Vikings-Lions Player Grades

  (by Travis Aune MN Sports Unlimited Founder)

 Something new here at Minnesota Sports Unlimited every week.  Every week of the season we will grade every position player for the Vikings and I will give a short explanation why I gave them that grade.  This week the Vikings fell to division rival the Detroit Lions 14-7 to even their record at 2-2. In the process lost RB Dalvin Cook for the season to a torn ACL.  I get NFL rewind and study the film of the players to make this assumption.  You don’t have to agree with me, quite the contrary I hope you disagree to create a good debate.

OFFENSE

QB Case Keenum- D

Case Keenum went 16-30 for 216 yds with no touchdowns and no interceptions while being sacked twice.  Those numbers don’t look bad until you put the film on and see all the bad throws he made.  He missed guys wide open and put the ball in places that just didn’t get it done.  The most talked about when is a time he had Adam Thielen open and instead took the short route.  If he goes to Thielen he has a touchdown that is how open he was.  It is amazing how on he was last week against the Buc’s.  There is a decent chance he gets another start Monday against the Bears so he has a chance to bounce back.

RB Dalvin Cook- Incomplete

There is no way for me to give Dalvin Cook a grade because he got hurt before he could make an impact.  He carried the ball thirteen times for 66 yards and a touchdown.  He also had a catch for eight yards.  He was on pace for a great game, but it wasn’t meant to be.  He tore his ACL and will have surgery and is out for the year.  My best wishes to Dalvin on a speedy recovery.

WR Stefon Diggs- A

Stefon Diggs continued his career year as he had five catches for 98 yards on seven targets.  Through four games Diggs has 22 catches for 391 yards which leads the league along with four touchdowns.  He goes out and gets the ball and does a nice job blocking.  My only concern is he taunts quite a bit and if this continues he is going to cost the team a taunting penalty.   Diggs is almost uncoverable right now and is becoming a leader on this team.

WR Adam Thielen- B-

On one hand Thielen can only catch what is thrown to her, but stats are stats.  In this game, he had five catches for 59 yards.  Thielen had eight targets so there was a chance for more.  The thing that dropped his grade a letter grade as the Vikings were trying to drive for the tying touchdown.  Thielen caught a pass and fighting for more yards he fumbled the ball pretty much ended the game.  He had a solid game, but that fumble eliminated any chance at getting an A for Thielen.

Laquan Treadwell- F

Treadwell continues to be a disappointment as he did not get a catch again on two targets.  On the season he has five catches in four games and six catches in his career. Now that Michael Floyd has returned looking for Treadwell to drop down the depth chart.

Kyle Rudolph- D

It really is not his fault for his low grade because he only got four targets and most of them late in the game when the Vikings were trying to come back.  The bottom line has he had two catches for 34 yards and that is what needs to step it up.

Riley Reiff- A-

The biggest surprise for me thus far has been the excellent play at LT.  In this game, he did not give up a sack.  He has been excellent in every game except against Pittsburgh where he was on his heels.  In this game, he gave Case Keenum all the time in the world.  There is nothing wrong that can be argued against Reiff.  I have been pleasantly surprised with Reiff back to the left side after spending last year on the right side.

Nick Easton- B

He has been the biggest disappointment thus far on the season as he has consistently been flagged for holding calls and given up sacks.  However, in this game, he was fine as there was nothing that you can look at and say yeah he was bad.  For the first time this season Easton did not have a penalty so that is a step in the right direction.  However, he consistently did not create holes for the runners.

Pat Elflein- B

This was by far the worst game of the young center's young career and quite honestly it was not that bad.  He got a bad penalty and got beat for a quarterback hurry.  But he consistently got a push on the defender and was quite good.

Joe Berger- A-

Berger has not had his name brought up in a game and that is a good thing because if they are not talking about you then you are not committing penalties or giving up sacks.  Berger at this point in his career is not a stud or someone that is your best offensive lineman.  However, he is solid and someone you can count on.

Mike Remmers- B

Remmers had the best game of his career as a Viking in this game.  He gave up some quarterback pressure, but he did not give up a sack which is not something to brag about.  He had a really solid game and a game that he can follow it up week after week the Vikings would be happy with. 

