Studs
LB London Fletcher. He blamed himself for the 67-yard run, saying he could have done a better job of forcing the play. But he was blocked from the get-go as the hole was big. There were a lot of mistakes on this play. In general, Fletcher’s impact did not result in any game-changing plays. However, he was productive and he was all over the field with 17 tackles. Again, he gets those plays out of desire as much as anything. He drilled QB Christian Ponder with a hit that eventually knocked him from the game. Fletcher made a big stick on Adrian Peterson at the goal-line. On the play after the 67-yard run, Fletcher shed a block and filled a hole for a one-yard loss. Fletcher did bite hard on the play-fake, creating an opening for an 8-yard touchdown pass to Percy Harvin. But overall he was solid.
PK Graham Gano. Why on defense? Did you see his tackle and an assist in coverage? Tough guy. OK, that’s not really the reason I included him here. He was supposed to be on the offensive side and I made a mistake by forgetting to include him. So I’m a Dud. But Gano deserves Stud status after making all four field goals, including from 53 and 47 yards. He swung nice and easy on both attempts and the Redskins needed every point they could get. He made all 13 of his kicks in December. Is he finally maturing as a kicker? We’ll see, but he has made his last seven attempts from 40 yards or longer. It’s a good start.
Duds
NT Barry Cofield. Yes, he still made a few plays. He overpowered center John Sullivan to set up Adam Carriker and Fletcher for a sack. But Cofield made that play. However, he was overall too quiet. It’s not the job of a nose tackle to make a lot of noise all the time, but the Vikings did a good job of turning him to a side. On Toby Gerhart’s 67-yard run, Cofield was turned to the outside by Sullivan, enabling the guard to go right to Fletcher. On an 8-yard run on the ensuing series, left guard Joe Berger moved him back a few yards and when Gerhart came his way, Cofield, getting off the block, was too upright to really stop him. He did have his moments where he held his ground and drew double teams, but he just wasn’t as consistent as he’s been in other games.
LB Ryan Kerrigan. He just didn’t have much of an impact in this game, with only two tackles, though he did have one for a loss in which he did a great job gaining leverage with his left arm while freeing himself for the stop. He wasn’t effective as a rusher, one time getting a yard or two away before Christian Ponder threw the ball and he changed directions well on the Cofield pressure. But overall, not much. He got sealed on the option runs, slanting inside. But that was also his job on the play, especially when there’s a tight end and H-back on his side. However, he could have made it tougher for the tight end to release to the linebacker – which is what he did on the last option. Perry Riley got over there because Kerrigan occupied two men. But RT Phil Loadholt had allowed nine sacks this season and Kerrigan wasn’t able to do more against him.
DE Stephen Bowen. Same as Cofield. He had moments – forcing a Ponder scramble with one rush, for example — but for the most part he was handled more than he had been in a while, getting turned too often one way or the other. On the 67-yard Gerhart run, Bowen rushed inside, going with the tackle who slanted that way. It created a huge gap off-tackle. On the play in which Adrian Peterson was hurt, both Cofield and Bowen were controlled leaving a huge hole. If DeJon Gomes hadn’t come up hard, it would have been a long run. Even coach Mike Shanahan said it wasn’t the front’s best game. When you surrender 241 yards rushing, it’s hard to disagree.
S DeJon Gomes. The Vikings ran the ball 38 times, but he only managed two tackles. Now, some of that stems from how you’re being used in the box and he was coming up quite a bit. Gomes took his eyes off his work, as coaches like to say, on the pass to Visanthe Shianco. Only a drop by the tight end saved Gomes. But he was beaten. On the 67-yard run Gomes was in a difficult spot. His angle was right behind Fletcher and if he’d gone to the outside, Gerhart had a wide open path the other way. But Gomes chose to go inside and I think he underestimated Gerhart’s speed. Regardless, he missed. Would it have been better to let Gerhart commit one way then go at him? Maybe, but that’s part of the learning experience and Gomes’ nature is to be aggressive. He was far from the only one who lost on that play. He did have a good hit on Peterson that unfortunately ended his season. For now, Gomes still looks like a backup at the start of 2012.
