In their first preseason game of the 2019 NFL Season, the Minnesota Vikings visited the Superdome and defeated the New Orleans Saints 34-25. The Vikings have played well in the preseason in the five seasons that Mike Zimmer has been coaching the team. So a preseason win in his sixth season is just more of the same. But, it's the Saints and they are one of the best, most talented teams in the league. It's also the preseason. If a team plays well in a preseason game too much is made of it. If a team plays poorly in a preseason game too much is made of it. No matter how this defeat of the Saints is dissected, there were a lot of positives. Especially on offense.
The Vikings possessed the ball nine times:
1. 8 plays, 76 yards-Touchdown
2. 3 plays, 5 yards-Punt
3. 7 plays, 76 yards-Touchdown
4. 7 plays, 48 yards-Fumble
5. 6 plays, 35 yards-End of Half
6. 6 plays, 72 yards-Touchdown
7. 5 plays, 20 yards-Punt
8. 4 plays, 75 yards-Touchdown
9. 8 plays, 24 yards-End of Game
-the offense scored on four drives of more than 70 yards
-three of the four quarterbacks threw a touchdown pass
-all four quarterbacks directed a touchdown drive
Despite nice drives and efficient possessions throughout the game, all of the attention was on the first possession. How will quarterback Kirk Cousins look in this new Kevin Stefanski-called, Gary Kubiak-influenced offense? Cousins threw four passes (a fifth was negated by penalty) and the football never touched the ground. His arm accounted for 65 yards. His feet accounted for 10.
First offensive drive:
9 plays
8 plays under center
1 play in shotgun
5 passes (3 play-action)
4 runs (1 scramble)
2 penalties (1 Min, 1 NO)
The Stefanski/Kubiak offense utilized multiple tight ends and a fullback throughout the game. It was an efficient and at times explosive offense.
460 total yards
8.5 yards/play
247 yards passing
213 yards rushing
7.9 yards/rush
5/7 3rd down
27:27 Run:Pass
The tight end presence was striking to see and last night's numbers are revealing.
Tight ends:
Tyler Conklin: 2-56
Kyle Rudolph: 2-30
Irv Smith Jr.: 3-21
Cole Hikutini: 1-12
Brandon Dillon: 1-4
-of the 19 completions thrown by Vikings quarterbacks nine went to a tight end.
-Tyler Conklin, Irv Smith Jr., and even Kyle Rudolph showed some run-after-the-catch ability
-there were a few interesting tight end screens
-despite having receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen the tight ends might become the most intriguing part of the Vikings passing game
I went into this game most excited to see the new outside-zone running scheme. I came away excited by what I saw in the passing game and it's mostly due to the talents and potential of this tight end group.
And there's still a couple receivers named Diggs and Thielen. No matter how fun the tight ends might become Diggs, Thielen, and running back Dalvin Cook are the players that will have defenses on their heels.
I can't wait to see Cook play in this new offense. He was held out of Saints game. But the running backs that did play had some fun.
The running game:
Mike Boone: 4-70 (64 yd TD)
Ameer Abdullah: 4-63 (42 yd run)
De'Angelo Henderson: 7-42
Alexander Mattison: 9-30 (1 yd receiving TD)
Kirk Cousins: 1-10
-about half of the 213 total rushing yards came on the big runs by Abdullah and Boone
-Mattison might not have had the eye-popping stats of the other backs but he was impressive against better Saints defenders
-nearly all of Henderson's yards were of the run out the clock variety in the fourth quarter
Except for the pick-6 by undrafted rookie corner Nate Meadors, there hasn't been much talk about the Vikings defense from this game. That's as much due to the attention that NFL offenses always get as the modest game that the defense played. The best thing that the defense did was holding the Saints to field goals on three excellent scoring opportunities. The Vikings starting defenders only played the first series. On that first drive, it felt like the Saints ran a dozen plays from inside the 10-yard line. The defense withstood that barrage and forced a short field goal. It was definitely a bend but not break defense for the Vikings in the first preseason game.
Some players that impressed:
Olabisi Johnson, WR
The seventh-round rookie is starting to emerge. He's been stringing together nice practices in training and he impressed last night. He only had two catches for 35 yards but one of those came on a nicely run route that resulted in a contested 18-yard touchdown reception. Chad Beebe has been the favorite for the third-receiver role but Johnson keeping that competition alive.
Alexander Mattison, RB
His stats weren't eye-popping but his running was eye-opening. He's a tough runner with some burst. I'm really liking the potential of the 1-2 running back combo of Cook and Mattison.
