The Minnesota Vikings continued their fine start to the 2016 NFL season with an efficient, sometimes dominant 24-10 win over the New York Giants. The win kept the Vikings undefeated at 4-0.
This was the Vikings second home game of the season. It was also their second home game in prime time on national television. It's clear that the league wants to show off the Vikings spectacular new stadium. That's great but US Bank Stadium looks it's best during the day. That's when the natural light makes this domed stadium look like an outdoor stadium. Open those giant doors and there's a breeze to boot. Beautiful.
One of the great developments in this game for the Vikings was the frequent appearance of receiver of Cordarrelle Patterson on offense. He's been an offensive no-show since his breakout rookie season. That was 2013. Patterson was in on nearly half of the Vikings offensive snaps. He was targeted five times with three receptions for a modest 10 yards. He also had a rushing attempt for two yards. The 12 yards might not seem like much but his presence in the Vikings offensive plans is huge. Patterson is such an explosive talent that every time he's on the field the defense has to pay careful attention to him. The biggest problem for Patterson in his four years in Minnesota has been his shaky dedication to the nuances of the receiver position. He had always gotten by on his tremendous athletic ability. Just get the ball in his hands and let him go. That doesn't always work in the NFL. A receiver has to be where the quarterback expects him to be when he's expected to be there. Patterson finally seems to get that and it's resulted in an increased involvement in the gameplan. That can only help an offense that hasn't been very explosive despite the 4-0 start.
The Vikings had a rushing presence! One of the reasons that the offense wasn't too explosive in the first three games was the near complete absence of a running game. That's rough for a team that's been one of the league's best at running the football for the past decade. The Vikings came into the Giants ranked 32nd on the ground. The hope for improvement wasn't helped when Adrian Peterson suffered a knee injury in week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Without Peterson the running responsibility fell to the combination of Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata. McKinnon had a solid game against the Giants. 18 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Vikings rushed for 104 yards. A modest but much improved total.
Defense!
Nearly all of the talk about the Vikings nice start to the season has been about their defense. It's been dominant. The pass rush had battered Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton the past two weeks. The Vikings didn't sack Giants quarterback Eli Manning. They barely touched him. The threat of another quarterback battering still impacted the Giants offensive plans as Manning was getting rid of the ball quickly. Sometimes too quickly. He grounded the ball a few times. He checked it down often. The Giants have arguably the best receiving trio in the league in Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz, and rookie Sterling Shepherd. Those three entered the game with over 700 combined receiving yards. Best in the league. The Vikings held them to 103 yards. Beckham's 23 yards was the smallest total of his career. Third-down back Bobby Rainiey was the Giants leading receiver for the game with seven receptions. The Giants offense generated 339 yards of offense. About a fifth of which came on a fourth quarter screen pass to rookie running back Paul Perkins. A 67-yard play that will be painful for the Vikings defenders to watch again. It might have been their only breakdown of the night. It lead to the Giants lone touchdown.
Linebacker Eric Kendricks won't like watching the potential pick-six that he dropped late in the game.
Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr isn't filling the splashy stat sheets that usually get the talking heads talking but he's been outstanding through four games. He's all over the field. In this day of short attention spans and game highlights rather than game-viewing, great players sometimes get lost among single-play players. Barr has been one of the best defensive players in the league.
Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes has only played in half of the Vikings four games due to an injury. He's back. He frustrated Beckham all night. I still think his best games have been those that he played against Julio Jones but he was great against Beckham.
The main Vikings talking-point after the defense has been the steady play of quarterback Sam Bradford. He celebrated his one-month anniversary with the Vikings last night. He played well. 26/36 for 262 yards and a touchdown. He's only played in three games for Minnesota but he's looking real comfortable.
The Vikings are 4-0!
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