The Viking Age
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Schmidt’s Week 3 game grades: Minnesota Vikings vs Buccaneers

By Jordan Schmidt

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 24: Case Keenum #7 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates a 59 yard touchdown pass to teammate Stefon Diggs #14 in the third quarter of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 24: Case Keenum #7 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates a 59 yard touchdown pass to teammate Stefon Diggs #14 in the third quarter of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 24: Case Keenum #7 of the Minnesota Vikings drops back to pass the ball in the first half of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – SEPTEMBER 24: Case Keenum #7 of the Minnesota Vikings drops back to pass the ball in the first half of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 24, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /

Vikings offensive grade: A

The Minnesota Vikings’ offense was on fire from the opening kick to the last seconds of the game.  The offense racked up a total of 494 yards. The passing game earned 369 yards while the rushing game earned 125 yards.

The Vikings offense’ is a scary unit when they are this balance. The Vikings threw 33 times while rushing the ball 37 times. Being this balance on offense creates havoc for the opposing defenses because they don’t know what it is coming.

Case Keenum who earn the game ball threw for 369 yards and 3 touchdowns. The thing that stood out about the performance from Keenum was his accuracy on the deep ball. This display was going on right from the opening drive when he hit Adam Thielen for 45 yards to set up the Vikings for their first touchdown of the game.

As good as Keenum was on Sunday, he had a lot of help from his wide receivers. Stefon Diggs and Thielen lead the way for the receiver group. However, it was the Diggs’ show yesterday as he had 8 receptions for 173 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

It is Diggs second multiple touchdown game already on the young season and continues to get better each week. Diggs is establishing himself as the best wide receiver on the Vikings and the biggest passing threat since for the Vikings since Randy Moss. He has the speed, moves and jumping ability that makes him so hard to defend.

While the passing game was putting on the show, Dalvin Cook kept making Vikings fans forget about Adrian Peterson. Cook ran the ball 27 times for 97 yards and his first career touchdown in the NFL.

Also, he added five catches for 72 yards. The questions about his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield from the previous two weeks were put to rest as he caught all 5 of his targets.

The thing that makes Cook so good is his ability to get north and south quickly. There is not much dancing around or moving east or west. He quickly searches for opportunities to move up the field, which usually leads to a lot more positive runs than negative runs.

Overall, the Vikings’ offense was fun to watch on Sunday. The big passing plays are exciting to see again. The Vikings running game looks much improved compared to last season. Also, need to give credit to the offensive line that bounced back from a tough Week 2 performance.

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