Packers vs Vikings Defensive Grades
Griffen continued his impressive start to the season as he had five tackles and his seventh sack and a tackle for loss. Griffen has now had one sack in each of the first six games tying a Viking record. He is so good coming to the end that every game there is a time or two where he beats the LT.
DT Tom Johnson C
When it was said that Linval Joseph likely was not going to play this year there were many questions about who would take the spot. So far so good for Tom Johnson that has made quite a few big plays thus far. In this game, Tom had two quarterback hits but did not make much of an impact otherwise without a tackle or a quarterback hurry.
DT Linval Joseph A
You can look at the boxscore and not always see something from Joseph, but all you need to do is look at the Packers rushing yards and yards per attempt. The Vikings gave up 72 rushing yards which was just a 3.0 average. The first couple weeks the Vikings struggled against the run, but have improved so much. The Vikings are now third in the NFL against the run which is a significant improvement from last year. Joseph added 1/2 a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a quarterback hurry.
DE Danielle Hunter C
Hunter is having a bit of a slump this year after getting the nod to start after getting 12.5 sacks last year. This year he only has a couple of sacks. So far the better defensive lineman has been a former starter, Brian Robison. In this game, Hunter had just two tackles. I would seriously consider starting Robison, but make Hunter lose his confidence has to be a factor. Besides Robison still plays quite a bit.
LB Anthony Barr I
You can't put a grade on Barr because he went out due to a concussion in the 2nd quarter. He has been the lightning rod of controversy on his hit on Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers that broke his Collarbone. I am going to repeat here it was a clean hit and he was taking off when Rodgers released the ball, and there is no way for him to pull up in my opinion. The question I have for my Packer fan readers is if Rodgers would have gotten up would it still have been a penalty and I severely doubt that. In the game, he did play he had one tackle, one pass defense, and two hurries.
LB Eric Kendricks A
Kendricks had his most exceptional game of the season for the Vikings in this game. He and his cohort Anthony Barr have been so good and a big reason why the Vikings defense has taken a step forward. In this game, Kendricks had a team-high 11 tackles.
LB Ben Gedeon B
Ben Gedeon is not asked to do much in this defense as they play nickel so often and when they go to nickel Terrance Newman replaces him. In this game, Gedeon only had a couple of tackles, but he also plays excellent special teams and is right there on ST so you can't discount the impact Ben makes on the game.
CB Xavier Rhodes A
I heard a stat that I was flabbergasted by, and that was when he gave up a catch Sunday that was the first catch he has allowed in three games. That is Deion Sanders territory, and he uses his big body to be physical with receivers who honestly aren't high enough to match his toughness. Davante Adams was the latest victim as he had five catches for 54 yards and a touchdown. That seems high until you look at the film and realize on the TD the Vikings were playing zone and another of his catches Rhodes was taking a break. So he held one of the better wide receivers to three catches which were impressive.
CB Trae Waynes A
In one of Trae Waynes best game of the year, he had six tackles,
A tackle for loss, and one pass defense. It took two years for the Vikings to figure out what to do with Waynes. He doesn't have the top end recovery speed that Xavier Rhodes and is a bit handsy. He is typically slow to turn his hips, so press coverage is not the right thing for him. What they have figured out is he does much better moving forward, and he is the most dependable tackler on the team. Therefore he plays off, and when the team throws the WR screen, he fills incredibly for a one or two yard gain at most. He is also a big part of the improved run defense as he is such a good tackler that he stops the RB in his tracks. It feels like Trae Waynes have finally taken that big step forward.
S Harrison Smith A+
Harrison Smith continues to show he is one of the top two or three safeties in football if not the best. In this game, he had an impressive interception in which he jumped and tapped the ball from one hand to the other and didn't let the ball hit the ground just remarkable. He added five tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss, two pass defense, and two quarterback hits. Just re-read those numbers he did everything and was all over the field. It is a shame that he was not the defensive player of the week that is how impressive he was on Sunday.
S Anthony Harris C
Harris got the start when Andrew Sendejo missed the game due to injury. He had just two tackles, but he did not do anything that stood out negatively. Playing next to Harrison Smith he allowed Harrison to make all those big plays by just doing his job.
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