Couldn't possibly disagree more.MikethePurple wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:59 amYou're right in that Rhodes has struggled against Adams historically. I think it's just a bad match up in styles. Adams is a quicker, less physical receiver. Basically the type Rhodes has not had as much success with in the past. He's typically done better with the bigger, more physical corners, ala Jones. It isn't to say Jones isn't fast, but that he has a different style. I remember when Zimmer first took over that they kept talking about the physical attributes that they were looking for in corners, basically to match up against Calvin Johnson, Alshon Jeffrey, Brandon Marshall, etc who were pretty dominant against the Vikings secondary. Essentially bigger, physical receivers. How many times did Vikings corners get beat in those jump balls against bigger receivers before we had Rhodes? I seem to remember a lot.StumpHunter wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:20 am
Rhodes sucks against Adams and they need to stop letting him cover the guy.
It is odd that he can pretty much shutdown a better receiver in JJ, and then struggle so much against Adams.
I posted this in the Packers pre-game thread, but it bears repeating here.
Against Rhodes in 2018, Adams caught 8 passes for 64 yards during the first game ... a modest game for Adams. Not only that, Rhodes allowed him ZERO catches in the fourth quarter and overtime. In the second game at US Bank Stadium, Adams had 5 catches for 69 yards. Rhodes did allow a 36-yard completion late in the game to Adams, but then turned around and had a great pass-defended against Adams to force a field goal, and subsequently an onside kick that failed.
In Sunday's game against the Packers, the PROBLEM was that Zimmer didn't initially have Rhodes shadow Adams. The first big play to Adams, the 39-yarder on the game's first play, the Vikings played a straight cover-2 zone. Adams ran through Rhodes' zone and should have been picked up on the back end by the safety, in this case Harrison Smith. Green Bay disguised the play well, and Smith was late getting to the sideline. Go back and watch the replay. Rhodes didn't follow Adams until later in the game, and at that point, Adams' production slowed down.
Historically, it hasn't mattered who Rhodes has covered. Everybody from Julio Jones and A.J. Green on the big end, to Antonio Brown and OBJ on the small end -- Rhodes has shut them all down. Sunday was the first big game Davante Adams has had against us, and again, it's because Rhodes didn't cover him for most of the first half.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again ... Mike Zimmer is a great coach for in-game defensive adjustments. But he sometimes out-thinks himself on game planning. By failing to have Rhodes shadow Jones early in the game, Zimmer opened up a depleted secondary to problems they perhaps could have avoided by simply playing they way he normally plays against Green Bay. From my vantage point, Mike Zimmer tries to devise things to give a different look to a team that's very familiar with the way his defenses play, and sometimes he just gets too cute. The Rams game last year was a perfect example. They'd just played the Rams in 2017, and he tried something that he admitted was an abject failure.
There's nothing wrong with Xavier Rhodes. He's still one of the best CBs in the NFL.
