Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

The Film Don't Lie: Vikings

A weekly look at what the Minnesota Vikings must fix:

We'll give the opening statement for this week's edition of The Film Don't Lie to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer. Coach, how did you feel about your third-down defense on Sunday?

"It’s terrible," Zimmer said on Monday. "We have a lot of work to do. I'm extremely disappointed in that. We will put a lot more time and effort into it than what we have. It's disappointing because that should be one of our strengths."

The Vikings have good reason to be disappointed after a game in which they allowed the Falcons to convert 10 of their 15 third-down attempts. That included a third-and-20, two third-and-10s and a third-and-7 on which Matt Ryan threw a 36-yard touchdown to Devin Hester. Missed sacks were at the heart of several Falcons conversions; the Vikings had an eight-man blitz fail to get home on a third-and-7 early in the game, dialed up a five-man blitz on Ryan's touchdown to Hester and saw Ryan elude Brian Robison's grasp on a third-and-10 in the third quarter. The Vikings' first -- and only -- sack of the game came on an Anthony Barr blitz in the fourth quarter, but missed chances to put the quarterback on the ground allowed Ryan to pick holes in Minnesota's coverage on several occasions.

The task won't get much easier on Thursday night against quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a Green Bay Packers offense with the league's ninth-best third-down conversion rate. But an offensive line that has already allowed 10 sacks might give the Vikings chances to get to Rodgers, who is one of the game's masters at extending plays. The Vikings haven't struggled to pressure quarterbacks this season -- they've gotten pressure on 26.1 percent of their opportunities, which is the 14th-best rate in the league this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information -- but wrapping up the quarterback on a few more third downs would help their defense to get off the field.

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