The third loss of the season is arguably the worst one of the season, as the Minnesota Vikings don’t have an excuse for being blown out beyond reason. They were competitive throughout the game and tried to make it one at the end, but the Lions were just too much to handle.
The offense had a much better day than the defense with quarterback Kirk Cousins and wide receiver Justin Jefferson having pretty incredible days on Sunday.
The PFF grades came out on Monday morning and they paint a picture of what this game was for the Vikings.
Top 3 offense
- QB Kirk Cousins 91.5
- WR Justin Jefferson 91.1
- RT Brian O’Neill 74.4
The quarterback and wide receiver duo were tremendous on Sunday. Cousins threw for 425 yard and Jefferson caught a team-record 223 yards. Cousins recorded four big-time throws on Sundya which was a season-high for the star quarterback. He did all of this while being pressured 16 times and grading incredibly well in all phases.
Jefferson was more of the same, dominating so much in press coverage that it was the best performance a wide receiver had against press coverage since Julio Jones had 254 yards back in 2016.
Justin Jefferson gained 190 of his 223 yards against press coverage in Week 14, the most in a game since Julio Jones in Week 4, 2016 (254 yards).
Most Yards vs Press Coverage (since 2020):
🥇 Jefferson: 1,889
🥈 Davante Adams: 1,416
🥉 Diontae Johnson: 1,168#MINvsDET | #Skol pic.twitter.com/YyD7Q94fIU— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 11, 2022
O’Neill was his normal great self on Sunday. He allowed just one pressure on 45 pass-blocking reps and was a constant on the offensive line.
Bottom 3 offense
- RB Dalvin Cook 48.7
- LT Blake Brandel 49.1
- RG Ed Ingram 53.1
None of this should be a big surprise for the Vikings. Cook couldn’t get anything going on the ground with only 23 yards on 15 carries. This came after he was excellent in week three against these same Lions with 96 yards on 17 carries.
Brandel and Ingram got bullied in the passing game on Sunday. Ingram allowed four pressures and a sack while Brandel’s only official pressure ended in a sack as well. Neither player played particularly well on Sunday and it was reflective in the grades.
Top 3 defense
- OLB Danielle Hunter 74.0
- DE Dalvin Tomlinson 73.8
- S Josh Metellus 69.8
Both Hunter and Tomlinson played really balanced games on Sunday. They only combined for three pressures, but their performance in the running game is what set their performance apart with 10 tackles between them
Metellus put up another solid outing as a starter. He allowed three receptions but they were for only 24 total yards and didn’t look out of place on the back end. Not too bad for the former sixth round pick.
Bottom 3 defense
- CB Cameron Dantzler 37.6
- S Camryn Bynum 38.9
- CB Duke Shelley 50.7
The grades really emphasize that this team’s weakness is the secondary. Bynum allowed two touchdowns and Dantzler one as seen above. The entire secondary was making mental errors with a consistency that is appalling. They need to do what they can to fix it, but unfortunately, more talent isn’t walking into TCO Performance Center.
Other notables
- WR Adam Thielen 69.6
- WR K.J. Osborn 64.4
- C Austin Schlottmann 53.5
- OLB Za’Darius Smith 67.0
- NT Khyiris Tonga 65.0
- ILB Eric Kendricks 65.0
