Bucs at Vikings Preview: Minnesota at a Crossroads
Joe Oberle
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So here we are in Week 3 of the Minnesota Vikings’ 2017 season, and already the team is holding on for legitimacy by their fingernails. It is a slightly different feeling than last year at this time when the team was in the midst of 5-0 run. Now, the suddenly ascending Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday and the Vikings are reeling because of a bone bruise to quarterback Sam Bradford’s knee. The season is at a crossroads after only two games.
The biggest question going into this week is the status of Vikings starting quarterback Bradford. After having the best game of his career in the opening weekend, he pulls up lame with a reported bone bruise for the Steelers game and takes a seat on the sidelines. His return is a huge question mark, as we have heard anywhere from playing this Sunday against Tampa Bay or being out for six weeks. And the head coach didn’t exactly shed any new light on the situation in his Monday press conference:
“As far as Sam Bradford, feeling better [Monday],” Mike Zimmer told reporters. “We’ll know as we continue to move forward; it’s probably day-by-day. We’ll just keep going. If I could tell you more about it, I would. At this point in time, each day is a different day, so we’ve just got to keep going from there.
“I anticipate that when he is ready to practice and he is ready to play, that he will play. Honestly, I don’t have a crystal ball. I know you guys want to ask me about all these things, but I don’t have a crystal ball. Wish I did; I’d call some games better.”
It didn’t sound like Zimmer was trying to hide anything; this Monday presser was much more contrite than the aggressive and confrontational one following the game. It all depends upon how bad the injury is, how quickly Bradford can heal and perhaps how much pain he can tolerate. The bottom line is that the team and its fans should prepare for backup Case Keenum to get his second start this week—this time coming against a very confident Bucs team.
Should another Keenum start give you pause? After last week, I believe so. It does for the head coach:
“He had some good things and some bad things,” Zimmer said of Keenum. “I thought he was tough and battled and fought in there. Short week against a pretty exotic defense, defensive scheme. They are very physical and fast. I thought he battled. I’m sure he would say he could do better on some things, but he did some good things, as well.”
Keenum will be better at home against a Bucs team that last week gave up 310 yards, but only seven points (their first game of the season was postponed due to Hurricane Irma). The interesting statistic is that 290 of those yards came through the air—which, when considered as an average of 290.0 yards per game, ranks the Bucs at 27th in the league. Keenum (or Bradford, with our fingers crossed) should be able to find some opportunity there.
The 20 yards given up rushing is another matter. The Bucs accomplished that feat at home against the Chicago Bears, which had 125 yards rushing in their first game and were supposed to a running team behind the prowess of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. But the Bears got down early and appeared to have abandoned the run, not scoring their only points of the game until garbage time.
So, what does that say about the possibility of Dalvin Cook’s ability to continue his decent beginning to the season toting the rock (currently fourth in the league with 95.5 yards per game average)? It says to me the Vikings will go with their strength in the game, which if Keenum starts, it is the running of Cook. That means the offense will need a better run blocking game out of the offensive line than it got in Week 2 in Pittsburgh (that goes for pass protection, also). The running game eventually got going, but it was fairly late in the proceedings to make any difference. Look for the Vikings to get the running game going early and often.
The game, however, should come down to the Vikings defense and its ability to shut down Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay offense. The Bucs running game is led by Jacquizz Rodgers (until Doug Martin comes off his three-game suspension in two weeks), who is the eighth-leading rusher in the league with 67.0 yards per game. The Vikings have done well both weeks so far against the run, so the major concern is shutting down Winston and his cadre of receivers—lead by Mike Evans.
On a yards-per-game basis, Evans is the sixth best receiver in the league with 93 yards (and a touchdown) last week against the Bears. He had a team-high of nine targets in the game (which was down a hair from his career average of 10.3 when Winston is throwing to him), but you should still expect him to be shadowed by cornerback Xavier Rhodes, who allowed Antonio Brown just three catches on eight targets for 28 yards last week in Pittsburgh.
The concern, once again, will be who covers the Bucs number two receiver, the newly acquired DeSean Jackson. Jackson caught three passes for 39 yards on seven targets last week. Expect those target numbers to go up, as we saw the Steelers’ No. 2 receiver Martavis Bryant run past Tre Waynes last week (Bryant finished the game with three receptions on four targets for 91 yards and a touchdown).
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has to decide if he wants to set down Waynes (doubtful) and bring in Tramaine Brock. Or, we could see Brock getting some time at the nickel corner where the 39-year-old Terrence Newman was behind a step last weekend. Regardless, the Vikings need some help in the secondary, as the defense has plummeted to 24th in passing yards rankings (258.5 yards allowed per game). Winston only threw for 204 yards last week, but the Bucs’ big allowed them to run the ball more often to burn clock. Expect to see plenty of balls in the air from Winston on Sunday.
So, as we have stated, the Vikings are at crossroads. A loss, and they could fall two games behind in a very competitive division where the Detroit Lions sit atop and have looked good doing it. If Bradford can’t go, concerns increase over the prospects for this formerly winnable game. Keenum will battle—as Zimmer says—but it won’t be the same as a healthy Bradford leading the offense.
All that considered, I say the Bucs are still untested, having just won a very emotional game over the struggling Bears (the Bucs were fresh after having a bye in Week 1). They might be a different team on the road, and I believe the Vikings will be a different one at home. The Purple will feed Cook, Keenum and the offensive line will play better and the defense will shut down the high-flying Bucs.
Minnesota—23, Tampa Bay–17