The Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough loss in Week 3 to the Tennessee Titans.
After two poor performances, the Minnesota Vikings appear to have turned things around despite another loss. In Sunday’s losing effort against the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota saw some incredible signs from a host of stars.
First-round pick Justin Jefferson exploded onto the scene in his first extended action, hauling in seven grabs for 175 yards and a touchdown. Dalvin Cook carried the ball 22 times for 181 yards and a score of his own. On the defensive side, Yannick Ngakoue continued to impress with his second strip-sack in as many games.
The Vikings found some bright spots from guys that they expect big contributions from and that is always good to see. However, as enjoyable as it is to see young playmakers step up, expectations are given for a reason.
Instead of looking at the best players from Week 3, let’s give some extra love to the guys who deserve it after a tough loss. Here are this week’s unsung heroes for Minnesota.
Offensive Unsung Hero from Week 3:
Minnesota’s tight ends
The Vikings were able to get the rushing attack going in full stride against Tennessee thanks in large part to the tight ends. Kyle Rudolph made a spectacular catch in the back of the end zone, but his understudies in the positional room should get some praise this week.
On a handful of runs, Tyler Conklin and Irv Smith Jr. held their ground as blockers and created lanes for Dalvin Cook. Rushing is a team stat whether you like it or not and the Vikings tight ends did their work on Sunday.
While we wait for Smith to break out as a receiving threat in his second season, there is a lot to like about his overall game.
On Cook’s touchdown carry, Smith sealed a block at the second level and allowed ample space for the running back to cut back outside the hashes for six points. There were no penalties on Smith in Week 3, which was a bit of an issue against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
Minnesota likes using their tight ends in different ways, as well as fullback C.J. Ham, and they all stepped up on Sunday to help put the offense in position to win.
Defensive Unsung Hero from Week 3:
Jeff Gladney – CB
Although we mentioned earlier that we should expect good things out of first-round picks, Jeff Gladney looked respectable on Sunday. With so many moving parts at cornerback thanks to a plethora of injuries, Gladney has stepped up as arguably the best cornerback on the roster through three games.
Holton Hill struggled mightily at times for Minnesota against the Titans and Gladney gave up a deep shot of his own, but the rookie has been very impressive at a difficult position. He and Kris Boyd have played better than many expected at this point in the season and Gladney is looking more and more like the first-round pick he was selected to be.
Until the secondary finds some stability, there will be concerns and question marks in the passing game. Now, this is not saying Gladney looks like a stud quite yet. He did give up a crucial late-game deep shot to Kalif Raymond after getting beat with a double move in space. However, he was not a starting cornerback when the season began. Now, he is the best option on the outside.
Gladney will continue to grow and learn the ropes of the NFL this season, which means struggles will continue. Still, Sunday was a positive sign for his progress and expectations as we move further into the season.