It was a clean sweep. All of the NFL Network "experts" picked the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Minnesota Vikings. I guess that they didn't expect much from Case Keenum playing quarterback rather than Sam Bradford. None of the "experts" were right. The Vikings handled the Buccaneers somewhat easily 34-17.
I'm not sure why there was such low expectations for the Vikings offense with Keenum leading it. He played well in the preseason with mostly backups. He played fairly well against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week despite not knowing that he was starting until moments before the game. That's always a tough task. He's played well in the past against the Buccaneers. Finally, he plays in a Vikings offense that has several playmakers. Any one of the above should've given an "expert" or two reason to pause. It didn't.
Case Keenum completed 25 of 33 for 369 yards and three touchdowns. He was aggressive all game. I believe that it was play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman that said Keenum was the best quarterback on the field. Brennaman wasn't wrong. Keenum simply outplayed the much more celebrated Jameis Winston. Winston was 28 of 40 for 328 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. He started racking up his yards after his team had fallen behind 28-3 early in the third quarter. In his rallying efforts he also started getting a little generous with the ball. His three interceptions (two were thrown in the end zone) and big plays by the Vikings offense were the difference in the game.
Vikings first half possessions ran like this:
Touchdown-7 plays 75 yards
Punt-6 plays 15 yards
Touchdown-13 plays 76 yards
Punt-5 plays 2 yards
Touchdown-6 plays 92 yards
End of half-1 play
Buccaneers first half possessions
Field goal-8 plays 53 yards
Punt-4 plays 10 yards
Punt 3 plays 5 yards
Interception-5 plays 52 yards
Punt 5 plays 18 yards
21-3 at the half.
The Vikings did just enough in the second half to maintain that margin. 34-17 final.
Vikings playmakers
Dalvin Cook
27 carries 97 yards 1 touchdown (1 yard), long of 26
5 catches 72 yards, long of 36
32 touches 169 yards
Stefon Diggs
8 catches 173 yards 2 touchdowns (17,59), long of 59
Adam Thielen
5 plays 98 yards, long of 45
The Vikings were a challenged offense last year. A lot of passes thrown short of the yard sticks and a lot of hoping for the best. They aren't that sort of offense this year. Even in the loss to the Steelers last week Keenum was looking and throwing down the field. He's an aggressive passer and he's been very accurate. He had a pass of about 50 yards to Diggs early in the game that was dropped. It was a tough catch but the throw was right where only Diggs had a shot at it. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has been aggressive and varied in his play-calling. It's an understatement to say that the change in the Vikings offense has been nice.
An improved offensive line has helped. The starting five have only played together for three games. They've played well and should only get better.
While the Vikings offense will get most of the attention in this game the defense did what it had to do. They had their first three takeaways of the season. They only had two sacks but they had decent pressure on Winston throughout. The defense took away the running game early. The score took it away late. The Bucs only had 26 yards on the ground. But they did have 316 yards passing.
Some team stats
Total Plays
Vikings 70
Buccaneers 51
Total Yards
Vikings 494
Buccaneers 342
Time of Possession
Vikings 37:46
Buccaneers 22:14
The Vikings are 2-1 and host the Detroit Lions, also 2-1, next week.
The Buccaneers are 1-1 and host the winless and desperate New York Giants.
According to the "experts" there were a few surprises yesterday. It's always been a mystery as to why so many experts make definitive declarations so early in the season. "This team is Super Bowl-bound." "This one isn't." We don't really know any of these teams through three weeks. Many have the New York Jets already on the clock with the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. There was even a clown at the USC-Cal game on Saturday with a Sam Darnold Jets jersey. Let the games and the season play. But we gotta have that click-bate nonsense so the "experts' are going to keep spouting.
There were some exciting games yesterday. Many with nail-biting endings.
The wildly inconsistent (through three weeks) Jacksonville Jaguars took apart the Baltimore Ravens in London. 44-7. I'm not a fan of the London games. Those and the Thursday night games are, more often than not, sloppy one-sided affairs. Both games foul up the practices, the preparations, and the routines of the teams involved. Something has to give and it's usually the games. But money has always been more important than the quality of play to the decision-makers of the NFL.
I only have one takeaway from this game mainly since it started at 6:30am on this side of the world. The Jaguars ran a fake punt when they were up 37-0 in the fourth quarter. Who does that? There might be a time later in the season when the Jaguars need something like a fake punt. Now, 31 teams have that particular play on tape. Maybe it's some sort of ploy. They show that one but prefer another. Who knows? It was sort of classless and pointless to me. But I'm in a comfy chair on this side of the world. What do I know?