LB Perry Riley. One play is all it takes. Overall Riley was just ordinary with five tackles. He was blocked more than in other games, but that’s also a function of the line not always doing its job. Regardless, Riley was beaten for a touchdown by rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph. There was nothing fancy about the route or the play, Riley had his eyes in the right place. He was just beaten to the corner. Riley had Rudolph off the line, had his eyes on him and was just … beaten. On a third and 1 Toby Gerhart run, Riley filled the hole but couldn’t wrap him up (he was partially blocked on the play). Riley did diagnose a screen pass to Adrian Peterson that he broke up. Riley has consistently done a good job on plays like that one. But downfield coverage remains an issue.
CB Josh Wilson. Have to say he’s played better than I anticipated this season and is having a strong second half. He’s been solid. But he was a bit off on a couple plays Saturday. That’s the life of a corner: you can be a bit off and a lot of good that was done can be undone. For example, Wilson had two excellent tackles on Adrian Peterson in the open field, preventing long runs. He chased down Toby Gerhart on the 67-yard run as well. But Wilson was sucked too far inside on a second and 1 play fake to Adrian Peterson that Ponder turned into an eight-yard bootleg – around Wilson’s side. On the 31-yard Harvin reverse, Wilson was caught inside again – and eventually flung to the ground by center John Sullivan. Wilson gave up a 9-yard crossing pass to Percy Harvin that would have been a touchdown if not for Reed Doughty’s tackle. And he was assigned to Harvin on his 8-yard scoring toss, when Harvin ran essentially a crossing route, but from behind the line of scrimmage. It’s a tough play to defend. Also, Wilson gave up the 36-yard pass to Harvin in a cover-zero defense. Wilson’s coverage wasn’t bad, but the bottom line is Harvin made the play. He also got run over by Gerhart on an 8-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Notes
…DeAngelo Hall had a quiet game, with a pass defensed and two tackles. The Vikings only had one receiver to really worry about in Harvin.
…On the Vikings last play from scrimmage, they ran the same play they had scored upon earlier in the quarter – the 8-yard pass to Harvin. But this time the Redskins played it different. The first time, they had Wilson man to man with Harvin. But this time Wilson was on the outside receiver, with Harvin in the slot. The Redskins were in their nickel defense and safety Oshiomogho Atogwe was up on the left side next to Perry Riley. London Fletcher, who bit hard on the play fake the first time, was on the right side. So when Harvin came behind the line after Webb’s fake handoff, Atogwe was on him and Riley could run at Webb. The QB had no safe option to throw and wisely took a sack.
…The Vikings only dropped back to pass 21 times, but the Redskins didn’t apply much pressure against a team that had yielded 45 sacks entering the game. Washington recorded two sacks, but it wasn’t a consistent effort in terms of production. Christian Ponder scrambled three times, though he left the pocket at the first sign of distress and probably didn’t have to.
…Though the Redskins did not handle the option well, you have to give Minnesota credit for the design of the play. They put an H-back and tight end to the right side opposite Kerrigan. On those plays Kerrigan will get inside the H-back and upfield. But that takes him out of the play leaving the tight end to head to the linebacker on that side and create an alley for the QB. It wasn’t until Kerrigan occupied two blockers that the play failed.
…Not sure why but on the 67-yard run (yes, I’m tired of typing 67-yard run), Orakpo was in the hole to take on the lead blocker. But he took a half step to the outside creating an even larger opening. Not sure he could have made the stop, but he definitely could have pinched the hole better. Overall Orakpo did a solid job against the run and has improved in that area this season. He does not have the sack totals people want – I predicted double-digit totals – but he has improved his overall game. I’ve heard that from analysts and others as well. But he was once again in position to get two sacks and did not.
…On the TD pass Riley allowed, the Vikings line did a good job picking up an extra rusher. The Redskins sent five; the Vikings handled each guy one-on-one. There was no safety help on the play as Reed Doughty was playing deep middle and the Vikings sent two receivers down the seams to occupy him. Webb had a clean pocket and made a nice easy throw.
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