Preseason Week 1 Ups and Downs: Minnesota Vikings at Broncos

Overall impression vs Denver

As a whole, it’s hard to complain about a lot of what the Minnesota Vikings did against the Denver Broncos. The first team offense and defense looked amazing, with solid play from the second team and the third team defense struggling in a big way.

The makeshift starting offensive line held up well against a talented Broncos defense, with Kirk Cousins and even Trevor Siemian moving to a quick offense to get the ball out. In the meantime, they were able to create some great running lanes for Latavius Murray to pick up first downs and grind out the yardage.

Defensively, opening with two 3-and-outs and then adding an interception established that this is a team that can be great even without Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr in the lineup. When those guys are back, the defense should be even more dominant.

Funny enough, it appeared as though both Siemian and Sloter outplayed Case Keenum, who turned in a disappointing 1 for 4 on his passes for only 5 yards. Many Vikings fans are still rooting for Keenum to succeed thanks to his efforts with Minnesota last year, but this game won’t help his case.

The player who raised their stock the most during this game was running back Roc Thomas, who caught 3 passes for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns plus added 29 yards on 8 carries on the ground, gaining a total of 121 yards from scrimmage. He likely has become a favorite to be the team’s third running back on the 53-man roster, at least with the fans.

Meanwhile, Daniel Carlson moved up a bit in the kicking competition by making all 5 of his extra point attempts and making both field goal tries, including one from 57 yards out. Forbath will need to be equally impressive when it is his turn to kick in order to keep pace.

Minnesota did give up quite a few points to Denver, but that was mostly a result of lapses in the second half when all the defensive starters had been pulled and the young players fighting for roster spots were in the game. Still, it was great the offense was able to keep pace and put Minnesota ahead in the end, giving them a 1-0 record to kick off the preseason.

What did you think of the Minnesota Vikings preseason debut against the Denver Broncos? Which players stood out the most to you in a positive or negative way? Let us know in the comments section below!