Homegrown Vikings defense on Super Bowl push: 'This is our destiny

How have things changed since Zimmer been in the Twin Cities?

Well, under the 61-year-old defensive guru, the Vikings have steadily improved, culminating this season when they led the league in scoring defense (15.8 points a game) and team defense (275.9 yards a game).

"We have definitely grown a lot over the last few years," said defensive end Brian Robison, at 11 seasons the longest tenured player on the team. "There were some guys here that were before Coach Zimmer, so I think a lot of it is a testament to what he's done with these guys and really brought everyone up to speed.

"Even for a guy like myself that's been around for a long time, learning little ins and outs of offenses that he's been able to teach me has made me a smarter player."

"We got better over the years," added defensive end Everson Griffen, another player Zimmer inherited. "We really held ourselves to a higher standard by doing things together, being accountable, holding each other accountable. ... Just going out there and playing ball and doing it together."

While Zimmer obviously gets credit for orchestrating the turnaround, general manager Rick Spielman deserves kudos for putting the pieces in place. Since taking over as general manager a little more than six years ago, he has built arguably the NFL's most-talented defense, primarily through the draft.

He selected all-everything safety Harrison Smith in 2012, shutdown corner Xavier Rhodes in 2013, rangy linebacker Anthony Barr in 2014 and, in perhaps his best draft to date, corner Trae Waynes, linebacker Erik Kendricks, and defensive end Danielle Hunter in 2015.

And that doesn't take into account rotational players such cornerback Mackensie Alexander in 2016 and linebacker Ben Gedeon in 2017.

In fact, the only defensive starters who came to Minnesota via free agency are defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson, nickelback Terence Newman, and safety Andrew Sendejo.

"The philosophy with Rick and myself has always been we build through the draft, and then add guys through the free agency," Zimmer said this week. "We added a few guyS from free agency when I got here, and we've drafted guys. ... Our scouts have done a good job of identifying the guys, and I think the coaches have done a good job in communicating with those guys (about) the kind of guys that we need, and the kind of people we need ."

Kendricks said the team has taken a lot of pride in the homegrown talent throughout the locker room.

"I feel like the more we play together, the more confident we get and the better our communication gets and all of that stuff," he said. "I've felt it grow. I've felt the expectations grow, as well."

Those expectations will be higher than ever during Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Eagles in Philadelphia. Kickoff is set for 5:40 p.m.

"This is what we've been working for," Griffen said. "This season we put it upon ourselves to say, 'This is our destiny', to make it this far. That's what our (defensive) line coach (Andre Patterson) talks to us about all the time, 'This is our destiny.' We have to capitalize (on) the moment."

THE MIKE ZIMMER EFFECT

The Vikings' defense has gone from worst to first since Mike Zimmer was hired as head coach prior to the 2014 season. Here's a statistical look at the improvement:

SEASON SCORING AVG. (RANK) TOTAL YDS. (RANK)

2013 30.0 (32) 397.6 (31)

2014 21.4 (11) 344.7 (14)

2015* 18.9 (5) 344.2 (13th)

2016 19.2 (6) 314.9 (3)

2017* 15.8 (1) 275.9 (1)

*Won NFC North