7 biggest takeaways from Vikings vs. Raiders in preseason Week 1
By Adam Carlson
The defense is sloppy
It’s the first preseason game for the Minnesota Vikings so expecting a clean and crisp game with great tackling and no penalties would have been silly, but there is a lot to clean up on the field, especially when it comes to the defense.
Eight penalties were accepted against the purple and gold resulting in 71 yards going to the Raiders. Two of these came on one play against rookie cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. on the same play, which was a bit eye-opening.
The Vikings have a lot of time to clean up their tackling and work on their angles, especially when it comes to the coverage unit on special teams. That will likely be a focus of the team in upcoming practices as the players continue to adjust to the new scheme.
Of course, several of the team’s starters on defense sat out this game but that doesn’t excuse some of the sloppy play. They will need to prove they can play cleaner football against the 49ers on Saturday.