andrew Krammer of 1500ESPN.com.
Jarius Wright has found a rhythm with Bridgewater, John Holler of Viking Update writes.