The Minnesota Vikings finally played their first preseason game. It was a loss. 26-20 to the Las Vegas Raiders. With the things that the Vikings didn’t do well it’s a little surprising that the Raiders only won by six.
Third Downs: terrible
Penalties: terrible
Being on the wrong side of both often leads to a loss. If they’d had a turnover, they would’ve had the troublesome trifecta. Fortunately, the Vikings had no turnovers yesterday.
Third Downs
The Vikings converted only one of their seven third downs. The only third down that they converted was their last one. They scored a touchdown. Seven third downs is a sad total. By comparison, the Raiders had 17. The Vikings had so few third-down attempts because they couldn’t convert third downs. If you don’t move the chains, you don’t keep the ball. It’s football made simple. Move the chains. The Vikings couldn’t do it on third down yesterday.
Penalties
The Vikings had eight penalties. The flags started flying on the opening kickoff. A 50-yard return by Ihmir Smith-Marsette was wiped out by a holding call. There were six more penalties in the first half. Andrew Booth Jr. had two on a single play. Both were enforced. Every time the Raiders needed a little help a Vikings penalty supplied it. Factoring in the 50-yard kick return that was erased, the Vikings cost themselves about 115 first half yards. Things got better in the second half. The Vikings were penalized once. It was a stupid penalty. It was a costly, stupid penalty. It was a costly, stupid penalty that gifted the Raiders the ball. The defense forced a three-and-out. They forced a punt. 12 men on the field for the punt gave the Raiders a first down. The defense should’ve been off the field. The offense should’ve had the ball. Instead, a mind-numbing penalty handed the Raiders the ball. That extended possession handed the Raiders a touchdown. The Vikings gifted the Raiders a touchdown in a game decided by six points.
I hate seeing field goals of 20 and 23 yards. Offensively, the Vikings stopped stopping themselves in the second quarter. At the start of the quarter, they drove to the Raiders 1-yard line. Couldn’t score a touchdown. 20-yard field goal. On their next possession, they drove to the Raiders 5-yard line. Couldn’t score a touchdown. 23-yard field goal. The Vikings must score touchdowns when they have these great opportunities to do so. In a game decided by six points, the Vikings left eight potential points on the field.
It was a single-score game so the Vikings had to do some good things. Right? There actually was a few good things.
1) Running backs
Kene Nwangwu and Ty Chandler ran well.
Ty Chandler: 5 carries, 50 yards
Kene Nwangwu: 7 carries, 41 yards
Chandler also had a 56-yard kick return.
The Vikings have a terrific running back group.
2) Receivers
With Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen firmly planted on the sideline, all of the Vikings receivers made plays. They made plays even with Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond throwing to them.
At the start of training camp, I had Jefferson, Thielen, K.J. Osborn, Ihmir Smith-Marsette as roster locks. That’s probably still the case. It’s a wide-open competition for the final roster spots. I initially thought that the Vikings might only keep five receivers. Right now, I want to keep 10. Albert Wilson scored both touchdowns. Myron Mitchell, Trishton Jackson, Jalen Nailor, and Dan Chisena made plays. Olabisi Johnson had no catches but he never really had an opportunity to do so. He had three targets but Mannion couldn’t get the ball to him. The receiver roster decisions are going to be difficult and painful.
3) Defensive rookies Lewis Cine and Brian Asamoah.
I liked what I saw from both. Especially Asamoah. I was very disappointed when each ended their day.
4) Ed Ingram
The rookie guard came in with the second team offensive line. He was dominant. I hope that it’s the last time we see him with the second team.
5) Kellen Mond
He still seems slow in seeing all that’s in front of him. His throw into the end zone after scrambling for about a mile was terrible. It looked like he had two players open. He threw between them. Not even close to either. As the game went on, it felt and looked like he got more comfortable. He looked much more comfortable in the fourth quarter than he did in the second quarter. His two touchdown throws to Wilson were terrific. The first was a dart into a small window. The second showed excellent touch.
For what it’s worth, I have Mond leading Sean Mannion by a wide margin in the race for QB2.
***
Vikings Preseason Game #1 is in the books. The first game of the Kevin O’Connell era is in the books. A 26-20 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Vikings welcome the San Francisco 49ers to Minnesota for a few practices this week. And Preseason Game #2 on Saturday.
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