The current state of the Minnesota Vikings is a bit hectic, but no matter which way you look at it, it all spells danger for the Washington Redskins.
The Vikings bring a three-game losing streak into FedEx Field Sunday afternoon, started the season at 5-0 — a fact not lost on Washington.
“We can’t forget that they were a team that was undefeated at one point,” said Redskins linebacker Su’a Cravens. “They’re on a losing streak now, but they’re hungry for a win.”
Minnesota has also had to deal with a bit of adversity in the last couple of weeks. Unexpectedly, their offensive coordinator, Norv Turner, resigned on Nov. 2, forcing them to promote tight end coach Pat Shurmur to the position.
It would be understandable if the Vikings went with a new look under a new coordinator. But Redskins’ defensive coordinator Joe Barry said that, after reviewing the Vikings most recent game against the Detroit Lions, not much has changed under Shurmur. Barry believes it would just be too drastic to change their game plan midway through an NFL season.
Barry acknowledges that the Vikings offense contains a lot of different play-makers, centering around quarterback Sam Bradford, and that makes them dangerous regardless of who the offensive coordinator is.
“No. 8 [Bradford], he’s been doing it for a long time,” Barry said. “Obviously, [he] was the No. 1 player taken in the draft. He’s a very good quarterback in this league.”
But the group of running backs, Matt Asiata, Jerick McKinnon and Ronnie Hillman, accompanied with a group of receivers that all complement one another, make for a lethal mix.
“They do a great job using all of them,” Barry said of the three running backs. “They all kind of have different roles. And then as far as guys [catching] the ball, [Kyle Rudolph] is a Pro Bowl tight end, very good player. And then the wideouts, [Bradford] has a number of them. I think the guy he really likes is [Stefon Diggs]. That kind of is his comfort. And then there’s a big play guy anytime he gets his hands on the ball in [Cordarelle Patterson].”
That talent extends to the Vikings’ defense. Across the board, whether it’s against the run or the pass, the Vikings are successful. Minnesota ranks third in total yards per game allowed, a stifling 298.8 yards per game.
Two standouts, defensive ends Everson Griffen and Brian Robison, have 10 sacks between them, highlighting a fierce front seven.
“Yeah, they’re excellent,” Redskins’ offensive coordinator Sean McVay said. “They’re excellent allaround. I think both from a personnel and a schematic standpoint, they present a lot of issues. They’ve got great players all across the board, really on all three levels.”
Quarterback Kirk Cousins agreed.
“And in addition to having really good players, they’ve played together now for a few years so they have continuity and they’re very smart football players,” Cousins said. “They’re not just good athletes but they’re smart, aware players. When you combine all that, it makes for a really tough unit. And we’ll have our hands full across the board — the defensive line, the linebackers and the secondary. So it’s a great challenge for us though. That’s what we’re excited about, to see how we measure up against a very good unit.”
One player McVay and Cousins will have to avoid is Terence Newman, who is making his case as the NFL’s top cornerback. At the age of 38, Newman has developed into the Vikings shutdown corner, allowing just 7.9 yards per game. In fact, fewer than 50 percent of the passes thrown Newman’s way are caught, according to Pro Football Focus.
Sunday’s game against the Vikings marks the kickoff of the second half of the season for the Redskins. Washington finished with a 6-2 record in the back half of last season, pushing them towards a first-place NFC East finish.
Cousins is hoping for more of the same, and there’s no better opportunity than the next one.
“We certainly did some good things last year in the second half of the season and would love to go on a run like we did last year,” he said “But, boy, every game and every season is its own entity and you never want to rest on past success or expect that just because it happened in the past. So we’ve got to work really hard and treat every game as its own entity and we’ve got a big challenge this week with the Vikings’ defense and what they’ll present.”
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