Minnesota Vikings vs Buccaneers: Preseason game review

5 of 5

Overall Impressions

Aug 15, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer looks on during the third quarter in a preseason NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings won 26-16. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Overall, it was a solid game by the Minnesota Vikings. The first team offense and defense played well enough against a team that is struggling to find an identity.

The biggest loss is the injury to Phil Loadholt. However, this could be a great opportunity for T.J. Clemmings, Mike Harris, or maybe even another player to step up and win a starting role on the team. The roughest part of this injury is that Loadholt is a road grading right tackle that immediately upgrades a team’s run game. Now, they’ll be forced to try to make things fit again.

Aside from the Loadholt injury that will force him to miss the rest of the season, we saw improvement from a vast majority of the players on the Minnesota Vikings roster. And that’s what we hope to see this time of year: young players stepping and and developing into contributors.

Trae Waynes was last week’s biggest struggler. He looked raw against the Buccaneers, but also made several good plays and kept the penalties down. Fans should be breathing a little easier about his future…but this is the Minnesota Vikings fanbase, so we can expect massive conclusions to be jumped to.

Oakland will be the next team on the Minnesota Vikings radar, with the week 2 preseason game coming up on Saturday, August 22nd. That contest will be billed as Derek Carr vs Teddy Bridgewater. Hopefully, I’ll see you guys back here next week when I review that game.

Next: Minnesota Vikings 2015 Game By Game Previews

More from The Viking Age

Home/Minnesota Vikings News