Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions: 5 players to watch
By Dan Zinski
Dec 21, 2014; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen (97) sits on the bench during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins won 37-35. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
1. Everson Griffen
Everson Griffen is confident that the Vikings will bounce back against Detroit, so confident that he flat out said “We’re gonna beat Detroit.”
If the Vikings are going to live up to Everson’s promise and beat Detroit, Everson is going to need his own bounce back game.
Griffen was absolutely brutal against San Francisco, over-pursuing against the run, getting called for penalties (one of which frankly should not have been a penalty) and generally looking like an undisciplined rookie.
If the Vikings’ main issue Monday night was that they tried to do too much, then Griffen was the poster boy for that failing.
Griffen paid for his lack of control by winding up on the wrong end of Carlos Hyde’s epic spin move, a play that has made the rounds of the internet.
I hope Griffen was embarrassed by his poor performance (he says he was anyway) and I hope it motivates him to get his head more in the game from here on out.
After the way San Francisco worked Griffen, more teams are going to try to run at him and take advantage of his tendency to over-run plays.