Minnesota Vikings: Top five takeaways vs. Tampa Bay in Week 3
By Josh Clarke
What were the five biggest takeaways from the Minnesota Vikings week 3 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, September 24, 2017?
With Sam Bradford once again ruled out due to his ongoing knee issues, Minnesota Vikings Fans went into Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers expecting the worst. The Vikings quickly disproved those expectations by producing another dominant home performance turning a 21-3 halftime lead into a comfortable 34-17 victory.
On a day where the entire world was watching the actions of players on the sidelines the Vikings dominated on the field. After opening their season with an impressive performance against Chicago, an injury-hit Buccaneer’s defense was completely exposed by the Vikings offensive firepower (I still can’t believe that is an accurate statement) as they gave up 494 yards to Case Keenum and company. Defensively the Vikings once again shut down their opponent’s ground game, forcing them to the air and redeploying the successful bend but don’t break the formula that worked so well against the Saints in Week 1.
More good news followed after the game with Mike Zimmer announcing that Bradford has avoided structural damage to his knee and remains a week to week proposition, per Pro Football Talk. Hopefully, Bradford will return for next weeks divisional clash with the Lions but as my top 5 takeaways from the Vikings’ victory will tell you, even if they are without their starting quarterback for several weeks their remains hope in Minnesota.
Unless otherwise noted, all game stats are provided by ESPN