Welcome, Skoloholics! As you know, PFF is an analytics site, and we will be using their data, which is all behind a pay wall, so I won’t bother with a link. Their unique grading system grades each individual player on each individual play. It aggregates the plays then assigns each player an overall game grade in each category, along with an overall grade for the game. For defense, players are given grades for overall defense, a grade for run defense, tackling, pass rush, and coverage. As with any metric or analytics analysis, there will be flaws, so this, along with any other metric, should be used as a tool and not used as a “be-all-end-all” answer to how someone played.
How did the Vikings players fare in Sunday’s solid victory against the Bears, according to PFF? We saw that the offense did a 180 after an abysmal performance in Green Bay. From watching the game, you’d think that the defense did the same thing. Let’s take a look at PFF’s grades for each player and find out.
Vikings Defense Snap Count & PFF Grade(s)
| Player | Snap Count | Position | Defense | RDef | Tack | PRsh | Cov |
| Theo Jackson | 11 | FS | 87.4 | 60.0 | 77.2 | 81.1 | |
| Josh Metellus | 49 | FS | 86.7 | 65.4 | 78.0 | 83.4 | |
| Duke Shelley | 51 | LCB | 85.0 | 44.9 | 37.4 | 90.5 | |
| Eric Kendricks | 23 | MLB | 84.4 | 83.9 | 76.2 | 59.0 | 66.6 |
| Dalvin Tomlinson | 16 | DLT | 81.4 | 66.4 | 76.9 | ||
| Khyiris Tonga | 26 | NT | 79.9 | 85.3 | 67.9 | 53.3 | |
| Danielle Hunter | 23 | LOLB | 79.3 | 72.1 | 73.5 | 69.3 | 60.0 |
| Luiji Vilain | 17 | LOLB | 76.9 | 61.1 | 72.8 | 63.7 | 68.8 |
| Troy Dye | 26 | MLB | 75.5 | 73.5 | 75.9 | 60.0 | 66.9 |
| William Kwenekeu | 12 | MLB | 74.7 | 66.1 | 73.2 | 65.4 | |
| Harrison Phillips | 16 | DRT | 68.5 | 64.3 | 69.5 | 64.7 | |
| Chandon Sullivan | 28 | SCB | 66.9 | 63.4 | 79.7 | 66.2 |
Summary
Some of the rookies stepped up when they got their opportunity on Sunday. Theo Jackson and Metellus were both solid, especially in coverage. Duke Shelley had another great game. He has been a monster in coverage, and a pleasant surprise addition for the Vikings this season. He’s all but earned the LCB starting role going forward, it’ll be interesting to see whether he and Dantzler share snaps.
Overall, as with the offense, the Vikings defense did a 180 from last week’s poor performance in Green Bay. I know it was against the Bears, but they still did the job in a tough environment, and built some positive momentum heading into the playoffs. SKOL!!!!!!!!!!
