Film review: Four Vikings defenders who need to build off performance vs. the Lions

For the first time this season, during Sunday’s 27-24 win in Detroit, the Vikings defense had all eight of their expensive (over-$7.5-million-per-year) starters available.

Three of them — safety Harrison Smith, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and linebacker Blake Cashman — missed several games in the first half of the season. Another, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, had “humbling” lows that lessened his role for two games before coaches returned him to the starting lineup against the Lions.

All four made critical plays that this Vikings defense will repeatedly need in the second half of the year to approach the ceiling they have envisioned.

“Gink being back just provides such an unbelievable presence in their football IQ communication,” coach Kevin O’Connell said Monday. “Pair that with what Harry and [Josh] Metellus do on the back end at the safety spot, it felt good to have that group back together.”

Preparing for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson on Sunday is a different challenge. He’s so hard to catch that the Vikings’ previous coaching staff had two defensive backs take scout-team reps as Jackson before the last Vikings-Ravens meeting in 2021.

O’Connell said “a bunch of different players” could wear the scout-team No. 8 and help the Vikings defense prepare for Jackson this week.

Here’s a snapshot at four key defenders who will be chasing him.

If Van Ginkel is feeling fine this week, he can thank Lions receiver Kalif Raymond for testing him with a brutal blindside block just before halftime.

Van Ginkel’s ability to dish out the violence — and receive it — was a good sign for this Vikings defense that has not received the same edge-setting and disruptive play from second-year edge Dallas Turner. Van Ginkel resumed his versatile roles in 39 of 64 snaps (61%), often dropping into coverage off the edge while inside linebackers blitzed.

In the video below, you’ll see a three-play cutup of Van Ginkel, starting with his willingness to crash the goal line during a run stop; edge rusher Jonathan Greenard set the tone on that play. Next is Raymond’s hit on Van Ginkel, who still made the tackle on Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Finally, Van Ginkel crushes the Lions tight end and closes the hole on a split zone run.

For the third straight game, Cashman didn’t leave the field. They need him to stay where he’s at, chasing down everything with a team-high 14 tackles (the most by a Vikings defender in a game since 2023).

He’ll undoubtedly play a role in spying Jackson, a job that requires patience.

After the loss, Lions coach Dan Campbell lamented to Detroit reporters that his team could not adequately block the Vikings’ repetitive “cross dog” blitzes that sent two inside linebackers up the middle of a retooled Lions offensive line.

This approach often kept Gibbs, the Lions’ most dynamic playmaker, pinned in the backfield and often failing to block Cashman, Ivan Pace Jr. or Eric Wilson. Lions quarterback Jared Goff was frequently moved off his spot, taking five sacks and throwing multiple incompletions while under duress. Campbell said they were outcoached.

“There are things that we can do better and that we can get to. We don’t want to have Gibby do a full game of [pass protection],” Campbell told Detroit reporters. “Now he’s better than that, too. I’ve seen him, we all know him, he can protect. He had a little bit of an off day in some of that, too.”

In the video below, you’ll see one of those “cross dog” blitzes that twist Cashman and Pace up the middle of the Lions’ line. Gibbs eyes Pace and misses that Cashman is the first blitzer through the line. Cashman also forced the key fumble on Lions running back David Montgomery that led to the Vikings’ third touchdown and 24-14 lead.

The Vikings spent $42 million guaranteed in March to sign both Hargrave and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen.

Hargrave easily played his best game of the season and made Detroit’s interior offensive line look overmatched after losing center Frank Ragnow and guard Kevin Zeitler in the offseason. O’Connell also commended Jalen Redmond, who has been the Vikings’ most consistent interior defender all season.

“Those guys were able to kind of have disruption that I think was felt for four quarters,” O’Connell said. “I think Jalen Redmond also played another really good football game. He was playing a little defensive end and some of those groupings with Van Ginkel that made it pretty difficult to run to that side.”

In the four-play cutup below, you’ll see Hargrave split a Lions double team, chase down runs from the back side, and get some quick pressure on Goff.

Hargrave had been taken out of the starting lineup during the previous week in Los Angeles.

“It’s a humbling league,” Hargrave said postgame in Detroit. “I feel like I just used everything for motivation, and I just got to keep it going.”

It’s been a while since Smith has been the consistently hard-charging tackler around the line of scrimmage. He seems to judiciously pick his spots at this age.

But he was plenty involved around the line in Detroit, where he had a season-high five pass rushes. During one of those blitzes, he deflected a Goff pass to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on third down, leading to a punt.

In the video below, you’ll see that play and a later Smith blitz in which he and Metellus fool Goff and Gibbs in pass protection. Goff directs Gibbs to watch the middle, where Metellus lurks. But Metellus drops into coverage and there’s no one to block Smith off right tackle. Smith is still as good as any defender at the cat-and-mouse, pre-snap deception that includes attacking late in the play clock or dropping back deep at the last second into a void the quarterback might have been targeting.