Considering the past few weeks and all that has gone on; Adrian Peterson’s arrest and deactivation, Matt Cassel out for the year, along with a slew of other player injuries and the starting of rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, it is a surprise to most that the Vikings are 2-3 going into week 6. With the thumping Green Bay inflicted fresh in the memory, let us look at what the Minnesota Vikings need to fix and improve upon to stop the season getting away from them.
3 Things the Minnesota Vikings need to Address to Save the Season
Quarterback Stability
At the start of the season it was hoped that we would not experience the carousel that was witnessed last season when the Vikings went between three starting quarterbacks in as many weeks but once again that has happened. This time it was due to a series of injuries rather than poor performance. Saying that, Christian Ponder should not be allowed take another snap for this team! If Teddy Bridgewater goes down again ANYONE but Ponder should take over the reigns.
What was witnessed last Thursday in Green Bay was beyond reproach from Ponder, completing only 22 of his 44 passes. The two awful interceptions before half-time pretty much sum up how bad he was. When Ponder was demoted from starter, I thought he would be trade bait for a team in need of a back up. I was quite wrong in this regard and he may be out of football all together come January. Teddy Bridgewater was rightly rested on Thursday, his ankle needing an extra day to be game ready and with any luck he should be the starting quarterback for the next decade in Minnesota.
Get Cordarrelle Patterson the Ball
Without a doubt, Patterson is the most dangerous weapon on this team now that Adrian Peterson is on the Commissioner’s exemption list. Patterson has shown that once he has the ball he is only one missed tackle away from getting into the end zone. Outside of his performance in week one, though, he has been largely non-existent. This is in part due to the Peterson effect, without him in the backfield, teams are able to focus more on eliminating Patterson from the game. Patterson has been unable to run some of his jet sweeps as effectively without the run game being as prominent. Patterson has to prove he can be a down field threat, breaking off from defenders on deep routes. The coaching staff has mentioned that he sometimes has to do more to get open.
Line Play Needs to Improve
Both the Vikings offensive and defensive lines need to improve. Neither line has shown much in terms of stability or growth from last season. The loss of Brandon Fusco on the offensive line was a huge blow. He was one of the best players on the team and one of the best in the league at his position. Vlad Ducasse, who is replacing Fusco, has been inconsistent and penalty prone. Matt Kalil has only had one good game this year against Arizona, while the usually stalwart John Sullivan got blown away by a poor Green Bay defensive line. If the Vikings are to keep Bridgewater healthy and provide good running and passing lanes they need to step up and play the way did against Arizona.P
The defensive line hasn’t been much better. While Mike Zimmers system is designed to not put up big sack numbers, it is supposed to stop the run and limit the time a quarterback has to pass the ball. It has been lacking in both these departments. The interior duo of Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph have shown a schism in play and it is showing in game results. When the Vikings are able to stop the run, the team has gone on to win the game, but lose when they are exploited. While the system isn’t designed to get sacks, it should confuse the opposing quarterback and make him hurry passes with the likes of Everson Griffen and Brian Robison being key to this. Neither have stepped up and indeed Robison said the team needs to improve on this and mentally checked out against Green Bay.
While many of you will argue that the run game needs to improve, this is very much linked to the effectiveness of the pass game. The Vikings were a run first team but when they had Adrian Peterson in the backfield, as any team with him would be. Now that he is gone, the Vikings are forced to switch to a running back by committee approach. The passing attack must be better to give these backs more looks without having to face eight men in the box. When the passing game is a threat, it will open up the Vikings ability to run the ball.
With Bridgewater under center this Sunday expect the team to make a determined attempt to bounce back from the trashing against Green Bay. In a season that has already felt like a Stephen King epic, having the horror show continue would be unwelcome.
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