The Vikings didn’t dress their top 30 players. None of the expected offensive or defensive starters played. That’s still no reason for the team to play like they did. Offense, defense, special teams. All of it was pretty bad.
Stupid penalties
-The Vikings opened the Broncos scoring when Dakota Dozier was called for holding in the end zone.
-On at least three occasions procedural penalties gifted the Broncos first downs.
-Holding and personal foul penalties put an already struggling offense well behind the chains on a couple of occasions.
Too damn many missed tackles
-It was often the third or fourth defender that finally brought Broncos runners down.
Receivers running free
-There were many yards of separation between receiver and defender on the Broncos first two touchdowns.
Jake Browning telegraphed a pick-6 to rookie Patrick Surtain II
-The Broncos defense might as well have known the play at the snap with the jump that Surtain had on the throw. There was nearly 12 minutes left in the second quarter and the game was essentially over at 23-3.
With all of the starters and most of the veterans sitting out the game, those that played looked a little dazed by the NFL stage from start to finish. Maybe they were stunned by the presence of fans. Who knows? The Vikings players on the field didn’t look like a team ready to play an actual football game.
Any positives? Not many.
Rookie running back A.J. Rose filled the stat sheet. He was the only offensive player to fill the stat sheet. He showed some nice balance as he tip-toed his way to 100 yards on 25 carries. His one catch for 18 yards also paced the team in receiving yardage.
One of the players I most looked forward to seeing was rookie running back Kene Nwangwu. He was injured early in the game (opening kickoff?) and didn’t return. That gave Rose the opportunity for extra work. I believe that I saw Nwangwu standing on the sideline later in the game. I hope that his not returning was more precautionary than a serious injury.
Rookie quarterback Kellen Mond played over half the game. His stats weren’t great. 6/16 for 53 yards. Five carries for 25 yards. Despite being present for only three practices due to COVID-stupidity, he didn’t look overwhelmed. He should’ve had a touchdown on a pass that Whop Philyor couldn’t keep. Mond didn’t make any glaring mistakes. The offense moved the ball when he was leading it. His best play might’ve been the incomplete pass that he threw seconds before the end of the half. With six seconds on the clock at the Broncos six-yard line, the Vikings kept the offense on the field rather than kick a field goal. It’d be easy for a young quarterback, especially a young quarterback with only three training camp practices, to get caught up in the chaos of NFL action and not be mindful of the ticking clock. He got rid of the ball without forcing something or letting the clock tick to zero. The Vikings got their field goal. That made it 26-6 rather than 26-3. Actually, the best thing that Mond did was not make mistakes by forcing something that wasn’t there. In a game that never went well for the Vikings, a rookie quarterback didn’t make things worse. Mond was one of the few players that didn’t make things worse.
Kris Boyd had a nice pass defense against Jerry Jeudy on fourth-and-goal. That was on the Broncos first drive and was probably the Vikings lone defensive highlight until late in the game.
It was at the end of the game against the Broncos reserves but I liked what I saw of rookie defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Janarius Robinson. Each registered identical stats of three tackles and a tackle for loss. Jones seemed to play all of his snaps in the Broncos backfield. If he isn’t already, I hope that this game puts Jones in the rotation with Stephen Weatherly and D.J. Wonnum for snaps opposite Danielle Hunter.
In my opinion, Jones edged Rose for player of the game. There weren’t many contenders.
The game wasn’t great but it was great to see the Minnesota Vikings back in US Bank Stadium. With fans.
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