The return of ILB Blake Cashman invigorated Vikings defense and was the catalyst for their best performance of the season
The Minnesota Vikings might not have played a great game on Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they did enough to get the win by a score of 12-7. It was ugly for the Vikings, as they outgained the Jaguars 402-143 and turned the ball over three times before the Jaguars did in the […]
The Minnesota Vikings might not have played a great game on Sunday afternoon against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they did enough to get the win by a score of 12-7.
It was ugly for the Vikings, as they outgained the Jaguars 402-143 and turned the ball over three times before the Jaguars did in the fourth quarter. The one thing that was the saving grace for the Vikings is the sheer domination by the defense. Luckily for Minnesota, they got arguably their most important player back on defense.
Blake Cashman is the catalyst of the Vikings' defense
The biggest factor of the Vikings' win was the return of inside linebacker Blake Cashman. He missed the last three games after suffering a turf toe injury in week five against the New York Jets. He was the green dot for the first five games and did a great job getting everybody set and coordinating the defense with their complex disguises.
It was evident that the Vikings were significantly better with Cashman in the game and head coach Kevin O'Connell had some insightful words about it after the game.
"I thought it was big," said O'Connell about Cashman's return. "Blake's – there's a reason I went and got him. He's been having a great year. Getting back to I.P. [LB Ivan Pace] and Blake and those safeties in front, felt really good to have that group back together. Give a lot of credit to him too for working his way back, too.”
It's not just the fact that Cashman gets the Vikings lined up, he does more than that. His size and athleticism give Cashman a lot of different tools to use. He is a great blitzer, a crasher on stunts and can drop into coverage and take away throwing lanes in the passing game. Cashman got one sack on Sunday and would have gotten another but he committed a facemask on quarterback Mac Jones that took away the play.
His presence has been so important for the Vikings and having a linebacker of that caliber is important to the success of Brian Flores' defense.
Ed Ingram gets heaping praise from Kevin O’Connell that is well deserved after recent play
Ed Ingram’s played better this season than he’s been given credit for
