Minnesota Vikings MVPs: Week 12 vs. the Carolina Panthers

Defensive MVP – Honorable Mentions

This game didn’t see the Vikings make too many errors on defense. But the struggles of Minnesota’s offense pinned the team’s defense back and forced them to keep the Panthers scoring to an absolute minimum.

This was a great bend, but don’t break, style of game from the Vikings as they were able to keep Carolina to only one offensive touchdown on the day. If not for that, this game could have been a loss quite easily for Minnesota.

Here are three Vikings players that should be considered for defensive MVP:

Jeff Gladney – CB

It’s no secret that Minnesota was struggling to bring down Panthers running back Mike Davis on Sunday. The powerful running back is a bulldozer with the football and that meant defenders would need to help at all levels. Jeff Gladney has been a tackling machine this season and he had six takedowns (four solo) including one for a loss.

Anthony Harris – S

As previously stated, Carolina’s power run game was hard for the defensive line of the Vikings to handle and Anthony Harris has been stepping up in these situations. This game saw him rack up 11 tackles (two solo and an assisted takedown for a loss).

Harrison Smith – S

Minnesota’s secondary came through in a big way during this game. Carolina hoped to wear this team down, but with so many defenders working together, that wasn’t allowed to happen. Harrison Smith had six tackles with 1.5 of those going for a loss while helping to patrol the secondary against the pass.