Minnesota Vikings: Dissecting Crucial Matchups for Week 16 Game with Dolphins

The Minnesota Vikings will travel to Miami on Sunday to take on the Dolphins in a game that doesn't have a whole lot on the line other than pride.

The 6-8 Vikings lost a 16-14 heartbreaker to the Detroit Lions last Sunday, while the Dolphins were dominated, 41-13, by the New England Patriots. That loss dropped Miami to 7-7 on the season and all but dashed their playoff hopes.

Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin might have the most on the line this weekend, as his head is definitely on the chopping block, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. This is all part and parcel for an organization that's only had one winning season in the last eight years.

The Dolphins are 22-24 in their three seasons under Philbin. If they can win their last two games, which are both at home, Philbin would boost his chances of keeping his job.

There's no such angst for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who's getting nothing but praise in Minnesota for the way he's changed the culture at Winter Park. Zimmer's no-nonsense style has permeated through the roster, and the Vikings are definitely a young, talented team on the rise.

Minnesota is just 2-5 on the road this season, but on the plus side, it's 6-3 in games outside of the NFC North.

Here we take a look at three crucial matchups that will go a long way toward deciding Sunday's game.

Xavier Rhodes vs. Jarvis Landry

For the first time this season, Rhodes was basically assigned a receiver rather than his normal right side of the field last Sunday against the Lions. Minnesota wanted Rhodes to cover Calvin Johnson as much as possible, and he did a great job, holding Megatron to just four catches for 53 yards and no touchdowns.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Landry is having a phenomenal rookie season, having caught 71 passes for 672 yards and five touchdowns through 14 games. Landry is getting better as the season moves on, having caught 22 passes for 222 yards in his last three games.

You don't expect that type of production out of any rookie receiver, much less one who was the 12th wideout taken in his draft class. (Although the 2014 wide receiver class is being called perhaps the best ever.)

Here's how Landry's stats line up next to some of the other stalwart receivers from the class of 2014:

	Draft No.	REC	YDS	AVG	TDs
Sammy Watkins	4	59	850	14.4	5
Mike Evans	7	59	948	16.1	11
Odell Beckham Jr.	12	71	972	13.7	9
Kelvin Benjamin	28	67	952	14.2	9
Marqise Lee	39	31	349	11.3	1
Jordan Matthews	42	56	709	12.7	7
Jarvis Landry	63	71	672	9.5	5

While Landry doesn't have the game-breaking ability of his LSU teammate, Beckham, he's already established himself as one of the premier possession receivers in the league.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

It will be a quick adjustment for Rhodes going from the downfield threat of Johnson to Landry, who excels at getting open quickly. Rhodes has proven in his second year that he can cover any type of receiver.

He didn't register any passes defensed against Detroit, but that doesn't mean he didn't have an excellent game. Rhodes had had eight passes defensed in his three previous games, and Cole Schultz of Pro Football Focus had this to say about him after Minnesota's win over the Jets:

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Xavier Rhodes, CB: +2.7

Breakdown: With a phenomenal day in coverage Rhodes has now strung together four straight games above +2.0. The second-most targeted Viking, Rhodes forced a number of incompletions and allowed just 1 yard after the catch against the Jets’ wide receivers. 

Rhodes put on a clinic at cornerback, notching three pass defenses and staking a claim as one of the best young corners in the game.

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Rhodes won't only pass defend against Landy, he'll be matched up plenty with Mike Wallace, the Dolphins' deep threat as well. The Vikings are at the point where they like their odds with Rhodes against anybody.

Mike Harris vs. Cameron Wake

Minnesota is down three starters on its offensive line, having lost Brandon Fusco and Phil Loadholt for the season, and left guard Charlie Johnson missed the Lions game with a bad ankle. 

The good news for the Vikings is that the right side of the offensive line, without Fusco and Loadholt, has held up pretty well.

Harris, the 6'5", 318-pound third-year tackle out of UCLA, has started the last three games at right tackle and has been just fine. He's nowhere near the run-blocker that Loadholt is, but against the Dolphins, he'll be squaring off mostly with Wake, who's a pass-rushing specialist.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Wake, in his sixth season with Miami, leads the Dolphins with 9.5 sacks and is looking to have his third year with double-digit sacks. He has just 29 total tackles on the year, though.

The Dolphins have the fourth-ranked pass defense in the NFL and allow just 209 yards through the air a game. It will be up to Harris to keep Wake away from Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday afternoon.

Harris has been proof that the Vikings have good offensive line depth, as Minnesota has only allowed 10 sacks in the three games that Harris has been in the starting lineup.

Kyle Rudolph vs. Philip Wheeler

One of the Vikings' best takeaways from their loss to the Lions was the re-emergence of tight end Kyle Rudolph. The big tight end has been back in the lineup for five weeks but hadn't looked fully healthy after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia. 

That changed Sunday against the Lions when Rudolph looked like his old self, grabbing seven passes for 69 yards, his best numbers of the season.

Here's how Rudolph has performed since returning from surgery:

Opp	REC	Targets	YDS	AVG
Bears	0	0	0	0
Packers	3	6	50	16.7
Panthers	2	3	7	3.5
Jets	2	2	9	4.5
Lions	7	7	69	9.9

Moving forward, the Vikings need Rudolph to establish himself as a top-five tight end for the Vikings offense to reach its full potential.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Nobody is going to compare Rudolph to Rob Gronkowski, but the Patriots' star tight end was his usual dominant self against the Dolphins last Sunday, catching three passes for 96 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown pass.

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes that Wheeler was targeted three times by Tom Brady and that Brady was 3-of-3 for 62 yards when he did.

At 6'2", 245 pounds, Wheeler is no physical match for Rudolph, and Bridgewater would do well to look for his tight end often on Sunday afternoon.

Everson Griffen vs. Ja'Wuan James

James, the 19th overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Tennessee, was having a pretty good rookie campaign for the Dolphins at right tackle, but he's struggled since moving to the left side to fill in for the injured Branden Albert. 

James played right tackle for most of his collegiate career—with Antonio "Tiny" Richardson, whom the Vikings placed on IR before the season—holding down the left tackle spot for the Volunteers.

Kiernan Hogan of Pro Football Focus, writes that James had his worst game as a pro last Sunday against the Patriots:

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Ja’Waun James, LT: -5.1

Breakdown: James was adequate as a run blocker, but surrendered a season-high 11 total pressures (two sacks, two hits and six hurries), on his way to a -4.7 pass protection grade. James now has red grades in three of his five games since replacing the injured Branden Albert at left tackle.

Signature Stat: James had surrendered nine total pressures in his previous four games at LT, before allowing 11 in yesterday’s game alone.

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Alex Brandon/Associated Press

It hasn't really mattered who's lined up across from Griffen; he's fared well against pretty much everybody. He had one of his quietest games of the season against the Lions, getting just one tackle, but he's constantly helping to cave in the pocket, whether he's getting to the quarterback or not.

Griffen leads the Vikings with 12 sacks, and his 50 tackles lead Minnesota's defensive linemen. The Vikings have to like Griffen's chances against a rookie at left tackle, and Griffen is probably licking his chops at the chance to get his hands on Ryan Tannehill, who's been sacked 38 times, the fifth-most in the league.