The praise needs to be as loud as the disrespect for Lions' corner Kindle Vildor after Thanksgiving
Look, normally I try not get up on the soap box here. My job is to cover the Lions. Last week there was a level of toxicity with some Lions fans that I haven't seen before. Maybe I'm just being naive, I don't know. But I saw a fan base descend upon on the Lions […]
Look, normally I try not get up on the soap box here. My job is to cover the Lions. Last week there was a level of toxicity with some Lions fans that I haven't seen before.
Maybe I'm just being naive, I don't know. But I saw a fan base descend upon on the Lions fifth cornerback for allowing some big catches in a 24-6 win over the Colts. I also saw a bunch of people ask why this guy has a job and then claim that he cost the team the NFC Championship game.
Let's quick start there and bury that once and for all. Vildor should have had an interception in that game. Instead the ball bounced off his facemask and into Brandon Aiyuk's hands in the third quarter. The 49ers scored on the next play to make it 24-17.
That was bad, but what was worse is that Jahmyr Gibbs fumbled the ball in Lions territory on their next offensive drive and then the 49ers tied it up. What was worse is that the Lions offense completely folded in the second half of that game and never scored again until there was less than a minute left. Josh Reynolds went stone hands on two huge plays too. Stop blaming the guy for one bad play. The team last that game and it wasn't becasue of that.
It's an emotional sport for sure, but I think there are times when emotions overcome information. Vildor is the Lions fifth cornerback. He played mostly 10 snaps a game for the Lions until last Sunday when he suddenly had to play 55 and start the game. He gave up three catches for 61 yards on six targets. The first half was bad, but the second was way better and he got no credit for that.
What he should get credit for is his Thanksgiving game. Vildor played for 38 snaps on Thursday and allowed two catches for 14 yards on four targets. He also had some big time tackles in this game.
Vildor got robbed of his crowning moment by officials though. He absolutely should have had the game winning pass breakup, but instead the internet got to go crazy over the weakest defensive pass interference call maybe ever.
The last thing is that Vildor got dogged last Sunday for his 28 Pro Football Focus grade. It was the lowest cornerback grade in the NFL in Week 12. He got a 61.4 grade for this game and the only reason it was this low is because of the DPI. It was in the 70's right before that.
I'm not calling this guy a lockdown corner or a even a starter. I think it's more than fair to give him his flowers after trashing him for days on end. He played a great game on Thanksgiving. The Lions still need their top guys back and healthy though. Both things can be true.
Two players have big bounce back games in an injury riddled win for the Lions, plus 8 more big takeaways from Thanksgiving
It's Thanksgiving, of course it's stressful Would it be a holiday game if it didn't stress the hell out of you? The Lions didn't play their best game of the year on Thanksgiving and it's because of that this game went the way that it did. That and all the injuries continuing to add up. […]
