How the Minnesota Vikings will improve following their tie with the Packers

Improvement No. 3:

Wide Receivers

To note the Minnesota Vikings “receivers” as needing improvement, some may say this writer needs vision improvement, as Minnesota may indeed field the most reliable and explosive 1-2 punch in the NFL in wideouts Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen.

Let’s instead specify as “receiver unit”, or more distinctly, Viking receivers 3 and 4. In this case, the Vikings have problems they can fix. The first of which will most likely be in benching wideout Laquon Treadwell, even in this present situation where fellow wideout Stacey Coley has been waived by the Vikings to make room for Dan Bailey on the Minnesota 53-man roster.

In today’s pass-prolific league, the number four receiver on an offensive gets out onto the field fairly often. The number three, quite often. To waste that opportunity on Treadwell is unfair to the Viking team and to the Viking fans.

I think Mike Zimmer will watch the film very carefully and decide that some other receivers now on the roster, perhaps rookie receiver Brandon Zylstra and the newly signed Aldrick Robinson may deserve a chance to be part of this offense moving forward.

In fact, one of them will be in the rotation on Sunday against Buffalo at US Bank Stadium.

The competition itself will be good for the Minnesota Vikings. And just as an undrafted Thielen and fifth-round choice Diggs can attest, it’s your play on the game field that counts.

You Play To Win The Game

An old NFL axiom says that coaches make receivers that can’t catch into cornerbacks.  Well, then it’s time to change Treadwell’s number, friends.  Especially after Sunday’s game.

True, Treadwell caught an easy short-post touchdown to tie the game at 7 on Sunday. It’s also true that he had more drops (3) in the game than receptions, the second of which popped like football like a pillow into Packer safety Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix’s hands just as the Vikings were engaged in a potentially game-winning drive.

Minnesota Vikings

Somehow, some way, the Vikings got the ball back, tied the game and sent it into overtime.

And in overtime, Laquon Treadwell dropped another pass.

As a reminder, after being chosen with the 23rd pick in the 2016 draft, Treadwell has 21 catches for 213 yards and no touchdowns in two full seasons as a Viking before 2018.

How the Vikings even ended this heart-attack game in a tie is beyond me. If anyone doubted their will to fight, I suggest you watch that second half again.

Mike Zimmer has obviously built a team of players that are going to stay focused on winning until the game’s final whistle, and he knows that kind of effort and character deserves comrades that have the skill and the wherewithal to do their job when the pressure is the highest.

Working from that, the Minnesota Vikings will improve as they move further into the 2018 season.