5 biggest takeaways from Vikings vs. Bengals in Week 1
By Adam Carlson
The Vikings have a pass rush again
One of the hardest things about being a fan of the Minnesota Vikings last year was watching the defense fail to get anywhere near opposing quarterbacks. Their struggled impacted a young secondary that was taking its lumps and resulted in teams having their way on offense against the purple and gold defenders.
This year is a bit different already. The Vikings ended the day with seven hits on quarterback Joe Burrow and registered five sacks on the day. Two of those sacks came from “Meaty Boy” Michael Pierce who was a disruptive force in the middle and Danielle Hunter made his mark on the game by earning a sack as well. Linebacker Nick Vigil and safety Harrison Smith also had a quarterback takedown.
Minnesota has the talent to keep some pressure on passers every week. Although they can’t be expected to have five sacks every week, they should more than double their average number of sacks per game from last year, which was an embarrassing 1.4.
It will take a little time for the defensive line to gel and the new players to become totally comfortable in the schemes. Once they do, the Vikings could be a very scary team for opposing quarterbacks to face.
We won’t discuss the review of the Dalvin Cook “fumble” that cost the Minnesota Vikings the game. Instead, let’s focus on the positives and other issues as the team heads to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in Week 2.