3- 0 Vikings ride defense again

A week ago, the Minnesota Vikings defense stifled the Green Bay Packers, and all anyone seemed to talk about was what had gone wrong with Aaron Rodgers.

Instead of doing the same thing this week to Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, whose 14- game home winning streak ended with a 22- 10 upset at the hands of the Vikings on Sunday, how about focusing on what’s been apparent since the tail end of last season: This Vikings defense is good — really good and trending toward great, with so many ascending young players. They all seemed to get involved on a day when Minnesota posted eight sacks, three interceptions and its first 3- 0 start since Brett Favre was under center in 2009.

Dating to December, the Vikings have held seven consecutive opponents to 17 points or fewer, and they’ve faced some excellent quarterbacks in that stretch: Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Rodgers twice and now reigning MVP Newton, who seemed beaten up and beaten down once coach Mike Zimmer’s crew was done with him.

Who knows if the Vikings can keep this up for 13 more games and perhaps the playoffs with a growing injury list. Star running back Adrian Peterson ( knee), left tackle Matt Kalil ( hip) and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd ( knee) had surgery last week. Guard Alex Boone will have an MRI on his hip Monday.

“Coach Zimmer always says it: Let everybody count us out,” second- year end Danielle Hunter told USA TODAY Sports. “We want to be the underdog that’ll just shock everybody.”

But nobody should be sur-

prised anymore when the Vikings defense gives them a chance and a spark vs. any offense, even a high- powered one such as Carolina’s.

Down 10- 0, Hunter overpowered left tackle Michael Oher for a sack and safety late in the first quarter, and everything seemed to shift. The Vikings didn’t adjust as much as they cleaned up mistakes against a diverse running game, combining with Panthers penalties to trap Newton in longer passing situations so the pass rush could go to work.

The list of players who sacked Newton was a who’s who of that young core: Everson Griffen ( three), Anthony Barr, Linval Joseph, Harrison Smith and Hunter. ( Brian Robison, playing some of his best football at 33, got Newton, too.) Zimmer dialed up more pressure once they led, trusting more young players — and another older one, cornerback Terence Newman, 38, whose third- quarter interception set up a field goal that extended the lead to nine — on the back end to hold up.

“We believe our offense is go- ing to get rolling, and we hope that our offense can put up 30plus points a game,” veteran linebacker Chad Greenway said. “If it does, awesome. But it’s complementary football at its finest. It’s been done before. People have won Super Bowls this way, and that’s obviously our goal.”

The Denver Broncos did it last year with worse quarterback play than the Vikings are getting from Sam Bradford, who was a modest 18- for- 28 passing for 171 yards and a touchdown in his second start since Minnesota acquired him this month to replace injured Teddy Bridgewater.

Zimmer is an excellent defensive coach, and his staff has proved adept at handling in- game challenges. Not going down on the first punch in this building is a victory in itself, much less after after a week like the Vikings had.

“Honestly, I didn’t learn anything about this team,” Robison said. “It’s what I knew. I know this team is a bunch of fighters.”

And the defense is much more than that. It’s an extraordinarily deep, talented group that has been taking over games, including the opener at the Tennessee Ti- tans, against whom the Vikings scored two defensive TDs and completed the first of three consecutive comeback wins this season.

Next up: Manning, Odell Beckham Jr. and the New York Giants, who come to Minnesota knowing well what they’re up against.

“If the media wants to sit there and say, ‘ What’s wrong with the other team?’ Hey, that’s fine. We don’t care,” Robison said. “We’re just going to go out there, we’re going to do our jobs, and we’re going to win ballgames.

“That’s all that matters.”