Surprise Vikings Trade Looks Pretty Confusing After Week 2
The Vikings trade involving Harrison Phillips came as a surprise for most.
A tremendous team leader and someone who was seemingly unmatched in his commitment to the community, Horrible Harry was going to be part of the team’s formidable defensive line depth. Instead, he got shipped off to New York to be a Jet — the land where good football goes to die — in a move that was about clearing snaps and cap space. Might the rugged DT have helped on Sunday Night Football?
The Vikings Trade & The Week 2 Struggle
To be sure, Atlanta’s formidable rushing attack wouldn’t have been entirely shutdown with the insertion of just a single player.
Bijan Robinson is a fantastic player. He finished his Week 2 game with 22 carries for 143 yards, good for a tremendous per-carry average sitting at 6.5. An elite performance from an elite runner. Backup Tyler Allgeier proved to be feisty, as well, by turning 16 carries into 76 yards. That’s good for a very respectable 4.8 yards-per-carry average.
Contributing to the issue were some of the other absences.
Starting linebacker Blake Cashman would have helped. Having Andrew Van Ginkel out there would have made a difference, as well (there were times when Dallas Turner appeared to struggle with contain on running plays). How much different would the Vikings’ 22-6 defeat have been with these players in the lineup?
Truth be told, it’s impossible to say. Presumably, the team would have played better with their starters, but there’s very little excuse for what Minnesota put on the field last night.
A major part of the problem was the effort from the offense. J.J. McCarthy played a terrible football game. The rushing attack for the Vikings needed to be considerably more dynamic. The final stats have Aaron Jones at just 5 carries for 23 yards while Jordan Mason was sitting at 9 carries for 30 yards (in fairness, the broadcast did mention that Jones was dinged up; hopefully, the injury issue is minor). Why not hand the ball off more on a night when McCarthy was getting crushed?
All of these (reasonable) questions get in the way of the main point of the piece: the Vikings trade involving Harrison Phillips.
Again, inserting a single player into the mix wouldn’t have made a complete difference, but help would have been available. The sturdy, rugged defensive tackle has found employment in the NFL due to his ability to clog up running lanes. More than just muscle, Phillips is quite agile, capable of making plenty of tackles. He picked up 92 tackles — a career high — back in 2023.
Slowing down players like Robinson and Allgeier is Harrison Phillips’ specialty.
Overreacting to a single game would be foolish. There is concern, however, about the Vikings turning things around in a season that’s quickly proceeding through the weeks. Injuries are becoming a major issue, meaning that any and all reinforcements are coveted.
So, start off by correcting the obvious foibles on offense. In particular, eliminate all of those unforced errors on offense so that the time of possession isn’t so lopsided (McCarthy bobbling the ball comes to mind). Proceed onward into improving the tackling on defense, made evident in the several moments when Ivan Pace Jr. hit the runner without taking down the runner. Finally, lean on the DTs who do remain after the Vikings trade to make running the ball far more difficult.
Sounds simple, right? In some ways, it is. Keeping the offense on the field for longer, wrapping up well when tackling, and plugging in run-stuffing DTs against a talented runner are all part of Football 101. One need not consult the wisdom of Bud Grant, Bill Parcells, and Bill Belichick to arrive at these prescriptions.
The Bengals are next on the schedule. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, Joe Burrow is out for several months. The most obvious tweak for the Bengals is going to involve leaning on the ground game more. Whether Minnesota is up to the task of shutting it down remains to be seen.
The Vikings, a 1-1 football team, will play on Sunday, September 21 inside of U.S. Bank Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
