Week 4 MVPs: Minnesota Vikings vs New York Giants
Which Minnesota Vikings players deserve to be named the offensive, defensive, and special teams most valuable players from week 4 against the Giants?
Week 4 of the Minnesota Vikings season is beginning to shed the light on a very important fact pertaining to the makeup of this team. It’s not a show dictated by 1 or 2 superstars, it’s a culmination of a belief in, and execution of a system by an entire team.
With such great play, it makes it almost impossible to pick whose star shines the brightest. But for each unit one star shone bright enough to be picked as its MVP.
Offensive MVP : Sam Bradford
Bradford earns this nod for making the most pivotal statement of the game in the 4th quarter.
The New York Giants drove down the field and scored a touchdown on an Orleans Darkwa touchdown run, bringing the Giants within 7. At a moment where regaining momentum became immeasurable important, Sam Bradford orchestrated a beautiful drive completing 5 passes including a 40 yard bomb to Charles Johnson, leading the Vikings down the field for Jerick McKinnon to punch it in for the touchdown.
Defensive MVP: Xavier Rhodes
After being overshadowed the week before by Everson Griffen, this week Xavier Rhodes stood out above his peers. A week after holding Kelvin Benjamin without a reception, Rhodes went out and held OBJ to his worst game statistics of his career.
He effectively got into his head and caused a miscommunication with Giants QB Eli Manning, that lead to Rhodes himself intercepting a deep pass headed to where OBJ was supposed to be.
Special Teams MVP: Cordarrelle Patterson
CP 84 has been a beast so far this season on special teams. Long kickoff returns that have highlighted his career to this point, are now being equally matched by his skills as a gunner on punt returns.
Consistent tackling ability as well as being able to stop the football from making it into the end zone avoiding the touchback are becoming commonplace in every game. In this game he caused the Giants punt returner to muff a fair catch and allowed the Vikings to take over the ball in the red zone.
Not to sell CP84 short, his work on special teams is showing up in his offensive production as well. After several seasons waiting for CP to catch on, he is showing more promise with every passing week.
Next: Week 4 game recap: Vikings vs Giants
Do you have another choice for any MVP? Which of the 3 MVPs were the most pivotal to the Vikings success? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below.