2014 Minnesota Vikings: Vikings at Saints Game Recap
Arif Hasan
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Full game recap at Vikings Journal. Some snippets:
Blanton himself had a very poor day. Though logging ten tackles in the game book, he was exposed in coverage against Jimmy Graham, Josh Hill, Brandin Cooks and Benjamin Watson, and was somewhat culpable on other throws. More than that, his tackles were abysmal—better described as a passenger along a ride instead of a tackler. Dragged for additional yards by Pierre Thomas, Jimmy Graham and Robert Meachem (as well as others), Blanton couldn’t bring ballcarriers down.
The offensive line in particular needs a harsh look. There is no question that the worst-performing player on either team was Matt Kalil, who gave up sacks, hits and hurries at an alarming rate for both quarterbacks, and needed to be schemed help, help that sometimes meant sliding away from the blitz that was being shown and isolating Loadholt against two rushers.
Kalil ended up getting help from tight ends and running backs, and sometimes that wasn’t enough. He didn’t get much movement in the running game, either. He has an unfortunate inability to gain positioning on run blocks, and he often angled defenders into the lanes ballcarriers were assigned to go to. It’s negative blocking value.
Speaking of Harrison Smith, he was clearly the best player on the defense. Though he only logged four tackles (two combined), he had three pass deflections in the air and forced a three-and-out with his critical tackle on third down on the edge. He put pressure on the quarterback on one of his few blitzes. The biggest criticism of Smith comes on the Josh Hill touchdown, where he and Blanton needed to combine for coverage to prevent the play from happening, and neither were in place.
Enjoy,