Matt Kalil earns Mike Zimmer's passing grade for pass protection
This is always a risky sentence in the land of Purple Pitchforks and Temperamental Tweeters, but, what the heck …
Matt Kalil looked good in Friday night’s preseason opener in Cincinnati.
The Vikings left tackle provided quarterback Teddy Bridgewater with a satisfactory amount of comfort on the left side of the passing pocket. And, remember, it’s called a “pocket” for a reason. The protection is supposed to be shaped like a pocket, not an impenetrable infantry line formation.
Kalil for the most part had good, solid sets, turned his shoulders at the right moment and timed his punches well enough to shove his defender comfortably on past Bridgewater’s scheduled release point. Yes, even on the second play of the game.
On that play, Bridgewater took his usual drop and was seven yards behind the line of scrimmage at his deepest point. Kalil had walled off defensive end Michael Johnson, who was nine yards deep and out of the play when the ball should have been thrown.
That’s when Bridgewater held the ball too long. Clearly determined to throw downfield per the team’s preseason focus on having their young QB “let it loose,” Bridgewater kept looking downfield as he moved forward in the pocket. Running back Jerick McKinnon was open for the check down, but Bridgewater ignored him as Johnson circled back. Tackle Geno Atkins beat him to the sack, which, in this case, wasn’t the line’s fault.
On the 22-yard pass to Adam Thielen on the Vikings second drive, Kalil’s defender, linebacker Jayson DiManche, was 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage and out of the play when Bridgewater fired his pass from eight yards behind the line and three yards in front of the defender that Kalil had smoothly run out of the play.
And on the 49-yard touchdown pass to Charles Johnson, Kalil’s defender, end Will Clarke, also was run 11 yards deep by Kalil when Bridgewater stepped up decisively and launched the ball 52 yards in the air. Bridgewater was nine yards behind the line of scrimmage at his deepest point, which was about a yard deeper than his intended spot. But he made up for it quickly with an outstanding move up in the pocket.
Coach Mike Zimmer was asked Sunday how he thought Kalil had played.
“I thought he played good,” Zimmer said. “We gave up the one sack. [Right tackle] Andre Smith got beat around the edge one time. But [the Bengals pass rushers] are 12-yards deep and we’re trying to run them by the quarterback.
“[Bridgewater] stepped up and threw the ball at Charles Johnson. We can’t block them for 12-yards up the field. So if they want to run that far, let them go, we’re going to push them by.”
The guy people should be focusing on is Smith. He looked half a step slow and unsure on the heavy pressure that Bridgewater faced on the first snap of the game and while getting beat for a knockdown on Bridgewater’s incompletion on the third snap (third-and-9) of the game.
That could explain why the Vikings had T.J. Clemmings lined up at right tackle with the first team in Sunday’s practice. It appears that competition isn’t over based on Friday night’s game.