Vikings Survive Defensive Miscues, Lead Falcons at the Half
By Dan Zinski
Until the offense came alive, the signature moment of the first half for the Vikings was a big defensive miscue.
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Josh Robinson and Captain Munnerlyn seemed to get confused about who was supposed to cover who on this play, allowing Roddy White to get free.
Matt Ryan did not miss the wide open White.
That wasn’t the only defensive breakdown for the Vikings in the first half. The D was plagued by mistakes, especially in third down situations and in the red zone.
Thankfully, the Vikings offense was able to find its rhythm in the first half and cover for the D.
Teddy Bridgewater was on-target with most of his throws, finding Jarius Wright on bubble screens and crossing routes on multiple occasions.
Jerick McKinnon also broke out in the first half, slashing through the middle of the soft Falcons defense for big gains.
Norv Turner pounded the middle of the Falcons D with read-option hand-offs to Matt Asiata.
The Falcons couldn’t get much pass rush going against Teddy Bridgewater either, and Teddy found his rhythm.
The Vikings put up 24 points in the first half with Cordarrelle Patterson doing next to nothing. The Falcons D seems neither physical enough to handle the Vikings’ inside runs nor fast enough to deal with Jarius Wright and Jerick McKinnon.
If you’re both slow and not physical, you have problems. The Vikings have exploited the Falcons thus far. Let’s see if they can keep it up in the second half.