Running back Dalvin Cook said the Vikings offense needed to take a look in the mirror after failing to score a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of Sunday’s 33-27 loss to the Chicago Bears. To that, coach Mike Zimmer responded, “The defense has to look in the mirror, too.”
That’s a fair assessment considering the Vikings couldn’t stop a nosebleed against the Bears, allowing quarterback Mitch Trubisky to throw for 202 yards, and running back David Montgomery to rush for a career-high 146 yards.
But there was a silvering lining for the defense: rookie Cameron Dantzler, who continues to come into his own as a potential shutdown cornerback on the outside.
He once again was the highest-graded player on the Vikings’ defense this week, according to Pro Football Focus, and has been the highest-graded cornerback in the NFL this month.
No doubt both of those grades were aided by Dantzler’s clutch interception in the final minutes of Sunday’s loss, reading Trubisky like a book, then leaping to snare the pass at its highest point to give the Vikings the ball back with a chance to win the game.
Cam Dantzler comes up CLUTCH with an end zone INT. #SKOL
📺: #CHIvsMIN on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/EJLjYXQNy2 pic.twitter.com/FCxRor1Z6N— NFL (@NFL) December 20, 2020
“I wasn’t thinking that I personally had to come up with a big play,” Dantzler said. “I just felt like the defense as a whole had to come up with a big play. We all did that together. Everybody did what they were supposed to do, and we made the right call. I was just in a great position to make a play.”
If it seems as if Dantzler has consistently been in great position this month, it’s because he has been. He has improved steadily under the tutelage of defensive backs coach Daronte Jones, as well as veteran safeties like Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris.
“He showed up in training camp and he was making plays pretty early,” Smith said. “I think getting into the games and facing some good quarterbacks and some tough competition allowed him to learn a lot, and he’s starting to put it to use.”
“He’s really just settled in,” Harris added. “His demeanor and everything when he’s out there on the field is very calm. He’s relaxed and poised. I think that has just come with his experience of being on the field and being in some of those positions he’s been put in as of late.”
It’s also helped that Dantzler has been healthy after dealing with a rib injury and a concussion earlier this season. He was shaken up briefly in Sunday’s game, and while it looked somewhat serious at the time, it wasn’t long before he was back on the field.
“I was 100 percent going to come back in the game,” he said. “This game was like an elimination game. It was fighting for a playoff spot. Just wanted to get back in and finish the game.”
Unfortunately for Dantzler, the Vikings couldn’t finish the game after his big play in the end zone.
