The nickel without Barr.Ben Gedeon may be a solid linebacker, but covering the field horizontally isn’t one of his strong suits. Unlike Barr, he lacks the speed and experience to get good angles on ball carriers. That could come with more playing time, but for now, the defense doesn’t look the same without Barr.
A significant dropoff. After that first drive, the offense looked completely different. With the starting receivers, Riley Reiff, Kirk Cousins, and Latavius Murray only playing the one drive, it’s crazy how night-and-day the two units looked. That just shows how valuable Cousins and Diggs are.
Trevor Siemian‘s ball placement. There are a lot of positives when it comes to Siemian. He’s smart, strong arm, and makes great decisions. However, if he continues to throw behind his targets there will be more incompletions and interceptions in his future.
Offensive line inconsistency. Let’s be honest, we all knew the Vikings were going to be challenged due to their lack of starters for this game. While the team used a quick passing offense and strong running to pummel Denver, it will be tough to sort out who Minnesota can go to in a pinch.
Lack of coverage discipline. The Vikings should never have allowed that punt return touchdown if the team followed their assignments. However, when young players want to make plays, sometimes they overextend themselves and make mistakes. They allowed the blockers to set up, which gave the poor result.
