Minnesota Vikings Best and Worst: Week 3 vs. Oakland Raiders

More bad things

Not only was there no answer for the big tight end this game, but when Oakland struggled to move the ball early, they decided to open up their bag of tricks and see if they could get the Minnesota Vikings off-guard.

It worked. The first Raiders score came on a flea-flicker and Oakland also gained a big first down on a formation that was set up with the running back split out. Chicago used to eat up the Vikings on plays like this, so it’s not really surprising to see it be effective here.

Here are some other things that weren’t quite great for the Minnesota Vikings in this game.

• The exchange between quarterback and center remains an issue as the opening snap for the Vikings resulted in Bradbury tripping Cousins, resulting in a loss of yards on the blown play. These two need to be on the same page going forward.
• Short runs on second and long might seem like a decent idea to make third down more manageable, but it’s starting to become a bit of a trend to leave Cousins in a third and long spot and expect him to consistently move the chains through the air.
• Josh Kline has been having a great year as a run blocker. Dalvin Cook and the other running backs have found quite a bit of success running behind him. However, he left this game with a concussion and needed to be evaluated. He didn’t return to the game, but thankfully the Vikings were still able to put the game away.

What do you think were the best and worst things to happen for the Minnesota Vikings in their Week 3 game against the Oakland Raiders? And what other good or bad things did you notice from the game? Let us know in the comments!