Vikings at Titans Preseason Game Wrap–Bring on the Regular Season

The Vikings travelled to Nashville for the fourth and final preseason game of the 2018 campaign and they came away with a mostly uneventful 13-3 win. The game, per usual, wasn’t a very scintillating performance, even though the players were battling for jobs.

Now, it’s on to the regular season, which begins on September 9th at U.S. Bank Stadium when the Viking swill host the San Francisco 49ers. With the desire of everyone to move on to that game, we will quickly go through the highlights and lowlights of this final preseason tilt and move on to the games that count.

Tashawn Bower and Stephen Weatherly were shining early. Each had four tackles in the first half and Weatherly’s included a sack. The Vikings have some tough decisions to make at defensive line with a number of these players

Safety Anthony Harris was pretty active in the defensive backfield and even blitzing into the line. He may be on the bubble, but the Vikings need to find room for him both as a safety and special teams player. George Iloka just made his job security more precarious.

Place kicker Daniel Carlson came into the game with more pressure on him than many in the purple-colored pants, but he banged his first two kicks right down the heart of the uprights. He also made his one extra point

Quarterback Trevor Siemian was 6 of 11 passing for 55 yards and 68.4 quarterback rating. I was looking for him to show me something that makes me feel comfortable about backing up Kirk Cousins, but there wasn’t a lot there for me. He is a seasoned vet, right, and doesn’t crank it up until the regular season. Right? I am hoping. I am not energized yet.

Quarterback Kyle Sloter, who came in the second half did have some energy. He moved the offense down the field on a decent drive that fizzled and resulted in a quick field goal. (And I know he was playing against three stringers.) In the end, Sloter was 11 of 15 for 130 yards (and a 121.5 rating), and his touchdown pass to Brandon Zylstra following a roughing the passer penalty called against the Titans on the previous play was gutty (and occurred for the second week in a row). There calls for him to the be backup will continue. The problem will be for the Vikings to try to sneak him by on the practice squad.

Newly minted Vikings offensive lineman Brett Jones started the first half at left guard (and Danny Isidora started at center) and then he moved over to center to start the second half. As general manager said in the booth in the second half, the Vikings are looking for a lot of versatility in their offensive line because the team only dresses seven on game day, so they need a lot of position flexibility. New Vikings Jones looked good in both positions and will be nice to have around even when Pat Elflein returns.

Mike Boone solidified his spot as third-string running back. He kept running hard as he has all preseason and isn’t really giving anyone else (Roc Thomas made a nice catch and run but left the game with an injury) an opening to take it away.

Some more quick roster speculation: Brandon Zylstra, yes; Jake Wieneke, no; Chad Beebe to the practice squad with a shot at making the 53 to return punts until Marcus Sherels returns; Kendall Wright (since he didn’t play) yes; Holton Hill, I am not sure yet. It should be an interesting week.

Finally, we hate to hear that Fred Zamberletti was watching the game in the hospital during the game tonight. Great guy, a legend in the organization and always willing to offer a smile and quote for a budding reporter. Thanks for everything. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Fred.

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