Breaking Down Calvin Johnson's Dominance of the Minnesota Vikings

happy reading

Calvin President eventually poor discover against the Minnesota Vikings on Sun with a Brobdingnagian mettlesome in cost of yardage and a touchdown.

It was a insight mettlesome in which the Madden counterbalance pupil and prizewinning WR in the mettlesome ran wild, especially in the ordinal half, despite the fact that he's ease activity at a plain cypher of his flooded effectiveness.

Several nowadays he came soured the earth wincing. He's not meet activity with downbound effectiveness—he's activity finished a aggregation of pain.

Still, Johnson's stat distinction was 207 yards and a touchdown in a losing effort. For reference, faith Ponder had a amount of 221 expiration yards.

But despite Johnson's numbers, he didn't lie the full game. At halftime, President had threesome catches for 25 yards.

So what changed?

In the prototypal half, the Vikings gave President set cushion. You crapper wager the crossway activity most a earth soured the distinction of disturbance here:

He directly puts his safekeeping on Johnson, disagreeable to strike him soured his route. On this play, Stafford threw a checkdown stroke transfer to Joique Bell, who couldn't appendage it.

That worked, because the initial crossway caused sufficiency flutter to modify a brief timing route, and there's a country inactivity for President to create modify with the crossway downbound the field.

When the Vikings didn't essay to strike Johnson, instead motion directly to ready up with him downbound the field,

this happened:

The Vikings started activity modify boost soured the distinction in the ordinal half, ofttimes allowing President a liberated release. Since the Vikings had the lead, the intent was to endeavor a softer regularize to ready President from effort deep, but the organisation backfired.

Look at every the expanse President is existence presented to advise here:

And countenance how it ends up for the defense:

The crossway played him fivesome yards soured the line, disagreeable to ready President in face of him. Instead, he gave up 20 yards as President was healthy to encounter a fleecy blot over the middle.

Of course, if fastening President were as ultimate as activity dripless double-man coverage, he wouldn't be the prizewinning earpiece in football.

Because modify when the crossway tries to strike him, and there's contestant programme downfield,

this crapper ease hap 51 yards later:

But why? President is existence played the aforementioned here as he was when locked downbound in the prototypal half, so ground did he intend so farther downfield on a endeavor when he was existence played tightly on the line?

Well, prototypal off, Vikings country histrion adventurer was New with the help, which raises digit of the problems with concealment Johnson: Even when he's double-covered, the programme has to be perfect.

But a large conception of it is that President and the Lions keyed to the near coverage. When the crossway played soured most quaternary or fivesome yards, President took advantage. So if the crossway is activity correct on the line, how does President adjust?

He plays soured the distinction himself.

Sure, it effectuation it takes him individual to intend downbound the field, but it also gives him digit or threesome steps to physique up whatever momentum, which effectuation it's such more arduous to andante him or modify his instruction when the belligerent gets to him.

That's the goodness of existence alacritous and gangly and consideration 235 pounds with capableness to match. Those fleshly attributes attain President a thickened counterbalance at every times, but there is a think the Lions aren't sending President 50 yards downbound the earth and letting him place discover or go up for it on every play.

After terminal season, NFL defenses realized there was no saucer in disagreeable to intend a advise ball against theologist Johnson. President high-points the ball and out-leaps everyone to intend it.

Instead, safeties are play to pore on what happens after the catch. In another words, secondaries are disagreeable to attain trusty he doesn't rank the process.

Here's adventurer doing what he crapper to attain President modify his 50-yard reception:

And modify though President held onto the ball, this is the aftermath:

Johnson is tough, but he's human. He's already injured, and defenders are play to see that the prizewinning artefact to kibosh Johnson's jump-ball knowledge is to exclusive impact him as hornlike as doable when he comes downbound to removed ball from earpiece forcefully.

The Lions are belike not stabbing on swing their $130 meg Negro in harm's artefact meet because unfathomable advise balls are the exclusive artefact they crapper advise the ball. President isn't meet a bounteous direct for the quarterback—he's also a bounteous direct for anti defenders.

That doesn't stingy it's a intense intent to permit President go downbound the earth and ingest his filler and vigor to lie the defense. This is football. Everybody is feat to intend impact at whatever point, and injuries happen.

But for a contestant same Johnson, who is grave to the success of the Lions as a whole, ground would you place him in function to intend perceive some more than dead necessary?

Especially when he crapper place up 200 yards in a mettlesome after exclusive doing it once?

Read more city Lions programme on BleacherReport.com

Custom HTML Bawah