Vikings' Za'Darius Smith is '100 Percent' After Knee Injury Limited Him Down the Stretch
Vikings outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith got off to an incredible start this season, ranking among the league's sack leaders with 8.5 through the team's first seven games. For much of the season, he was at the very top of the leaderboard when it came to pressures.
Smith wasn't the same dominant force in the second half of the season. His pressure numbers dropped off, from 6.1 per game in the first nine weeks to 3.3 per game over his final seven outings (he didn't play in the season finale against the Bears). More notably, his sack production fell off completely, with just 0.5 over those final seven games.
There's a reason for that, Smith said on Wednesday. He suffered a knee contusion in the Vikings' dramatic Week 10 win over the Bills — a game in which he had 9 pressures and a sack — and the soreness limited him during the second half of the season. The good news is that Smith said he's now fully recovered from the injury.
"All is well now," he said. "I'm fully healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. Happy to be back, 100 percent healthy and ready to go."
That's a huge development for the Vikings' defense. If they're going to make a run in this postseason, starting on Sunday against the Giants, they need Smith to be at his best. They need the player who had a ridiculous run of 6 sacks and 33 pressures in a four-game span against the Dolphins, Cardinals, Commanders, and Bills.
When he's on, Smith can wreck game plans by lining up all over the defensive front and getting to the quarterback.
"I'd say the first half of the season, I was going crazy," he said. "But like I said, the injury held me back a little bit. As you can see, Danielle picked up (the slack). It was good to have both of us, one up and one down. But right now it's playoffs and we're ready to go, ready to get after the quarterback."
Smith has a point. Danielle Hunter got off to a bit of slow start this season by his standards, which was to be expected as he adjusted to a new defensive scheme. He picked it up around midseason, recording 7.5 sacks in the final ten games after just three in the first seven. That includes Hunter getting two sacks on nine pressures in the first meeting against the Giants a few weeks ago.
The season-long numbers for both star edge rushers were pretty strong, which is impressive when you consider they each went through a relatively slow patch. Smith finished with 10 sacks, Hunter had 10.5, and they were two of the league's eight players with at least 70 pressures.
Now it's playoff time. If Smith and Hunter can be dominant forces at the same time, it'll go a long way in helping the Vikings go on a run.
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