Potential Post-Bye Game Changers
Jhawthorn16
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The Minnesota Vikings are still in a prime position to win the NFC North, but with one of the toughest stretches of games any team must face, the Vikings will need some key members in all aspects of the game to step up and be “game changers.” The special teams unit has left a lot to be desired through nine games, with no touchdowns, a blocked punt in a crucial game against the Packers, and too many missed field goals to count. The defense has played solid in recent weeks, with the only terrible game coming against the Rams, but who hasn’t looked terrible on defense when facing the Rams? The offense has been up and down, but I believe they are playing each game differently, depending on the defense’s performance. Against the Rams, the offense was in a full-fledged shoot-out. Against the Lions, the offense played a lot of “chew clock” ball, meaning they ran the ball and tried very hard not to turn it over. For the Vikings to have success over the next month, and possibly have success in January, they need some key names to step up and play at an even better level than what they have been. Let’s look at a player from each unit and “call them out” to play even better as the Vikings make a late season playoff push.
Offense: Dalvin Cook
I would like to say that the offensive line has stepped up its play tremendously since Pat Elflein and Brian O’Neil entered the lineup. I would also like to say that Cousins has made some bad decisions and needs to fix his fumbling issue, but he has also kept us in games that I don’t believe Keenum could’ve kept us in. Dalvin Cook had a lot of hype entering his second season, even though he was coming off an ACL injury from early last season. Cook rushed himself back, and while he has had a few big plays in the few games he has played in, he has missed a lot of time with a hamstring injury and was averaging around 2 yards per carry before the game against the Lions. Cook did average 8.9 yards per carry against Detroit, but if you remove his long 70-yard run, he averaged under 2 yards per carry. Cook will need to play at a high level the rest of the season, including being a receiving threat, if the Vikings expect to win the North and make noise in the playoffs.
Defense: Eric Kendricks
Give Mike Zimmer and the rest of the Vikings defensive coaching staff a lot of credit for seeing Kendricks was struggling early in the season and plugging in a guy like Jayron Kearse to help the defensive unit. Kendricks has not graded well this season by PFF’s metrics, and he hasn’t looked good by “eye-test” standards either. In his short career, Kendricks has been an athletic inside linebacker who was alright in coverage but made a name for himself as a great tackler who just didn’t miss tackles. I personally was elated when the Vikings extended Kendricks in the offseason, but this year he hasn’t looked great. Kendricks has missed multiple tackles, has been exposed in coverage, and has been a liability when he is on the field. His PFF grades show that he struggled a lot early in the season but has started to bounce back as the year continues. Kendricks’ coverage grade is currently at 57.4, which is the lowest it has been since his rookie season. His tackling grade is sitting at a 64.3, which is good and is an improvement from last season, but Kendricks has multiple terrible games this season, with four games with a tackling grade under 51.0 and one game where it was 27.2. Kendricks has been improving, and the usage of Kearse in the linebacker role is genius by Zimmer, but for the season to go where the Vikings want it to, Kendricks will have to step up his tackling and coverage to a more consistently great level.
Special Teams: Marcus Sherels/Dan Bailey
I am cheating by including two players, but both Bailey and Sherels could really help this team if they improve their play. Special teams doesn’t get a lot of attention from the media and it isn’t the most exciting facet of the game, but when Bailey makes his kicks the momentum doesn’t swing in the opponents favor and the Vikings add points, and that is never a bad thing. With the Vikings facing a brutal schedule over the next month, they could use a free touchdown or two from Sherels. The stats are well established for teams that score on special teams and how that directly relates to wins, so if the Vikings could get a special teams touchdown in two of the next four, that could directly lead to key wins down the stretch and those could result in another NFC North Championship.
Overall, the Vikings are a good football team playing in the very tough NFC. If the Vikings want to win their division, they will need all 53 players to play at an extremely high level. I have just pointed out four names that could drastically change the fate of this season if they play at a higher level. The Vikings take on the Bears this Sunday in Chicago, and that is just one of many tough games coming up as the playoff picture begins to take shape. Hopefully these four Vikings can step up and take this team to a new level. SKOL!