The other backs
Ameer Abdullah, Mike Boone, and DeAngelo Henderson all played well. After Abdullah ripped off the 42-yard run it seemed that the competition for the third running back was closing. A few plays later he dropped the ball on the turf without a defender touching him. Boone showed terrific potential last preseason. He showed the same last night. Henderson looked good in sealing the game. The third running back job likely comes down to special teams. If Abdullah runs away with the return job he's the third back. If not, it's wide open.
The tight ends
I'm really looking forward to seeing how Stefanski/Kubiak use this talented group. I think that they keep four and right now these are the four.
Kyle Rudolph
Irv Smith Jr.
Tyler Conklin
David Morgan
But Cole Hikutini and Brandon Dillon are making this a tough decision. So tough that keeping five wouldn't be a surprise.
Oli Udoh, OT
The sixth-round rookie out of itty bitty Elon is a raw, intriguing talent. He sure looks the part of an NFL tackle. He mauled defenders. It was late in the game so he was probably mauling players that won't make the Saints roster. Still, I think that his potential is such that he might not make it to the practice squad. That's really where he should be this season but I'm starting to think that he'll have to be on the 53-man roster if the Vikings hope to keep him.
Ifeadi Odenigbo, DE
He always seemed to be around the ball and he always seemed to be wrecking the intentions of the Saints offense.
Hercules Mata'afa, DT
He sure looks like an immediate, situational, interior pass rusher. As with Udoh, I really think that the Vikings will have to find a spot for him on the 53-man roster if they hope to keep him in Minnesota.
Nate Meadors, CB
His pick-6 was more opportunistic than forced but it has to bring some attention to a undrafted rookie corner. Especially when depth at corner is a concern due to Mike Hughes' rehab from a knee injury and Holton Hill's suspension.
Khari Blasingame, FB
When he was signed as an undrafted free agent in April I simply assumed that he was going to provide token competition for C.J. Ham. After seeing him play last night I think that the competition he's providing is much more than token. He showed terrific speed while escorting Mike Boone down the sideline on the 64-yard touchdown run.
Some struggles:
Irv Smith Jr., TE
I have some reservations with listing Smith as a player that struggled. He flashed some of the talent that has everyone excited. He also looked a bit lost at times. He only caught three of the seven passes thrown to him. He had a holding penalty that hurt a prime scoring opportunity. Abdullah fumbled a couple plays later. His own 21-yard catch and run was negated when he was penalized for lining up illegally. That really shouldn't count against him seeing as it was actually Brandon Zylstra that lined up illegally. Not only that, Laquon Treadwell was called for an illegeal block on the play. Despite the fact that the play technically never happened, Smith looked terrific on that 21-yard catch and run. I have no doubt that his head will soon catch up with his talent and he'll become an important part of the offense. His first (preseason) NFL action was a little shaky.
Ameer Abdullah, RB
That fumble. He wasn't even touched. He just dropped it. Coaches lose their mind if a player is blasted and he very reluctantly coughs up the football. Abdullah had just ripped off a beautiful 42-yard run. In a sequence of only a few plays he showed why the Detroit Lions selected him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft and released him last season.
Special teams
Marwan Maalouf was hired in the offseason to replace Mike Priefer as the special teams coordinator. Priefer had run the Vikings special teams for a long time. I figured that it would take it a little while for the players to adapt to a new coach. There's also a lot of mixing and matching of players at this stage of training camp and the preseason. It'll take a while for all the newness to settle. It was still tough to watch the Saints gain 174 yards on six kick returns. It felt like all six were real close to being much longer. In a game that counts perhaps the Vikings try to get some, if not all, of the kicks into the end zone. After all, a team learns nothing about their special teams with a touchback. And last night the Vikings learned that the kick coverage units have a ways to go. At least kicker Dan Bailey made all four of his extra point attempts.
Penalties
The Vikings were called for 13 penalties for 136 yards. Some of those penalties were of the phantom variety but that's not a Vikings-like number. That has to change.
NFL Preseason 2019 is finally here and the Vikings kicked it off in overall fine fashion. As NFL analyst and
Move the Sticks podcast host Daniel Jeremiah says, "It's all a lie." The preseason is lie. It's never as great as it seems. It's never as bad as it seems. The 2008 Detroit Lions team that went 0-16 thrilled their fans with a 4-0 preseason. One thing that I really don't think is a lie about this win over the Saints is that the Vikings offense will be fun to watch.
