When it comes to divisional games, especially in the NFC North, records rarely matter. A great example occured this weekend with Minnesota travelling to Detroit. Despite a terrible start, the Vikings had a chance to snatch an upset win in the dying moments of the game. It was a night to forget for Christian Ponder whose replacement, the electric Joe Webb, almost engineered an amazing comeback. It wasn’t at all pretty as he remains a less than a polished passer but he made enough plays to give the Vikings a chance.
It was a surprisingly good day for a Detroit secondary that went into the game without Chris Houston and Louis Delmas due to knee injuries. The Lions also saw both Aaron Berry and Eric Wright miss significant time during the game. Webb’s ability to keep plays alive was what really hurt them late in the game but their lead eventually proved insurmountable leaving the Lions’ playoff hopes very much alive.
Minnesota – Three Performances of Note
The Fountain of Youth
Steve Hutchinson (+3.4) put in the kind of performance that will remind fans of his glory days. Without both Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, Hutchinson thrived, allowing just the solitary pressure on 56 passes. Positive days in pass protection are nothing new however as Hutchinson has allowed just nine combined pressures all year with a pass blocking efficiency rating of 98.5 (fifth overall). His work in the run game (+1.8) is more remarkable considering he normally struggles in that department. Hutchinson proved a model of consistency, grading negatively just once and generally winning his battles with both Sammie Lee Hill and Cliff Avril. One such play came at 2:29 in the second quarter where Hill was sealed outside on a draw play.
The Rising Youth
Kyle Rudolph (+2.4) didn’t make any highlight reel plays in this game but was about as rounded as a tight end can be. Finally convincing the coaching staff to get him more involved (he played a season high 50 snaps), Rudolph performed pretty well on an offense that struggled for much of the night. It's somewhat surprising that he graded below average in the passing game (-0.8) considering how much success he’s had in that department thus far in his young career. His blocking more than made up for it as he was perfect in pass protection (+1.2) and was even better in the run game (+1.8). Rudolph graded positively six times, making DeAndre Levy look silly on one play with 12:15 to go in the first when he drove him 25 yards downfield.
Terrible Safety Play Continues
Jamarca Sanford (-2.7) typifies the performances of Viking safeties over the past few years. He was ok in the run game, making five tackles (three assists) with two stops but he once again gave up big plays despite operating in schemes designed to limit them. He allowed three completions on four targets for 73 yards and two TDs. The lowlight was the touchdown he gave up to Titus Young with 9:54 to play in the first quarter when the rookie speedster simply ran by him on a go route. What makes it worse is that it was 3rd-and-14 at the time meaning Sanford had no excuse for biting on Stafford’s pump fake. Almost the reverse is true of the TD he gave up to Brandon Pettigrew where he dropped too deep allowing the Lions’ tight end to beat him to the corner of the end zone with ease.
Detroit – Three Performances of Note
The Bad Cherilus
Gosder Cherilus (-6.5) had the kind of performance that could have got him benched … again. Brian Robison has given numerous other tackles nightmares in 2011 but that’s no excuse for such a bad game. Overall he was charged with a sack, hit and three pressures on just 37 drop-backs. The sack he surrendered came with 8:55 to play in the third when Robison rocked him with a bull rush before swimming inside and taking down Stafford. Cherilus was also forced to commit a holding penalty rather than let Stafford hit the deck again. In the run game (-2.6) he allowed a pair of tackles for no gain and failed to grade positively even once. Cherilus’ ineptitude was on show during a 2nd-and-1 with 3:44 to play in the third when he dived rather aimlessly at where Robison had been standing, allowing the defensive end to tackle the running back short of the marker.
Williams’ Poor Form Continues
The normally stout Corey Williams’ (-3.0) disappointing run of games continued against the Vikings. Asked to play an expanded role (61 of 85 snaps) due to the lack of depth, here his flaws were exposed. Despite rushing the passer 37 times, he generated just a pair of pressures and even one of those resulted in a missed tackle with an opportunity for a sack. Pass rushing has never been his forte, however so the struggles are slightly more understandable. He only fared slightly better in the run game however (-0.7) where he graded positively just once. Williams had a simple shot at Toby Gerhart (5:18, Q1) in the backfield but he failed to wrap up on the play. That allowed the running back to pick up an extra 17 yards on the play. His encroachment penalty only summed up the trouble he was having throughout the game.
Putting Things Wright
A week after being benched for his terrible play against New Orleans, Eric Wright (+4.5) played with some serious intensity. In coverage he allowed just three of seven targets to be complete for 15 yards, one interception and three pass deflections. That culminated in a QB rating allowed of just 10.7 which was his best effort since the Chiefs game. Wright made an impressive play against the Viking’s two minute drill slipping a paw into Rudolph’s cradle and stripping the ball away for the incompletion. While his pick showed nice ball skills, the more impressive play was probably his pass breakup a couple of plays earlier. He drove hard on a Greg Camarillo curl route and was just unable to hold onto the ball as he made a diving attempt. Wright even contributed against the run, making three stops.
Game Notes
– Detroit’s starting pair of defensive ends of Cliff Avril and Kyle Vanden Bosch combined for three sacks and 13 pressures here.
– Toby Gerhart forced eight missed tackles on just 19 carries and 87 of his 90 yards came after contact.
– Jared Allen, Kevin Williams and Brian Robison combined for all but one sack and one hit that the Vikings generated all day.
PFF Game Ball
Eric Wright simply made play after play and had a true comeback performance.
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