Vikes at Steelers Preview: Hey, Sam, Do That Again!

It is my stated purpose to write a preview for the Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers game on Sunday afternoon, but frankly, I am still caught up in the game that just transpired at U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday. So, please permit just one quick look back before I begin to breakdown the next game because things change quickly in the NFL, and you best enjoy things while you can.

I won’t rehash the great night of Dalvin Cook or Stefon Diggs or Adam Thielen or the Vikings defense, but I do have to point out one play which now that I see it on tape (I originally saw it live from the stadium), I simply can’t believe it.

On the Vikings first touchdown scoring drive, quarterback Sam Bradford somehow saw an opening and then had the guts and skill to slide the ball into the narrowest of windows to Jarius Wright to set up Diggs’ first touchdown. Seeing it live, I remarked to those next to me that it was quite the tight window he threw it into. But when I saw the game playback later Monday night at home, I was aghast at the decision, and then blown away by the execution.

Viewed from behind Bradford, Wright was doubled covered and not open when Sammy slung it. In fact, the defender underneath blocked the camera’s view of Wright like he were the moon eclipsing the sun. I understand that the camera view is different than Bradford’s and I will submit that he must have seen something different than the camera (and all us viewers) saw, but how the heck did he do that? Let’s just say, I’m glad he did. It was as great a play as I have seen from a Vikings quarterback in some time.

Well, that’s all to say the Vikings will need that kind of vision, guts and execution in order to head into Pittsburgh and steal one from the Steelers on Sunday. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (oftentimes a burglar behind center in his own right) will be opening Heinz Field for the season after a less-than-stellar performance against the Browns on the road last weekend, and the team will be looking to prove their mettle to the home fans.

It won’t be like playing against the rebuilding Saints. Bradford played the game of his career against New Orleans on Monday night, but we must temper the excitement over that performance (clearly, I failed at that above), as it came against a very young and inexperienced defense. Not to take anything away from the Vikings—they did what they were supposed to by soundly beating an inferior team—but I am not ready for the “unstoppable” description of them that has been thrown around. Let the Vikings climb in the power rankings, for sure, they’ve earned that. But let’s not “crown their a–“ just yet until they show that they can sustain it.

The opportunity to do so occurs on Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Steelers, a team that many were crowning before the season in the AFC (with Big Ben still at quarterback, they are always in the conversation), struggled a bit in Cleveland last Sunday. Roethlisberger had a decent game, and certainly Antonio Brown, once he got going, was the catalyst for the win (11 catches for 182 yards). But the other two members of “the big four”—Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant—contributed far less.

Perhaps, their performances (Bell—10 carries for 32 yards; Bryant—two receptions for 14 yards) could be chalked up to missed time. Bryant missed all of 2016 due to suspension, and Bell held out during the preseason until finally signing his contract just nine days before the first game. Rust was clearly showing for both players, but the Vikings should not expect it to linger at home this weekend.

The Vikings will look to clamp down on Roethlisberger’s favorite receiver, Brown, likely putting Xavier Rhodes in his back pocket for much of the afternoon. But as Luke Braun pointed out in the Purple Journal Podcast, the matchup to be most concerned about could be Bryant locking horns with the Vikings’ newly-installed starting cornerback Trae Waynes. Waynes should see a lot of Bryant, and after his performance last week that might give some observers a few concerns. I am not one of them. And neither is head coach Mike Zimmer.

“I thought he played well,” Zimmer said. “He obviously got beat on the double move. He tackled well. I think he had one stop fade or hitch that he got converted on him on third down. But other than that, I think he did his job.”

In my estimation, Waynes was coming off a preseason shoulder injury after becoming the regular starter for the first time in his career, and he answered the bell on Monday. His challenge doesn’t get any easier this week, but at this point he is only going to get better by playing. So, get ready for it. We’ll learn much about him and what we might be able to expect from him going forward this week.

That is basically my feeling about the entire Vikings team—this week will say a lot more about them long term than the first week does. If the offensive line can protect Bradford like it did against the Saints, that will say plenty about the near future of this team. The Steelers defense, which was ranked 12th in yards allowed and 10th in points given up in 2016, moved up to 8th and 12th in those respective categories—albeit after just one game.

Speaking of just one game—that isn’t a lot of tape for either team to look over before this contest, but since Zimmer was the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator for a number of years, he is familiar with Big Ben and many of the Steelers’ tendencies. But, of course, that familiarity cuts both ways.

“Whether he’s a play caller or not I know he’s been a play caller in the past, maybe not now, but when I look at their tape I think about [the] Cincinnati Bengals when he was there,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters about Zimmer this week. “Three-four outfit, that group upfront provides the wave or disruption that the rest of the group rides. They have outstanding defensive end play, much like he had in Cincinnati; that’s a formable group. We’ll have our hands full there. Not only in the passing game but the running game. They have quality people in the back end, coverage corners and safeties.”

Regardless, in order for the Vikings to win, they’ll need another performance from Bradford like the one that was discussed above. Running back Dalvin Cook will need to find some holes in the Steel Curtain and take some pressure off the passing game. And the receivers will have to make catches under more duress than they faced against New Orleans.

The Vikings defense only sacked Saints quarterback Drew Brees once on Monday, and that number needs to go up against the Steelers. And it should—Roethlisberger likes to hold the ball a bit longer than Brees does, but he is tougher to bring down. An old “meet me at the quarterback” mentality is required to wrestled Big Ben to the ground.

Nothing less than another full-team effort is required in Pittsburgh in order to come away with a win. If the Vikings do so, we can all start looking at this team a little bit differently than we were during the preseason. In the preseason, the popular refrain heard was “woe is me” due to a lack of scoring on offense. After the opening game it suddenly became, “19-0.” I am afraid it is more realistically somewhere in between. And on Sunday, we’ll learn more where on that scale our expectations should lie.

Minnesota—20, Pittsburgh—17

 

 

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