For a player that many Vikings fans were skeptical about coming into the 2018 season, former 2nd round pick Mackensie Alexander, has been a solid contributor this season. This past weekend, in a must-win game, Mac played maybe one of his best games in his career, adding to his quiet good season. I went through to check out some of his plays from Sunday’s game vs. Miami.

This play comes on the defenses first series. The Dolphins are faced with a third down and Mac steps up with a solid play to force them to punt. You’ll see Mac square up on the receiver here, and he chooses not to press him at the line. Instead Mac quickly turns his hips is running stride for stride with the WR, while also having inside leverage. Tannehill trusts his receiver here and Mac responds with a simple “Not in my house”

Here’s another solid play by Mac, in which I’m convinced he was the reason this play didn’t work. The Dolphins try to do a little trick play and it looks like the RB is going to throw it to the WR that Mac is covering, but he is covered. Leading the RB to tuck it and run. You’ll see Mac starting this play up near the line, but before the snap he drops off, he then back pedals and when he sees his assignment running his route he accelerates to ensure that he is covered. This one here is just showing the great communication and coverage skills of our secondary. I am convinced it wouldn’t have been as clean of a play had this been Mac’s first year. You’ll see the Vikings playing what I believe is a Cover 3 and as the play develops Rhodes drops off to cover his underneath Zone while Mac swiftly switches on to the WR streaking into his Zone in the middle of the field. With all options covered it leaves Tannehill throwing out into the flat to his RB. This play here is just Mac staying disciplined in his Zone assignment and then when he sees the RB getting the ball in the flat he makes a solid open field tackle for no gain. And last but not least, what I like to call the “Mac Sack”, Zimmer loves this play and so do the fans, but yet opposing teams have yet to stop it. Mac disguises like he is dropping into coverage, and as soon as the ball is snapped, he is in a dead sprint for the QB and the rest is history. Look, I’m not ready to call Mac a star, but he has made strides this season and has looked a lot more comfortable in his role, and has turned into one of the top slot corners in the league. This past Sunday may have been his best game yet. We can only hope he continues to trend upward. This secondary is filled with tons of talent and it’s a beautiful thing to watch. We will need everyone on their A game if we expect to keep winning. Skol!