3 Top Takeaways: Minnesota Vikings vs. New York Jets – Week 7
By Adam Patrick
The defensive depth is reliable
Heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Jets, the Vikings were already down three key players on the defensive side of the ball in Andrew Sendejo, Everson Griffen, and Linval Joseph. Plus, Minnesota no longer has the services of rookie cornerback Mike Hughes this season thanks to him tearing his ACL last week.
So the Vikings already knew they were going to need their reserves on defense to step up and give them a solid performance in New York. Well, after Sunday’s results, it seems safe to say that Minnesota has some pretty reliable defensive depth.
Vikings defensive end Stephen Weatherly put in another satisfying performance, pressuring the quarterback and finishing his day with two tackles (including one for a loss) and a pass breakup. Minnesota also got great efforts from David Parry, Jaleel Johnson, Jalyn Holmes, and Tom Johnson, who were all trying to make up for the absence of Griffen and Jospeh on the defensive line.
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After Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes went down with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter on Sunday, the team turned to rookie Holton Hill to fill in. All Hill did was come up with an interception on the very first play after Rhodes’ exit.
George Iloka also did a nice job filling in for Sendjo for the second straight week. Some would even say that Iloka has played well enough to earn some more snaps on defense even when Sendejo is ready to return to the field this year.
Minnesota’s starting defense is certainly banged up at this point in the season. However, Sunday’s win over the Jets proved that the starters are not the only talented members of the Vikings’ defense.