Vikings-49ers Preseason Game #3 Thoughts

Preseason Game #3. "The dress rehearsal." The preseason game most like a real game." The San Francisco 49ers at Minnesota Vikings Preseason Game #3 wasn't anything like that. How could it be seeing as the Vikings didn't game plan for the 49ers? And it showed. The first team offense and defense played the entire first half and they were both in a word, terrible. That was even the word that safety Harrison Smith used to describe his unit. The offense did nothing. The defense stopped nothing. The Vikings were quickly down 14-0. Both units finished the first half better than they started it but it was still 14-0 at the half. Despite the sloppy play it was an entertaining game. A game-ending touchdown and two point conversion gave the Vikings a 32-31 win. That's exciting. That's fun.

The sloppy play from the Vikings starters leaves a lot of frustration but it's not the end of the world. Much of the sloppy early play was surely due to the lack of game planning. I doubt that Xavier Rhodes and Harrison let a receiver run right by them in a real game. I doubt a lot of the confusion, indecision, and hesitation happens in a real game. It has nothing to do with game planning but Stefon Diggs shouldn't drop two passes that hit him in the hands. He might not drop two passes like that the entire season. Pre-snap penalties and penalties in scoring position are still a problem. Those simply have to stop. The backups on offense had little trouble scoring. Case Keenun led three scoring possessions. Taylor Heinicke led the game-winning drive. Jerick McKinnon returned a kickoff 108 yards for a game-turning score.

"Got a lot of work to do." -Mike Zimmer

Despite explaining away some of the issues with the first team offense it would've been nice to see them get some rhythm. This was probably their last chance to do that before the season opener. Some of the inconsistencies can be attributed to the mixing-and-matching on the offensive line. The expected starters have played together so little that it's really a stretch to call them the expected starters. The best that the line has looked has been when the interior was made up of Nick Easton at left guard, Pat Elflein at center, and Joe Berger at right guard. Alex Boone is the expected starter at left guard with Elflein or Easton at center. I think that I'd like to see Easton-Elflein-Berger in the middle on September 11.

Some of the good. 

Second-year receiver Laquon Treadwell was solid in his preseason debut. He started training camp well but an injury put him on the shelf for a while. He had three catches last night for 36 yards and looks like he should be a factor in the offense. A nice change from his very quiet rookie season.

Jerick McKinnon might've grabbed the kick return job with his 108-yard touchdown return. The other contenders hadn't done much so he didn't have to do much. That 108-yard return should be more than enough.

Backup quarterback Case Keenum played well. 10/14 139 yards and two touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a nifty and resourceful sidearm toss to Rodney Adams.

Backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke has had a rough preseason. He injured his ribs last week against the Seattle Seahawks and missed practices this past week. His injury was worrisome enough that the Vikings signed another quarterback last Sunday to take Heinicke's reps in practice. In his lone possession last night he led the offense on a game-ending touchdown drive to pull within a single point and dove for the two-point conversion to win it. It was a gutsy performance that energized the entire team. If Heinicke's job was in a jeopardy it probably isn't anymore.

Rookie receivers Rodney Adams and Stacy Coley made some big plays. Adams caught the nifty sidearm throw from Keenum and made some defenders miss on a nice catch and run for a touchdown. Coley had four catches for 76 yards. He should've gotten out of bounds on one of his big catches. He was the player that the 49ers had to stop at the end of the game and they couldn't.

Undrafted rookie defensive end Tashawn Bower continued his strong preseason. He had no sacks for the first time in three games but he had some pressures and a tackle for loss.

Some of the bad. 

Tackling. Too many missed tackles. The Vikings defense made Raheem Mostert look Canton-bound.

Penalties. The Vikings had seven penalties that cost them 50 yards. Those aren't soul-crushing numbers but the penalties came at soul-crushing times. A pre-snap penalty negated a first down and forced a punt just when it looked like the first team offense was finally starting to get something going. A holding penalty in the second half wrecked a scoring opportunity.

***

The Vikings are now 2-1 in the 2017 preseason. The offensive backups had a terrific showing in preseason game #3. Despite that, this wasn't a promising performance. In fact, neither of the two wins have left the team feeling good about themselves. The only game that felt better than ok was the loss to the Seattle Seahawks. That's often the nature of preseason games. Losses sometimes feel better than losses.

If you can get past the sloppy play, especially from the starters, and look at this Vikings-49ers preseason game as simply a game this was actually a fun, entertaining football game with an exciting finish. That isn't bad for a game played in August.