Vikings Defeat the Broncos–What We Learned
Joe Oberle
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The Vikings defeated the Denver Broncos 42-28 on the road in what started out as a dominating performance, faltered in the middle and then became dominant in the end. Like any preseason game, what can be gleaned from it is not always sustainable and must be taken with a grain of salt (perhaps a whole salt shaker full). But, nonetheless, here are few things we learned last night. Some we’d like to see continue and some not so much.
Kirk Cousins passed the eye test and much more on the one series he was given to lead the offense. He threw four completions on four attempts for 42 yards and a touchdown. Some of the throws demonstrated some chemistry with Stefon Diggs, and Cousins looked in command the entire series.
Cousins has a strong arm and was able to fit some strikes into small windows (which was more difficult to say for his predecessor, Case Keenum, who was playing on the opponents’ team on this night). It would be nice to see this from the Vikings offense all season, but we must remember it is preseason.
If the preseason is any indication of future performance (and it isn’t always so), Stefon Diggs is worth the money on his new contract. He had three catches for 35 yards and a score, including one spectacular catch down the right sideline in which he stretched at the last minute to make a highlight reel diving grab. We should note, however, that Diggs has been making these kinds of grabs throughout training camp, so I would say it is a good indicator of things to come.
“He [Stefon Diggs] makes plays,” Cousins said. “He makes plays and gives you the motivation to give him the ball more and more. To trust him and throw him open and make the contested catch. Once again tonight, he proved me right. It is not an easy catch to make. It’s an elite trait that you can go pluck it like that with your hands. We are going to need to do that a lot more this year.”
The offensive line, patched together that it is, was okay last night. It gave Cousins some time against the first Denver defensive unit, although he got his throws out quickly. The rest of the night it gave up three sacks, and some of them were not pretty. The line had a decent night run blocking for Latavius Murray, who rushed four times for 41 yards. There is plenty to pleased with here, but not enough to alleviate current fan fears.
“What stood out to me was we ran the football,” Cousins said of the line. “I felt we had a few explosive runs. We got behind the chains with a penalty and right away had a run up the middle with Latavius and we got a first down. When you run the football that well and can stay ahead of the chains, your whole playbook is open to you, and the pass game becomes that much easier.”
After a 131-all-purpose-yards and two-touchdown performance, Roc Thomas deserves another look. Granted he got 78 yards of that total on one screen pass that had some great blocking, but Thomas read the blocks well, which allowed to him to break free. And he offered this great quote in which he said he was just looking to get his feet wet in this game and “got his whole body wet.”
The defense was very good in the early going, shutting down the Broncos offense well into the second quarter. They made things very difficult for their old buddy Case, but that was only for one series. Things fell apart in the middle of the game and there were mental lapses that won’t make the head coach very happy. But if the first team stays healthy all season, this unit will pick up right where it left off last season—and that will make the head coach happy.
“It felt good,” Everson Griffen said of the game. “We wanted more reps. We wanted another series. We finally get to hit somebody else. We’re in camp mode, so we want to hit somebody else. I think we did good. I think that we got to keep pushing in the fourth quarter to get better, no matter what group is in there. But I think we did good overall.”
Special teams were up and down against Denver—giving up a punt return touchdown in which the unit looked hapless and helpless trying to tackle
Isaiah McKenzie on his 78-yard romp. They were up in regards to the foot of Daniel Carlson, who had four extra points and was 2-for-2 on field goals, including a 57-yarder that is the longest kick of his pro and college career. Next week Kai Forbath will get to kick for points while Carlson handles the kickoffs (hopefully, Kai is still around to get the chance to show off his leg).
Chad Beebe had a touchdown reception, which was fun for every fan of his father. He took the ball with him off the field afterward, as there may not be a lot of them—he is in a difficult position battle for a backup wide receiver spot in a very deep unit. It was fun to see him score—we hope to see some more.
We are not sure what to make of Jack Tocho, who missed some plays but also made a nice interception by jumping a route and snagging a poorly thrown pass. So, we will concentrate on the pick.
Cornerback Mike Hughes had a decent game, and another corner Xavier Rhodes, noticed:
“Mike comes out of his break nice,” Rhodes says. “His eyes are right. He’s not looking back at the quarterback, he’s breaking on the ball, getting picks, knocking balls down. To me honestly, he plays like he’s been in the league before, and I think years down the road he’s going to be one of the best in the league.”
It is hard to watch all of a first preseason game that starts at 8 p.m. central time. But soldiered on (and wrote this Sunday morning).
Bring on the Jaguars.