The Minnesota Vikings opened up their preseason against the Denver Broncos. It is important not to overreact to a preseason game, but there are still lessons to learn from them. Here are the biggest takeaways from the Minnesota Vikings preseason opener.
Quarterback Play
Kirk Cousins looked sharp in his first action as a Viking. He completed all four of his passes for 42 total yards, including a touchdown to Stefon Diggs. He only played one series and checked out for Minnesota. Trevor Siemian stepped in for Cousins for the rest of the first half. While the box score for Siemian looked decent, he did not play quite as well as he needed to. He finished 11-for-17 for 165 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. The bulk of his yards came on a 78-yard screen pass that rookie running back Roc Thomas took to the house. Siemian hit Thomas for another touchdown earlier in the game that was thrown behind Thomas, but the running back adjusted nicely and made the play. Siemian’s interception was a throw on the run that was also behind his targeted receiver and was deflected up in the air. Siemian made a lot of small errors that the box score does not show.
Siemian to Roc Thomas for a touchdown. Crisp start for the Vikings on offense pic.twitter.com/1MAATmIYhZ
— Josh Mensch 👿 (@JoshMenschNFL) August 12, 2018
Second-year quarterback Kyle Sloter was the third and final quarterback to play for Minnesota on Saturday. He finished 9-for-11 with 69 yards and a touchdown. He also added a touchdown on the ground. Sloter made plenty of good throws on the night and earned the right to be the primary backup next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. That backup spot is still up for grabs, but Sloter has the leg up at the moment.
Kyle Sloter was so impressive. My favorite play of his here. He notices the Cov. 0 blitz and checks to a "smash" concept (hitch/slant and corner route combo). Fades in his drop-back and lobs it up to the corner route just in time to defeat the blitz.
Great awareness by him. pic.twitter.com/ATmhAU7GdI
— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) August 12, 2018
Hand it off? @KyleSloter's like nah.
He'll just take this @Vikings touchdown in himself.
📺: @nflnetwork #MINvsDEN https://t.co/tAlnp2W8nT
— NFL (@NFL) August 12, 2018
Roc Thomas Stole the Show
Undrafted rookie running back Roc Thomas broke onto the scene in his NFL debut. He caught three passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball eight times for 29 yards. As mentioned earlier, he took a Trevor Siemian screen 78 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Roc Thomas is FAST.https://t.co/FIDtGRKva6
— LeadingNFL (@LeadingNFL) August 12, 2018
With the Vikings looking for their third running back, Roc Thomas made it a point to show his talents. He made the absolute most of his opportunity as he made several defenders miss tackles throughout the night. Dalvin Cook did not play in this game and Thomas was given a larger role in his absence. Thomas will be worth keeping an eye on throughout the rest of the preseason. He will be battling Mack Brown and Mike Boone for a roster spot as things start to heat up. Brown carried the ball 11 times for 34 yards and caught one pass for no gain on Saturday. Mike Boone was handed the ball 12 times for 22 yards and caught three passes for 21 yards.
Daniel Carlson vs Kai Forbath
Rookie kicker Daniel Carlson pulled away from veteran Kai Forbath in the kicking battle. He was called upon for all the scoring opportunities. He connected on all four of his extra point attempts, as well as both of his field goals. The rookie booted a 57-yard bomb that was right down the middle. Even though the high altitude is a factor in the kicking game, Carlson proved he has all the talent necessary to win the kicking job. Forbath handled the kickoff duties for the Vikings, but Carlson getting all of the field goal chances is important to note. The Vikings spent a fifth-round pick on Carlson, so he will be given every opportunity to make the roster. At Auburn, Carlson hit all 198 of his extra point attempts and had a career 80.7 percent field goal percentage. However, he only hit 61.9 percent of his field goal attempts beyond 50 yards. His career long was 56 yards in 2015.
The Reserve Defense Struggled
The Vikings defensive reserves made their fair share of mistakes, especially in the secondary. Second-year defensive back Jack Tocho got beat easily for a touchdown in the second quarter, and he missed a tackle on a Royce Freeman run that resulted in a touchdown. He made a couple of really nice plays, including an interception and a couple pass deflections. Other than that, Tocho looked rough in the secondary.
The positives for Jack Tocho last night: helped create this Anthony Harris interception, had one of his own at the end of the game
The negatives for Jack Tocho last night: Just about everything else pic.twitter.com/bSRotLHBVs
— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) August 12, 2018
There was a lot of hype surrounding undrafted rookie corner Holton Hill, but he was far from impressive. He was decent in coverage throughout the night, but he missed a lot of tackles. The Broncos returned a punt for a touchdown in the first half thanks in large part to a whiff by Hill in the open field. Hill took a poor angle and missed the return man in space. The defense also came up short on a third-and-five in the fourth quarter. Denver was trailing by six and was on the verge of field goal range. Chad Kelly found a hole and took off for a long run that kept the drive alive and eventually led to a touchdown to give the Broncos the lead. With a loaded defense, the reserves will have to do more to crack the roster. There is too much talent in place to play poorly and still have a chance, so look for them to clean things up in week two.
Leaving Healthy
The best result of the opening week is that the Vikings walked out of Denver with no injuries. The NFL has already had plenty of talented players go down with significant injuries, so every healthy week is important. The preseason is really only important for newcomers and fringe roster players, so losing a starter would be devastating. Of course, the goal is to be healthy no matter what, but that is especially true in the preseason.
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