The Minnesota Vikings struggled on their first road game of 2017 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but what grades did each unit earn in Week 2?
The Minnesota Vikings entered Week 2 with a lot of emotions. The Vikings were coming off a dominating performance against the Saints last Monday night. They also were dealing with questions about their starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, who was eventually ruled inactive about two hours before Sunday’s opening kickoff.
Without the NFC Player Of The Week playing, the whole Vikings team struggled against a good Steelers team. The Vikings lost 26-9 in a game where they hurt themselves more than Steelers outplayed them.
The biggest storyline of Week 2 were the mental mistakes made in every phase of the game. The offense had penalties that killed momentum on drives. The defense had penalties on key third and fourth down plays that would have got them off the field. As for the Vikings’ special teams, they also committed a penalty that was questionable.
It was a disappointing performance after such a strong Week 1 game, but expect the Vikings to clean up their mistakes for next week. Mike Zimmer is a man who hates having metal mistakes. Expect the Vikings’ practice to be a lot about the fundamentals all week as they prepare for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.
But let’s dive into the game grades of the Vikings’ loss yesterday afternoon against the Steelers.
Vikings’ offensive grade: D+
The Vikings’ offense took a hit when Bradford didn’t start and had to go to backup quarterback, Case Keenum. Keenum was pressured throughout the game as the Steelers’ pass-rush was too much for the offensive line. The Steelers stacked the box and blitzed often, causing havoc for the line and Keenum.
The offensive line struggled against the speed of the Steelers’ defense. The line was called for several holding penalties that killed a couple of drives.
Dalvin Cook was the lead back again for the Vikings as he had 12 carries for 64 yards. The rookie struggled early on in the game as the Steelers crowded the line of scrimmage. The line was not getting any push and the passing game was not opening the run game up.
However, in the second half, Cook started to find room and had a nice 25-yard run that would set up the only touchdown for the Vikings by fullback C.J. Ham. The original call on the field after Cook’s big run was a touchdown, which would have been his first in the NFL, but it was overturned. The review showed that Cook’s knee was down before the ball crossed the goal line.
The passing game for the Vikings was out of sync for most of the game. Wide reciever Stefon Diggs was held in check with only two catches for 27 yards. Tight end Kyle Rudolph led the way with four catches for 45 yards.
The Steelers’ pressure caused Keenum to rush his throws or to check down for short passes. The passing game looked a lot like last year’s when the offensive line could not give time for the quarterback to throw.
Also, Keenum had some passes that were dropped or there was a penalty called that erased the pass play. Cook dropped a screen pass early in the game that had a chance to be a first down and possibly more as the blockers were set up nicely.
Rudolph had a chance to haul in a third down pass but got hit by a Steelers safety that forced the ball out. Early in the second half Diggs hauled in another catch along the sidelines that the refs called pass interference against him, forcing the Vikings back.
But there were some positives in the passing game. Keenum delivered a huge third down completion to Rudolph, who tipped the ball with one hand before securing it in with two hands for a first down. Diggs also made a nice grab along the sidelines that set up the Vikings field goal in the first half.
Overall, it was a long day for the Vikings’ offense as they kept shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and dropped passes. The offense will look rebound next week and hope that Bradford returns.
Vikings’ defensive grade: C-
The Vikings defense had a challenge trying to stop one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. Minnesota corner Xavier Rhodes had the biggest challenge of the day trying to slow down the Steelers’ Antonio Brown, who is the best wide receiver in the league.
Rhodes stepped up to the occasion and really took Brown out of the passing game for most of the day. Rhodes didn’t let Brown get behind him or hurt him after the catch. Rhodes was the bright spot in the Vikings secondary.
As for the other guys in the secondary, it was a different story. Terence Newman‘s age showed up when he got burned by Martavis Bryant on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Bryant would also expose another cornerback of the Vikings named Trae Waynes. Waynes allowed Bryant to get behind him on what was a free play because the Vikings jumped offsides. That play resulted in 51-yard completion.
The defensive line did not create a lot of pressure on Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. They only got to him twice. Roethlisberger was comfortable in the pocket and was able to survey the defense has he threw for two touchdowns and 243 yards.
However, the front seven did a good job of keeping Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell in check, as he finished with 87 rushing yards. The Vikings only allowed him to rush 3.2 yards a carry. And they didn’t allow the big home-run carry, as his longest gain was only for 11 yards.
Overall, the Vikings’ defense held an explosive offense in check and played solid, but the penalties were too much and caused them to give up some points. Minnesota defensive lineman Brian Robison was drawn offsides on a fourth down which allowed the Steelers to get a fresh set of downs and later score on that drive.
The second scoring drive by the Steelers was helped by a Vikings penalty also, as Waynes was called for pass interference. It was a 49-yard penalty that put the Steelers in the red zone and they would eventually score their second touchdown of the game.
Vikings’ Special Teams Grade: D+
The Minnesota Vikings dealt with Blair Walsh missing kicks last year and now they are dealing with Kai Forbath missing kicks in 2017. For the second straight week, Forbath missed an extra point. The miss came at a crucial point of the game, as the Vikings just scored and were about to only be down by a touchdown in the third quarter.
Minnesota Vikings
Forbath was perfect all preseason, but he has struggled in the regular season. He could be playing to stay on the Vikings next week. If he misses another kick, you would expect the Vikings to let him go.
The punt team was involved a lot this past Sunday. Ryan Quigley had six punts with three inside the 20 and his long was 55 yards. He has proved to be a solid punter for the Vikings.
However, the play that he will be most remembered for on Sunday is the fake punt the Vikings called on the first drive of the second half. Quigley tried to lob a pass to one of the Vikings’ tight ends, but it fell incomplete. It was an aggressive play-call by the Vikings that was not executed well.
The kick and punt return game was held in check for the Vikings as they didn’t get an explosive play by either Marcus Sherels or Jerick McKinnon. The biggest take away from this side of the ball was McKinnon returning kicks that were about 8 to 9 yards deep in the end zone. Each return failed to make the 25-yard line, where the ball would have been placed if he took a knee.
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Overall, it was mistakes that hurt the special teams on Sunday. The missed field goal is tough to swallow as the Vikings were hoping to have fixed that need from a year ago. Also, the Vikings were called for a penalty on a field goal attempt that was missed. The penalty gave Steelers kicker Chris Boswell a retry, which he made.