By Jason Wisniewski
The Minnesota Vikings put another victory in the win column for the 2019 Preseason as they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 25-19. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights and how the Vikings performed overall as they evaluate their roster heading into the final 2 preseason games.
1.) Vikings 1st team offense
The Vikings starting offense played tonight without starting RT Brian O’Neill and starting RB Dalvin Cook but still moved the ball pretty effectively. While there weren’t gaping holes to run through the Vikings stayed true to the run which opened up play action and the deep passing game to get the Vikings some big plays through the air. QB Kirk Cousins was able to hit WR Adam Thielen on another long pass play and followed that up with another long pass play to Thielen that drew a pass interference call and got the ball in the Red zone. The Vikings were able to get a Dan Bailey FG out of that and take an early 3-0 lead. The starters only played 2 series on the night before being pulled. On the night Cousins finished the game 6 of 8 passing for 68 yards. Here’s a look at the 1st team’s offense best moment. The long pass play from Cousins to Thielen:
All in all I thought the unit looked pretty good. I would have liked to see more play action passing on 1st downs but it is preseason and I am sure there are specific things they are trying to do in these games. Overall though it was a solid outing which is a good thing and they can build on that going into next week.
2.) Vikings Special Teams
The Vikings rotated kicking & punting specialists throughout the night. Dan Bailey kicked FGs and Extra points and made his kicks. Kaare Vedvik was the punter for most of the game and did a solid job. Vedvik also hit his lone extra point attempt of the night. Matt Wile got one punt in late in the game. All 3 did their jobs well tonight.
The special teams coverage units could use some work as they were allowing the Seahawks return teams to get good field position. They did not however allow a TD which was good but the Vikings would probably like to get a bit stingier on kick coverage teams.
Jeff Badet & Olsabisi Johnson split up the work on Kick & Punt return teams and both of them looked decent out there. Johnson did a nice job of holding onto the ball after getting rocked on one play.
3.) Vikings 1st team defense
The 1st team defense played 2 series and allowed 3 points to Russell Wilson and company. It is worth noting that they were still without both starting DTs in Linval Joseph & Shemar Stephen. Once those guys are in the lineup the run defense should improve. In case you forgot, Harrison Smith is the best Safety in the NFL. He just reminded us of why tonight with some outstanding plays.
4.) Rookie TE Irv Smith JR got his 1st NFL TD and had a nice performance tonight.
Smith JR had a really nice game tonight especially in the passing game and scored his 1st career NFL TD. He looked very good running routes and cleanly catching the ball tonight and that should be good for his confidence moving forward. Here’s Irv’s 1st career touchdown catch:
5.) Vikings have good depth at RB/FB
Alexander Mattison showed his power tonight and Mike Boone showed off his speed and the Vikings have a really nice group behind Dalvin Cook. Mattison finished with 41 yards rushing on 10 carries and had 1 catch for 4 yards. Here’s a look at Mattison breaking free for a 1st down:
Mike Boone would rush for 66 yards on 21 carries and also added 1 catch that went for 45 yards. FBs CJ Ham and Khari Blasingame (who scored a rushing TD) continued to show their toughness and versatility as runners, blockers and pass receivers.
6.) Vikings backups in secondary improve
The Vikings depth players in the secondary looked better this week. It was especially nice to see Bene’ Benwikere look a lot more comfortable out there tonight as the Vikings will need the CB depth with Holton Hill suspended for 8 games and Mike Hughes status unknown in terms of how quickly he will be able to return to the lineup.
7.) Vikings backup QB Battle continues
Backup QB Sean Mannion got off to a rough start after throwing a pick 6 but was able to bounce back right before halftime leading a TD drive that he capped with a TD pass to Irv Smith JR to make the score 10-10. Overall Mannion was 11 of 14 passing for 88 yards with 1 TD and 1 interception. Kyle Sloter came into the game in the 3rd quarter and played the entire 2nd half. He looked good and led the Vikings to the win. Sloter finished the night 11 of 13 passing for 116 yards with 1 TD and no turnovers. He also added 2 rushes for 6 yards.
8.) Vikings WR battle continues
Brandon Zylstra scored a TD and generally had a very good night. He finished with 5 catches for 37 yards. Here is a look at the Zylstra TD from Kyle Sloter:
Laquon Treadwell also got plenty of action and played well too finishing with 4 catches for 47 yards.
That does it for the Post game Re-Cap. What did you think of tonight’s game & the Vikings performance? Let me know in the comments section. We’ll have Pre-game analysis of the next Vikings preseason game against the Cardinals next week.
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