Seahawks at Vikings Game Wrap: A Lot of Work To Do

The Vikings moved the ball against the Seattle Seahawks early on Friday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, and had to play catch up in the second half, but they finally put them away with a Kyle Sloter to Chad Beebe touchdown pass in the final minute. The Vikings, with the two-point conversion, won the game 21-20, improving their record to 2-1 on the preseason—but Minnesota still has plenty of work to do before the regular season starts in two weeks.

With this being the last preseason game that matters a lot, it’s time restart our Trending game wrap. You may recall from last that we note what is trending with team following the game. Essentially, what are the biggest topics, good or bad. Then we talk about things that are Worth Defending (or not worth it). Finally, there are some really bad situations that Should be Ending ASAP because the Vikings won’t do well if they don’t. Let’s give it a whirl.

Trending

Kirk Cousins led the offense to two long drives in the first quarter (the Vikings held the ball for 13:33 of the initial stanza) but it only produced six points. He looked a little jittery at first, but settled in on the second drive (a 97-yarder capped off by a one-yard touchdown run). But Cousins had a couple passes blocked, threw high on a couple and found himself on his backside more often than is desired. Cousins was 17 of 28 for 182 yards and a quarterback rating 79.8. It was better than last week, but has to get better than that in two weeks.

Kicker Daniel Carlson won the kicking job on this past Monday and he celebrated by having the worst night of his career. He came into the game perfect on the season (making all seven of his kicks in the first two games), and then he missed two field goals (from 42 and 36 yards) in the first half of this one. Head coach Mike Zimmer opted to go for the two-point conversion on their touchdown—we’re not sayin’, we’re just sayin’.

Mike Boone is starting to put a grapple hold around the third running back spot. He had another decent game in limited on the field. And wideout Chad Beebe continues to produce in the opportunities he is given–including catching a touchdown pass in the last minute. It is going to be hard to keep him off the squad.

Worth Defending

It is worth talking about Latavius Murray this week after his bad game last week (two fumbles), but he turned things around for himself. Murray, who scored the Vikings first touchdown, was the workhorse of the starting offense, as Dalvin Cook played for just three plays (two runs) before finding the bench. On the game, Murray rushed 10 times for 24 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards, but in general he looks like a different player than last season (much quicker and stronger) when he was coming off ankle surgery. He should see plenty of action this season on the offense.

While Cousins was hit three times he was not sacked (but he had to throw two balls into the dirt to avoid one). When Trevor Siemian took over he was sacked on the first series he played (and went down three times in the game—plus he fumbled and had a pass blocked that he caught himself for a one-yard loss). The offensive line has to play better. Cousins was knocked around several times and taken to the turf on his shoulder more than once. This unit is still patchwork, and they did move the ball in the first half, but there were too many open hits on the quarterback to make anyone feel safe about how they are playing.

Kyle Sloter came into the game in the fourth quarter after the Vikings defense (Anthony Harris) picked off a pass. He led the offense to a game-tying touchdown reception by local hero Jake Wieneke (from Maple Grove). Sloter actually looked better than Trevor Siemian in the game, which will certainly engender a backup quarterback controversy.

Should be Ending

The starting defense, which has been pretty good this preseason, kept it rolling with a three-and-out the first drive. But then the long break (a 97-yard drive by the Vikings offense) must have lulled them asleep, since the Hawks put together their own scoring drive. The Vikings defense stiffened on the next series for a field goal, but they still looked like a moribund group against a fairly middling team. They now wait until the regular season before they crank it up again, and suddenly that seems like it’s a little longer away.

Zimmer challenged a second-half pass play of 34 yards and it the play was upheld by the officials. It was Zimmer’s first challenge of the preseason, and he may have wanted to test out his challenge flag-chucking arm (and the insights and eyesight of those in the booth giving him advice), but it ended up looking fairly straight forward when the replays were run. Hopefully, those challenges go better as we head toward the season.

The number of injuries were much improved from last week (when the Vikings assisted or carted off numerous players), but they didn’t put up a goose egg in this category. Stefan Diggs was rocked after catching a pass over the middle, and while he was able to get up and walk off under his own power, he was done for the night. Also, in the third quarter, cornerback/punt returner Marcus Sherels pulled up lame after chasing a Seattle pass catcher down the right sideline. He immediately clutched his right hamstring and then knelt down on the field. We won’t see much from him until the regular season. Finally, Mike Boone looked to be injured on a throwaway play, but got up to walk off the field himself. Got a lot of good thoughts going out for him.

 

 

 

Share: