Harrison Smith's gem made Christmas Day's win memorable
The veteran safety had another brilliant performance against the Detroit Lions
By Matthew Coller
MINNEAPOLIS — In a season where there have been so few memorable moments for Minnesota Vikings fans, the folks who drove to US Bank Stadium on Christmas Day to watch two teams that were either already out of the playoffs or virtually eliminated battle it out with only about two-thirds of their rosters were rewarded with something they will never forget.
At the two-minute warning of a virtuoso performance by Harrison Smith that included a masterful interception, a sack, two tackles for loss and three pass breakups, the in-stadium camera found No. 22 on the bench. The packed crowd went berserk. Smith acknowledged the loyal fanbase, making his appreciation for the attention clear.
“It’s pretty cool, I don’t want to get emotional about it,” a clearly emotional about it Smith said in the locker room following the game. “It’s pretty special. It just shows how much they love the team…We’re out of the playoffs and everybody shows up and they do their part and one of these days they’ll get [a Super Bowl].”
It wasn’t Smith’s only celebratory moment in the Vikings’ 23-10 win in which they created six Detroit Lions turnovers and gave up just 3.6 yards per play. After getting his 39th career interception, he was greeted by his teammates fanning him off on the sideline.
“I’m 36 years old, I’ll be 37 in a few months but it’s like being a kid,” Smith said, again choking up.
As humble as Smith is, he had to admit that the interception was “a good pick” but he wouldn’t reveal the details of exactly why he was able to jump in front of Jared Goff’s intended target.
Beyond the opportunity to celebrate Smith’s greatness in micro moments like his INT and the big-board cheers, the veteran safety has been at the center of the resurgence of the Vikings defense that has led them from 4-8 to 8-8 over the last month.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said that the coaches have ramped up the overall aggressiveness and Smith’s command of the defense in recent weeks. In that time, they have outdueled two top-notch veteran QBs in Dak Prescott and Goff.
“The element of Harrison being able to have a role in what we ultimately play when the ball is snapped, he has an unbelievable feel of the system, he has an unbelievable feel of what [Flores and the defensive staff] really want to do and he’s out there playing a game within the game,” O’Connell said. “It’s been spectacular to watch. It’s been awesome from my perspective to watch what he’s able to do at this point in his career mentally and then physically he’s making a lot of plays as well.”
Last week, Flores explained how Smith has autonomy to change calls at the line of scrimmage based on the alignments that he is seeing. Particularly over the last four wins, he has often lined up as a blitzer and made an enormous impact either rushing the QB or dropping back in coverage.
“Harry is quarterbacking a lot of things for us,” O’Connell said. “Especially in these divisional games, we know each other well, they’ve had a lot of reps against us, we wanted to be able to give Harrison the ability to win the pre-snap and what he did tonight was win the post-snap with his ability to get after the quarterback with a sack and had a couple TFLs and interception. Just phenomenal.”
The other part of Smith’s presence is the fight in his game. While some teams are melting in December, the Vikings have not only continued to battle through injuries and — in Thursday’s case — subpar offensive performances, their defense has turned things up a notch, refusing to go down easily. That all stems back to the captain.
“His leadership throughout this stretch has also been something that I’ll always remember,” O’Connell said.
Smith said after the game that he feels like the defense has come together after some rocky moments earlier this year because they have found the right roles for a lot of players, some of whom might not have been in the defense last season or weren’t out there for as many snaps.
“It’s a scheme that most guys have not come up playing with these rules and techniques so I think time on task and belief that if I do this, it makes sense for the totality of [the defense],” Smith said.
While Smith is the DC on the field, the actual DC Brian Flores’ role in giving the Vikings a chance to finish over .500 can’t be overlooked.
“I feel like he’s one of the smartest guys when it comes to scheming up an offense,” Murphy Jr. said. “Knowing what type of playmakers they have and we take it away…he puts us in the right position.”
There are examples of players emerging across the defense in Thursday’s victory. Dallas Turner, who has thrived when replacing Jonathan Greenard this season, had a half sack and five tackles. First year starting safety Theo Jackson had a sack on a blitz. Second year defensive tackle Jalen Redmond had a fumble recovery, QB hit, pass deflection and TFL.
The big-time players, some of whom missed time earlier this season, also dominated. Blake Cashman had a ridiculous 17 tackles. Van Ginkel got 1.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. Byron Murphy Jr. got an interception and recovered a fumble.
The performance was also particularly notable because the Lions have had the number of the Vikings defense in previous years. Last year at US Bank Stadium, Detroit had a game-winning drive where they seemed immune to the fear that Flores’ defense strikes in teams. Not this time.
That came down to creating consistent pressure on Goff.
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