Fins at Vikes Game Wrap: It’s Go Time
Joe Oberle
|
You could have gone to Target Field and watched an exciting walk-off win for the Wild-Card leading Minnesota Twins. But you didn’t. You could have headed over to TCF Bank Stadium where the Vikes use to play to watch the Gophers and head coach P.J. Fleck get a win in his U of M debut—but the traffic was too nasty. And you could have gone to the State Fair for one more deep fried alligator pronto waffle on a stick, but decided you were full of fair fare and need to drop a couple pounds.
So instead of any of that, you decided to check in on the Minnesota Vikings in their final preseason game. Well, you need to check your late summer priorities.
Okay, let’s say you missed the Vikings game and still need to know what matters after that exciting 30-9 Minnesota loss that featured the backups of the Vikings and Miami Dolphins. Well, we got you covered (unfortunately the Vikings defensive backs couldn’t do so well in that department).
So, rather than offer our usual game wrap up with what’s Trending, Worth Defending and Should be Ending, we will give a few of the game highlights in a quick and dirty fashion and move on with our lives (I have to finish up a fantasy football draft, after all).
Here goes:
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was kidding, or obfuscating or conflating, when he conjectured at practice on Tuesday that the starters should start. Well, mostly kidding, anyway. He did not follow through with his threat to have some veterans start after their poor performance last Sunday. But that was a wise more.
Ben Gedeon was the only (presumed) starter on defense. For Gedeon, who started at Will linebacker that past two games, it may have just more to do with getting him some more experience and the fact that Emmanuel Lamur is in the concussion protocol and did not play.
If you believe that MacKenzie Alexander will get the start at nickel corner when the season starts, he was another player to start the game. He was in on several blitzes and had a blocked pass in the game. And then he made the big mistake of taunting a player and got ejected for the game. Alexander’s emotion has gotten him into trouble before, and it could do so again–I still think it will be Terence Newman to start the season at nickel corner.
On offense, Laquon Treadwell got the start, and that was suspected since he missed half the preseason with a hamstring injury. Treadwell caught one pass for nine yards on two targets. It was important that he got out on the field, as Michael Floyd, who won’t be out there for the first four games, needs Treadwell to take his place. Floyd got a little run tonight, as well.
There were some important position battles going on in the game, so here’s a run down of how some of that went.:
Taylor Heinicke won a spot with the team last week against San Francisco, and he might have solidified that spot being on the practice squad. Heinicke underthrew receivers and shot some passes over their heads. He has great scrambling ability and moved the chains with them, but the coaches are looking for more. He had time, at times, and was late to an open receiver and sometimes threw to no one. If you want a change of pace quarterback from Sam Bradford (you don’t), Heinicke fits the bill. I am now more confident that he will be on the practice squad and will not be picked up by another team.
The chance for a deep corner somewhere on the team may have gone by the wayside for Sam Brown, who was flagged for a penalty and gave up a 65-yard touchdown pass on consecutive plays and then was offside on the extra point. A rookie wants to stand out in a game like this but not like that.
Tashawn Bower flashed again and is going to make the decisions on the defensive line very difficult.
It’s looking more and more as though the punter (and holder) will be Ryan Quigley and the place kicker will be Kai Forbath, as Marshall Koehn had another missed extra point (something Zimmer is not a fan of seeing).
Who got Hurt
Tight end Bucky Hodges came off the field after his helmet was knocked off on a play and was evaluated for a concussion. He did not return.
Wide receiver Caleb Jones, who had the Vikings lone score on a nifty little catch and run, went down with a lower leg injury. But it didn’t appear overly serious and he returned to the game. Finally, after the game, Zimmer announced that Heinicke was in the concussion protocol, but he didn’t think it would affect his availability for the start of the season.
But that was about it on the injury front, which is good news for this team no matter who the players are who played. Bring on the season!