Categories: 1.2 Analysis Poll Of The Week
| On 9 years ago

WEEK FIFTEEN: Player of the Game

By Adam Warwas

The Vikings jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and looked like they were well on their way to a promising upset win on the road.  Instead, the entire team seemed to stall out all at once, and the final three quarters allowed for 16 unanswered points from the Lions and few individual performances to hang our hat on.

The Lions overwhelmed a makeshift offensive line and rookie quarterback by mixing up the blitz packages.  Field goal misses ended three drives.  The defense couldn’t get a pass rush going.  And even the clock management was highly suspect.

Past Winners of this award:

WEEK ONE:  Cordarrelle Patterson

WEEK TWO: Harrison Smith

WEEK THREE:  Harrison Smith

WEEK FOUR: Teddy Bridgewater

WEEK FIVE:  Harrison Smith

WEEK SIX:  Linval Joseph

WEEK SEVEN: Everson Griffen

WEEK EIGHT:  Anthony Barr

WEEK NINE:  Everson Griffen

WEEK ELEVEN: Charles Johnson

WEEK TWELVE:  Xavier Rhodes

WEEK THIRTEEN:  Everson Griffen

WEEK FOURTEEN:  Teddy Bridgewater

I find it really difficult to nominate anyone for this award this week, so if you feel like I’ve overlooked someone, then by all means hit the “OTHER” button on the poll and write in your vote via the comments section.

MATT ASIATA:  Clearly not a game changing playmaker, the persistent use of Asiata can be quite frustrating, but he did his job fairly well throughout Sunday afternoon.  He rushed 11 times for a team leading 36 yards (3.3 yard average) and scored the first touchdown of the game.  More impressively, he hauled in all seven of his targeted passes and put up an extra 50 receiving yards (7.1 yard average).

CHARLES JOHNSON:  I’m starting to actually buy into the idea that this guy, especially with some offseason hands work, could be the real deal.  Johnson was once again the go-to guy for Bridgewater and caught five passes for 72 yards (team lead).

GREG JENNINGS:  Greg Jennings only caught three passes on Sunday, and only ended up with 43 yards, but one of those catches was a graceful touchdown and the other was a brilliant sideline performance that had to be reviewed in order for everyone involved to believe it actually happened.

GERALD HODGES:  Still playing in relief of Anthony Barr, Hodges is continuing his strong late-season showing.  HE led the Vikings in tackles on Sunday with nine and also led the team in defended passes with two.  He was caught out of position on a couple of occasions, but one could argue he was the most consistent defender this team had in Detroit.

XAVIER RHODES:  A guy like Calvin Johnson is eventually going to make plays, he just is.  Rhodes and the Vikings holding him to only four catches and 53 yards, however, could certainly constitute a moral victory of sorts.  In addition to keeping Johnson contained, Rhodes had three tackles, including a beautifully violent tackle for a loss.

Adam Warwas

Adam Warwas (Founder) has been writing about the Vikings for a total of eight years. Five of those years have been here at Vikings Territory where he continues to surround himself with enough talented individuals that people keep coming back. As proud as he is of what Vikings Territory has become, his real treasures are in his home... a beautiful wife and three amazing children (and a dog named Percy).

Tags: gerald hodges greg jennings xavier rhodes

View Comments

  • Well, had to go with Rhodes. He did a very good job, and not an easy task.
    It's a shame about the loss, aside from 3-4 plays we outplayed them. Just can't turn the ball over vs good teams, we're not that good yet. But things are looking better...damn though, 1 playoff appearance in 5 years. And that only because of a superhuman year from AD, do not want to become one of those teams.
    Teddy, keep at it man, you are getting there. It looks like he gets it. What's that, the 3rd 300 yard game? That's something we ain't seen in years.

        • haters gonna hate. Someone have an argument to the opposite? You need corners 3 deep. That's 6 positions out of 53 starters, more than one in 9 of all players.
          That sounds to me like you need to draft one every year, since they don't usually last long. 6-8 years at best, except for extreme outliers.

  • Well, yes, Xavier was very good indeed, as he has been pretty much all season. However, I selected "other", since Teddy was not an option. Yes, he threw two picks, and badly overthrew Jarius once. You know what else he did wrong? Pretty much nothing. He kept the Vikes in the game the whole way, and if not for some missed field goals, baffling 4thQ running plays, etc., it would have been a win for the good guys. Don't even try to tell me with a straight face that the Vikings have had a QB in the past decade (save perhaps Favre '09) that could have held up as well against this very highly rated defense. Future is looking pretty bright...