Vikings-Ravens Defensive Grades

(by Jonathan Lewis MSU Contributor)

Travis posted his offensive grades for the Vikings in their win against Baltimore. It’s time now for the defensive grades. Spoiler alert: there were a lot of very positive performances.

Everson Griffen- A+

Griffin continued an amazing start to the year with two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. About the only offensive lineman that would have been able to contain him was Browns LT Joe Thomas, who is out for the year so there is no reason to expect Griffen to slow down any time soon.

Linval Joseph-A

Joseph finished the game with 4 tackles, including a tackle for loss as part of a defensive line that harassed Joe Flacco all game long. While Joseph may not have had dominant final numbers, him and the rest of the Vikings defense held the Ravens rushing attack to 64 yards and sacked Flacco 5 times so he gets an A as part of the collaborative effort.

Tom Johnson-A

Johnson had one of the Vikings 5 sacks and chipped in to what overall was a dominant defensive effort. So as a result Johnson gets yet another A

Danielle Hunter-A

Hunter chipped in a sack and has looked very good after a slow start to the season. This defensive line as a whole has been excellent, and will look to continue that against Cleveland.

Anthony Barr-A+

Barr has completely turned a corner after getting called out for a rough season last year. Barr took away the only weapon the Ravens had in their arsenal; the screen pass by blowing up several short throws for no gain or a loss. Barr finished with 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack, and was everywhere on the field. Barr is yet another strong candidate for DPOY at almost the midpoint of the year.

Ben Gedeon-B-

Gedeon didn’t do anything that could be considered hurting the defense, but didn’t really stand out either. And while Gedeon didn’t stand out, the other two linebackers were tremendous so it didn’t end up hurting the Vikings at all.

Eric Kendricks-A+

Kendricks has been one of the most reliable defenders on the Vikings defense throughout the year. In a game where the Ravens were unable to run or complete deep passes, Kendricks helped bottle up the middle of the field with Barr, and finished with a team high 13 tackles and 3 tackles for loss. Kendricks is also playing some of the best football of his career, which has been overshadowed considering almost everyone on the defense is doing the same.

Xavier Rhodes-A

It was another week, and another job well done for Rhodes. The Ravens aren’t blessed with top-end receiver talent, and Mike Wallace left the game in the first half which left Rhodes without having to guard the only receiver capable of stretching the field. Rhodes still held up his end of the bargain, throwing the Ravens passing game out of whack almost singlehandedly.

Harrison Smith-A

Smith finished the game with 4 tackles and a tackle for loss. While maybe not as dominant of a game as we have come to expect from Smith, he still contributed to a very solid defensive effort and basically helps take one side of the field away from opposing offenses by teaming up with Xavier Rhodes.

Andrew Sendejo-B

Sendejo finished with 5 tackles and nearly forced a fumble early in the game. That fumble however was turned into a personal foul that ended up getting Sendejo suspended for the Vikings upcoming game against Cleveland. While I don’t view the hit as dirty, Sendejo was flagged on the play and that penalty ended up extending a drive for the Ravens that lead to a field goal so there is a little bit of a negative to pick at in what was a very solid game from the defense. Other than that Sendejo did a good job of keeping out of the headlines for the rest of the game.

Trae Waynes-B+

Waynes received his grade because of the touchdown the Ravens scored in the last moments of the game. Despite giving up the touchdown I thought Waynes played very well, and the Vikings secondary did a good job of shutting down a passing attack that really didn’t bring any sort of skill to the table. The Vikings went into prevent defense on the final drive and Flacco picked up several dink and dunk passes before finally getting into the endzone. Waynes has hopefully turned a corner, as his play in recent weeks has been noticeably better.

After a game like the Vikings had against Baltimore it’s hard to find many negatives on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully they can keep that trend going in what should be a very winnable game against the Browns in London.