Can Blake Cashman Stop Vikings History From Repeating?
Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
The 6-2 Minnesota Vikings are facing off against a 2-7 Jacksonville Jaguars team that will be without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence. In comes former New England Patriots’ first-round pick Mac Jones, which sounds like an awesome break, until you remember two things. One: This is Jones’ second career game against the Vikings. And two: In their last meeting, Mac absolutely shredded the Vikings’ defense.
Mac Jones had a career game against the #Vikings last year
28-39
382 yards
2 TD pic.twitter.com/ifMjq8dpk7— Joey Rizzi (@Joeyrizzi7) August 21, 2023
Jones completed 28 of his 39 passes for 382 yards and two touchdowns, doing the majority of his damage targeting the middle of the field. On passes thrown past the line of scrimmage and towards the center of the field, Mac Jones went 10-for-11 for 165 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions for a perfect 158.33 passer rating. Historically, Jones loves working the intermediate areas of the field and struggles when throwing outside the numbers.
If the Vikings want to prevent history from repeating itself, they’ll need to make it difficult for Jones to target the middle of the field. Getting linebacker Blake Cashman back will be a big boost for Brian Flores’ defense, which has looked increasingly vulnerable over the past three weeks without Cashman patrolling the middle of the field. Cashman has been an integral part of Minnesota’s pass defense, having led the team in both tackles and passes defended prior to his turf toe injury in Week 7.
Cashman’s absence further proved how important of a player he is in Flores’ defense. In Weeks 7-9, the Vikings struggled to defend the middle of the field without him. PFF tracked how Minnesota’s last three opposing QBs fared when they targeted the center of the field on plays beyond the line of scrimmage:
Jared Goff: 11-for-11, 198 yards, two touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 158.3 passer rating
Matthew Stafford: 8-for-10, 77 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, 132.8 passer rating
Joe Flacco: 7-for-12, 96 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 84.0 passer rating
The Detroit Lions have the league’s best offense, so Goff’s success against the Vikings’ defense comes as no surprise. Still, allowing Goff to get a perfect passer rating on passes over the middle — the same way Jones did two years ago — is troubling, to say the least. Minnesota’s soft middle continued to rear its ugly head against Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. Even a 39-year-old journeyman in Flacco managed to get the intermediate passing game going with relative ease.
Cashman is to Brian Flores what Eric Kendricks was to Mike Zimmer. Eric Kendricks was the quarterback of Zimmer’s defense, the Vikings targeted Cashman to QB Flores’ defense this offseason. There were a lot of great defensive players during the Mike Zimmer Era, but if most of those players were to miss a game or two, you’d hardly notice because there was enough talent elsewhere to compensate.
But that wasn’t the case with Kendricks. His intellect, athleticism, and understanding of Zimmer’s scheme was irreplaceable in the middle of the field, and Zim’s defense was noticeably worse whenever they were without him. Cashman has that same level of impact, where his presence can single-handedly transform Flores’ defense. Cashman’s outstanding range in coverage is perhaps the biggest reason why the Vikings had the NFL’s best defense through the first five weeks of the season. Talent has never been an issue for him.
The big question with Cashman is how close to 100% can he be for an entire season, and those questions will apply to Sunday’s game at Jacksonville. Turf toe is an injury notorious for causing lingering effects for a long time, and if Cashman is still dealing with it, that can affect his lateral quickness in space. Kevin O’Connell and his staff have been very conservative when it comes to managing injuries, so one could argue that if Cashman wasn’t ready, then he wouldn’t be playing.
However, last week T.J. Hockenson made his return against the Colts, and it felt like he was still trying to get himself reacclimated. He finished the game with just three catches for 27 yards, which is a slow day at the office for a player of Hockenson’s caliber. It remains to be seen how quickly Cashman gets back up to speed. A three-week absence is nowhere near the same as Hockenson’s 315-day hiatus, but it’s not unusual for minor injuries to take someone out of their groove.
We won’t know how close to 100% Cashman will be until he steps out onto EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, which makes it all the more nerve-wracking given the Vikings’ not-so-great history against backup quarterbacks. Cashman’s health may end up being the deciding factor on whether or not Minnesota can take away the intermediate passing game, which has been Jones’ bread-and-butter since entering the league. If the Vikings can take that part of the game away, however, then history is unlikely to repeat itself.
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