Minnesota Vikings MVPs: Week 5 vs. New York Giants
By Adam Carlson
Defensive MVP – Honorable Mentions
It’s nice to see the Minnesota Vikings were able to hold the offense of the Giants in check in Week 5, Sure, they were without star running back Saquon Barkley, but this team had been able to put points on some tough teams and win games under rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.
New York only got 10 points on the board against the purple and gold, and it’s tough to win a game in the NFL with that low of a total. Thankfully, Minnesota has the potential to hold the line every week to give their offense a great chance of a victory.
Here are some of the defensive standouts from this game who weren’t quite the MVP from Week 5 against the Bears:
- Mike Hughes, cornerback: The Giants have some talented and explosive cornerbacks, yet the former first-round pick was able to put himself in a great position to make plays. He broke up three passes on the day, nearly intercepting two of them and adding three tackles.
- Everson Griffen, defensive end: Minnesota has a great pass rush, and one of the best reasons for that is Griffen’s ability to get pressure against some of the best left tackles in the league. While he only had one sack on the day, he had many pressures that forced Jones to move around the pocket or make poor decisions or throws.
- Eric Kendricks, linebacker: Once again, Kendricks patrolled the line of scrimmage like a champ, challenging ball carriers and limiting yardage against both the run and pass. He had seven tackles on the day, five of them solo and one of a loss to go with two pass breakups.
- Stephen Weatherly, defensive end: In limited action, Weatherly got in the face of Daniel Jones on several occasions. He got two great hits on the Giants quarterback, but didn’t end up registering a sack.