Fabian

Moreau

The Vikings square off with the Lions for the Conference title, with the winner securing the lone bye out of the NFC and the loser looking at a road playoff game in the Wildcard Round next weekend. The stakes could not be higher for each franchise, and the Vikings come into the contest relatively healthy considering it is the final game of the regular season.

Linebacker Gabriel Murphy was the only Viking with an injury designation for Week 11. He was ruled out on Friday but doesn’t show up among the inactives while still on injured reserve. The rest are healthy scratches.

The Vikings are adding Moreau after dealing with major blows to their secondary depth in training camp. He played in 16 games while starting 11 for the Broncos last season. The 30-year-old recorded seven passes defended and one interception in Denver. Starting his career with the Commanders, Moreau has also spent seasons with the Falcons and Giants. The Vikings have lost Mekhi Blackmon to an ACL, with Shaquil Griffin also hurt. Moreau will be depth for a banged-up secondary.

Moreau appeared in 14 games for the Giants last season, starting 11 of those games. The veteran defensive back had previously worked out with the Dolphins but will now have a chance to latch on to the Broncos’ 53-man roster over the next several weeks. Moreau earned a PFF coverage grade of 56.1 last season and allowed 560 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 48 receptions.

Moreau is questionable to return to action. He was injured early in the third quarter. The Giants lose another defense back having already lost Adoree’ Jackson for the game.

Moreau, a former third-round pick for Washington, spent just one year with Atlanta, starting eight games for a subpar Falcons secondary. In Houston, Moreau will join a defense graded by Pro Football Focus as the league’s worst coverage unit in 2021.

Moreau, a starting cornerback to this point, will sit this one out against Buffalo’s murderer’s row of wideouts. Cordarrelle Patterson, Mike Davis, and Qadree Ollison are all active, as expected.

The former third-rounder is still just 26 but never really found his footing in D.C. Moreau played just 156 snaps last season after getting in on over 1,400 defensive plays for the previous coaching staff across 2018-2019. Moreau is a worthy flier and has good size at 6’/204.

Washington is all kinds of banged up in the secondary entering their Week 17 finale against the Cowboys. CB Quinton Dunbar (hamstring, IR) and S Montae Nicholson (neck, IR) are also done for the season. Moreau finishes the year as PFF’s No. 113 ranked CB among 131 qualified corners.

Jay Gruden deemed Moreau “a long shot” to play earlier this week, so this was expected. Jimmy Moreland or Greg Stroman will likely start now against Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson. With Trent Williams (holdout) also out, things aren’t looking great for the Redskins Week 1.