Vikings’ unsung player of the week: Harrison Phillips’ generosity doesn’t show up on the stat sheet

Harrison Phillips is a glass-half-full kind of team captain.

That’s how the Vikings nose tackle viewed what happened with 10 minutes left in Sunday’s 34-7 rout of Houston at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Texans trailed 31-7 and were facing second-and-12 from their 46-yard line. Unfortunately for second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Vikings defense and its coordinator, Brian Flores, weren’t taking their feet off the gas.

Stroud dropped to pass as Phillips rifled between center Juice Scruggs and left guard Kenyon Green. Phillips came through so quickly that he lost his balance and swiped Stroud’s feet with his right arm.

Stroud avoided the tackle.

Phillips got up and tried again. He got both hands on Stroud this time, but the slithery QB escaped again as Phillips fell again.

Green, the guard, turned toward Phillips, who was rising for a third crack at his second sack of the season.

That, unfortunately, allowed edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, a former Texan, to zoom in and end the play by smashing Stroud for his third sack of the day, a 14-yard loss.

“Don’t kick me while I’m down,” Phillips joked when asked about that play. “I just joked with my teammates that as a captain I have to be very generous. I could have had Stroud down, but I just wanted to make sure JG got his third sack. That’s what I’m going to chalk it up to. Not the fact I missed two missed tackles.”

Sunday wasn’t a big stats day for Phillips. But we’ll give him Unsung Vikings Player of the Week for all he did that didn’t get noticed as much as the five sacks or the two interceptions by Cam Bynum and Kamu Grugier-Hill, another former Texan.

Grugier-Hill doesn’t make his interception without a giant paw of an assist from Phillips.

The Texans had opened the game with a holding call. Rookie tight end Cade Stover, who would later get knocked on his backside trying to block Greenard, was called for holding Greenard. Tackling would have been a better description. Right guard Shaq Mason also tackled Vikings lineman Jerry Tillery, but that one wasn’t called.

On the next play, the Vikings sent five rushers, including blitzing linebacker Blake Cashman.

Stroud did a great job using his eyes to move Grugier-Hill away from wide receiver Tank Dell, who had stopped in an opening in the zone coverage and was just waiting for the ball all alone.

“Stroud looked me off to my left, and, reading his eyes, he turned and I was a little late getting back to my left,” Grugier-Hill said. “I’m hustling over and out of the corner of my eye, I see something.”

It was the ball. Phillips wasn’t able to get to Stroud, so he did the next best thing.

“You have to understand the concepts of the defense,” he said. “When we’re sending five, six, seven people, or showing it, you know the ball is going to come out fast. Sometimes when I don’t beat my man, or sometimes when I do, we know we have to get our hands up quick.”

Phillips did. The ball ricocheted off Phillips’ arm.

“Beautiful,” Grugier-Hill said of Phillips’ play. “He tipped it right into my hands. Right to me. A gift from heaven.”

Stroud’s streak of 266 consecutive passes without an interception going back nine games to last November was broken.

Houston’s second series started with the Texans down 7-0. Stroud again was pressured on first down. This time, he chose to run. He had some room to possibly escape, but Phillips tackled him for a 1-yard gain. Houston would finish with only 38 yards on 14 carries (2.7) with no run longer than 9 yards.

The stat sheet said Phillips had only one tackle and one pass defensed. It doesn’t mention that he did more than enough to be considered the Unsung Purple Player of the Week in what’s most certainly an unforeseen 3-0 start by the Vikings.

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