The fourth quarter magic of the Detroit Lions went poof against the Atlanta Falcons. Down 30-26, it looked like the "game's-never-over" Lions had won the game on a short Golden Tate reception with eight seconds to play. Replay showed that Tate's knee touched the ground before the ball broke the plane of the goal line. League rules call for a ten second runoff in such situations, game over, Falcons win. It was a crazy ending. One team wins and then they don't without a play of any sort in between.
The previously winless New Orleans Saints easily defeated the previously unbeaten Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, 34-13. It would be a stretch to call this an upset seeing as the Panthers had been fairly pedestrian in their two wins and the Saints are always a high-scoring threat with Drew Brees flinging the football and Sean Payton calling plays.
The Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts played a thriller. It looked like the Colts had the game in a breezy sort of way but the Browns scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes to turn it into a close one. 31-28. The Browns had a few seconds to win it at the end but an interception ended those chances and the game.
The New York Jets cruised by the Miami Dolphins 20-6. Sounded like a fun game.
The season should play out a little more before those Darnold jerseys are displayed. There are some contenders for that top draft pick.
The New York Giants had been nearly as unimpressive through two games as the Jets. The Giants still threw a scare into the Philadelphia Eagles. It took a last second 61-yard field goal by Jake Elliott for the Eagles to squeak out a 27-24 win.
The San Diego Chargers didn't have to find a way to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs simply beat them. 24-10.
Chiefs rookie running back Kareem Hunt continued the hot start to his NFL career. 17 carries for 172 yards and a 69-yard touchdown.
The Chiefs were the one team with Super Bowl mentions that played like a team that deserved them.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers engineered another comeback win. No surprise there. Perhaps the only surprise was that he didn't need a Hail Mary heave to do it.
The Cincinnati Bengals haven't been able to get out of their own way to start this season. That changed yesterday. They jumped all over the Packers early in taking a 21-7 lead into halftime. Then Rodgers took over. The Packers tied it up at 24 with 17 seconds to play and won in overtime. 27-24.
The Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots squeaked out a 36-33 win over the Houston Texans.
The Super Bowl-bound Pittsburgh Steelers lost to "top-10 pick of the draft-bound" Chicago Bears in overtime, 23-17. Bears running back Jordan Howard finally got loose. 23 carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns. The second was the game-winner from 19 yards in overtime.
The Super Bowl-bound Denver Broncos lost to the hapless and rebuilding Buffalo Bills 26-16.
The Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks ran out of time against the Tennessee Titans, 33-27. The game didn't really feel that close. The Titans controlled the second half.
Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman had a ridiculous shot to the head/neck of Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota as he was being driven out of bounds by linebacker Bobby Wagner. Sherman was flagged on the play. It was on the Titans sideline and erupted into the expected pushing, shoving, and yelling. That brought more penalty flags on both teams. The result was offsetting penalties and no play. This makes no sense. I think that the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that occurred after the play should've been dealt with separately from the penalty on Sherman that occurred during the play. If this is how this situation is handled what's to stop a team from starting a brawl any time they have a significant penalty called against them?
Sherman had a bit of a meltdown earlier in the game when he was called for three penalties on a single play. He probably should've been thrown out of the game. It was a pretty stupid sequence for a smart person and player.
The Super Bowl-bound Oakland Raiders had their collective butts handed to them by the Washington Redskins. 27-10. And it wasn't that close. The Redskins defense was dominant. Their offense wasn't too bad either.
The "experts" should let all 32 teams play out the season before they start packaging their Super Bowl matchup. If this week proved anything it's that.
***
I try to keep political shit out of the Flea Flicker. It's supposed to be a safe place. Football is fun. Politics aren't. Especially now. But our unhinged president decided to take a clueless, pathetic whack at the game. He brought down one professional football league three decades ago. Maybe he thought that he could bring down another. He won't. Here's a couple of my thoughts on this lawful, peaceful protest thing.
1. When Bud Grant was the head coach, the Vikings practiced standing for the National Anthem. The team actually practiced lining up for it. It was a sight to behold on gameday. In comparison every other team "disrespected" the flag. No one said a thing.
2. Outside of a few extraordinary situations (following 9/11 being the most significant), every single game that I've attended was filled with people that were doing all sorts of things other than "respecting" the flag and the anthem. Throwing back beers, throwing trash talk, throwing punches, sitting, kneeling, roaming, eating, pissing, puking, whatever. The anthem was the least interesting thing in the stadium/arena to so many that were there. The worst behaved of those folk are likely screaming the loudest about the lawful, peaceful protests now. They and their idiot president can shut the hell up. These protests don't have a single thing to do with the flag or a song. If society, as a whole, had listened to and given a damn about those being oppressed there wouldn't be any protests now. We'd be fixing a situation that has been messed up for far too long and maybe many of our fellow citizens might finally feel safe and appreciated in their own country.
Football is fun.