DEFENSE

Everson Griffen- A+

Griffen is the leader of this defensive line and continually showed that when he is on he is unblockable.  In this game, he had one sack to bring his season total up to five which is the fourth best in the NFL  In addition to the sack he also added five tackles and he is so good. 

Linval Joseph- B

Linval had a solid game in this one.  He had a sack, his first of the year and a tackle for loss.  He was second on the team in tackles with nine in this game.  The reason that he gets a B instead of an A in my mind is the Lions had 97 yards rushing and if he had not gotten injured Ameer Abdullah had 94 yards.  Fair or not when the defense holds the other teams rushing down he gets the credit and when the defense doesn't succeed he takes the blame.

Tom Johnson- C

As much as the lack of success against the running game goes against Linval Joseph it is a team effort and Johnson got pushed to the side way too much.  There is nothing exciting about Johnson, but he is a solid defensive player, but he should not be a starter.  Johnson had two tackles and a quarterback hit.

Danielle Hunter- A+

I continually am impressed with Hunter who is a freak of an athlete that can get by any OT he faces.  He is still learning techniques as he is a little inconsistent.  He had two sacks on the day, his first two sacks of the season.  Danielle had five tackles, two tackles for loss, a pass defense, and two quarterback hits.  Now that is a line and it is so impressive.  It might be the best defensive line of the season for the Vikings.

Anthony Barr- B

Anthony Barr has been a pleasant surprise this year after struggling the last couple years.  His problem this week is he got beat by the tight end too much.  He mainly was the guy covering Detroit Tight Ends.  The Vikings allowed seven receptions to tight ends, although not all receptions were against Barr.  Barr had six tackles along with a  pass defense

Eric Kendricks- D

Kendricks had the worst game of his season as by my calculations he missed at least five tackles.  As the middle linebacker in this defense that is unacceptable.  Kendricks had five tackles with a sack and two tackles for less.  So it was an up and down game as although he had the sack, a quarterback hit and two tackles for loss, but missing that many tackles are unacceptable.

Ben Gedeon- C

Gedeon plays a limited amount of snaps so it is hard to grade him.  He missed two tackles which are not terrible, but a number of snaps that doesn't work.  Only had one tackle and was basically a nonfactor in this game.

Xavier Rhodes- A+

I would argue ferociously that Xavier Rhodes is the best cover corner in the NFL.  Plus I love that he is not afraid to stick in the nose in the running game and a great pure tackler.  There is no doubt that he is the best player on the team on offense, defense, or special teams.  It has gotten to the point that teams just avoid him and don't throw to the guy he is covering which is impressive.

Trae Waynes- C

Waynes was alright in this game as he got away with quite a few penalties as this officiating crew was not calling anything.  It is not fair as teams go after him because having Xavier Rhodes on the other side.  In this game, Trae had five tackles including four of them unassisted.  He also had a pass defense in the game.  I am probably one of the few that views him as a solid contributor.  He likely will never be in the Xavier Rhodes category, but I believe he can be a good corner to match with Rhodes.

Harrison Smith- B

Smith is consistently getting an A or B for a grade.  He is so flexible as a Safety.  He plays center field but also does a great job helping out with the run.  Harrison had six tackles including three solo tackles with a tackle for loss.  Harrison Smith is the leader of this defense and can do anything and does do everything for this defense.

Andrew Sendejo- B

Sendejo is a guy that continually over what is expected of him.  Every year people expect the Vikings to draft a safety to replace him and every day he keeps that spot.  Andrew had a team-high eleven tackles including five solo tackles.  His problem is he is way too often late in coverage when the corner lets the receiver go expecting Sendejo to be there and often he is slow getting over there.  In this game, I saw this happen three times where he was slow getting over there.

Summary: Not often can you blame a loss on one guy, but this is one of those times it is fair.  The defense was excellent as they only gave up three points when the Lions did not have a short field due to a turnover.  The Vikings gave up only 251 yards which are good, But they gave up almost 100 yards on the ground something that has to change.  The reason they lost is Case Keenum was off on most throws with ball placement and just missing guys.  The other reason is your not going to win many games when you commit three turnovers.  The Vikings play the Bears on Monday Night Football so it will be interesting to see how they respond.