Garrett Bradbury Has the Highlight Play in Minnesota’s 37-10 Loss on SNF
Josh Frey
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When Kirk Cousins was officially ruled out for the Minnesota Vikings Sunday Night matchup with the Green bay Packers because of a positive COVID-19 test, things looked bleak for the purple and gold. I clamored that they should start rookie QB Kellen Mond in Cousins’ absence, mainly because, well, what did they have to lose? We’d already seen how Sean Mannion starts ended up in the past, so why not give the rookie a shot?
In the end, the Vikings opted to go with Mannion, and the game went about as badly as we all expected. The defense played a bend-not-break style for much of the first half, but in the end they broke. The Packers ran up 37 points on Minnesota’s defense, with Davante Adams being the main catalyst, catching 11 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.
On top of that, Sean Mannion performed just about as advertised. He made one impressive throw late in the game to KJ Osborn, but other than that, it was a lot of dink-and-dunk passes. The backup QB finished the game 22/36 for 189 yards and his first touchdown pass of his career. The highlight of the night was neither of these plays, though. Instead, it was a pass intended for Tyler Conklin that ended up in the hands of Garrett Bradbury. Bradbury snagged the shoestring catch and rumbled down the field for 21 yards; at the time it was the longest play of the night for Minnesota.
Other than the reception, it was a rough night for Garrett Bradbury, but it was also a rough night for just about every Viking. Kris Boyd started in place of Cam Dantzler and found him on the wrong side of many Davante Adams receptions. Justin Jefferson had just six receptions for 58 yards. Dalvin Cook averaged just 1.4 yards per carry.
It even proved to be a rough night for Mond, who played one series while Mannion recovered from cramps in his hand. The rookie threw three passes, one of which should have been intercepted. After the game, Mike Zimmer had a very blunt response when asked whether or not he wanted to see more from Mond next week against Chicago:
Doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting another dose of Mond this season. Speaking of Zimmer, we may not be getting much more of him in Minnesota, either. With the loss, the Vikings (7-9) are officially eliminated from playoff contention for the second year in a row. Before disappearing for the rest of the winter, we will see them play one more time this Sunday against the Chicago Bears.