Vikings' new-look defense abused by Rodgers, Adams in 43-34 Week 1 loss
Vikings offense made matters worse with key mistakes
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With months leading up to Vikings-Packers, we had plenty of time to think about every possible scenario for Week 1. The worst case scenario always went like this: The Vikings’ completely revamped D-line fails to pressure the QB, the young cornerback group struggles against Aaron Rodgers and the offensive line doesn’t hold up in front of Kirk Cousins.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to the letter.
To open the game, it was clear the Vikings’ defense wasn’t going to create the same type of pressure on Rodgers as they have in past victories over the Packers. He threw a series of quick passes and moved the ball intermittently down the field, traveling 63 yards on 13 plays and winding 7:33 off the clock.
But the Vikings’ defense shut down the Packers in the red zone, giving us a hint that this might have to be a bend-don’t-break kind of day.
And it almost was.
The Vikings started as well as they could have imagined on offense with back-to-back passes to Adam Thielen for 33 yards and then a facemask penalty on Green Bay that set them up in scoring position. They ran four straight times and found the end zone to take an early 7-3 lead.
At that point, it appeared the fan-less US Bank Stadium might be host to a shootout. Instead the muted stadium, with crowd noise that would equate to someone driving through your neighborhood with the bass turned up, witnessed the Packers completely control the first half.
On Rodgers’s second drive, he determined that throwing to Davante Adams was a winning play. The two Pro Bowlers connected four times and the Packers appeared to punch in the long drive with an Aaron Jones run. But the touchdown was called back after review and the Packers outsmarted themselves at the goal line and turned the ball over on downs.
Bend-don’t-break was alive.
But two plays later, Cousins was sacked in the end zone by a blitz off the edge from cornerback Jaire Alexander.
The Packers got the ball back and started grinding the Vikings down again with another extended possession. Eight plays later, Green Bay finished with a Mason Crosby Field goal, putting the “road” team up by a baseball score 8-7.
Bend-don’t-break, still alive. Until it wasn’t.
The Vikings’ offensive line was mauled on the next possession, which ended with a Za’Darius Smith sack. A familiar sight for anyone who watched him dominate both Vikings losses to Green Bay last year.
This time Rodgers would turn it up to full Rodgers power. First he drew the Vikings offside on third down. And then hit hit Adams on third-and-6. And then with 39 seconds left in the half the Packers’ QB reminded everyone that he still has a Hall of Fame arm. He rolled out and threw a 24-yard dart on the money to Adams to put the Packers up 15-7.
There was some confusion over why Mike Zimmer didn’t call timeout to give his offense some time for a final drive of the half, especially with them scheduled to get the ball back after half. But they still decided to be aggressive with the clock winding and Cousins threw an interception on a play that appeared to have some confusion between Cousins and Thielen.
The Vikings kicked a field goal to make it 22-10 at half. Rodgers was 19-for-28 with 201 yards and two touchdowns by the break and Adams had nine catches for 103 yards.
Cousins, on the other hand, threw just five passes, was sacked twice and picked off once.
Coming out of the half, the Packers again opened the door for the Vikings with a Marquez Valdes-Scantling third-down drop. But Cousins inexplicably launched a bomb in Tajae Sharpe’s direction on fourth-and-3, giving Green Bay the ball back.
Hello again, worst-case scenario.
Despite another drop by Valdes-Scantling, Rodgers found him again with a laser for 39 yards while being guarded by Mike Hughes. He finished off the drive with another touchdown to Adams to put the Packers up 29-10.
In typical fashion, Cousins threw a long touchdown to Thielen with the game mostly out of reach.
For good measure, Rodgers followed up with a deep pass over the middle to Allen Lazard for 38 yards and then flipped a pretty touchdown pass to Lazard for the dagger.
Once again, he saw very little pressure. Part of that was the absence of Yannick Ngakoue, who was apparently hindered by an injury according to the broadcast.
Cousins’s run on empty stats continued with two late touchdown drives and when the dust settled the box score looked like he had a very good game. That obviously was not the case.
Not that it would have mattered a lot since Rodgers went 32-for-44, 364 yards and four touchdowns.
So what do we make of the fact that the Packers didn’t even play a perfect game and still steamrolled the Vikings?
You might rationalize by saying the young corners didn’t have a preseason and that impacted them. That’s certainly plausible. But with Danielle Hunter out for the first three weeks (at least), how will they avoid being exposed as they were on Sunday? The Colts and Titans both have good running games and offensive lines.
The offense didn’t have the same type of explanation for their problems. They talked about their continuity and numerous weapons around Cousins all offseason and then came out and produced seven pass completions heading into the fourth quarter. Aside from a few runs, Cousins was the same player we saw both times against the Packers last year. It still points to certain opponents having an answer for the Vikings offense.
The best you can do after Sunday is to say: It’s a long season, folks. Maybe they’ll bend and not break over 16 games.
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The Good News is that it’s only Week 1. The Bad News is that it’s only Week 1.
Random thoughts that will magically coalesce into a salient point follow: The young defensive backs, especially the rookies, had zero preseason game snaps to play to the speed of the NFL. The offensive line continues to be a soft spot. Management and the coaching staff have not built any depth into the defensive line. The tackling was very poor.
Some of the subscriber comments hit the heart of the problem(s). The questionable deep drop into the end zone, which led to a safety, turned into a tone-setting play. The low-percentage pass on 4th-and-3, when the Vikings last had a realistic change to stay with Green Bay, was ill-conceived and iffy from the moment the ball left Cousins’ hand.
To help the young corners the Vikings are going to have to find a way to get at least occasional pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Zimmer’s speciality is defense. Let’s see if he can slowly solve that challenge by the time we get into the second four-game segment of the season. Didn’t the Vikings experiment with Anthony Barr at right defensive end in the 2019 preseason? Necessity is the mother of invention; might be game time for that.
One person commented on the continuing failure to address the the offensive line in the draft while throwing salary at a quarterback who bangs around between average to better-than-average performance. The management of the team, including the coaching staff, not only have to answer for that, they have to fix it on the fly with the people they have. The Vikings have some good linemen, but they don’t have enough of them who can work together to manage the other team’s defensive line. That has to be fixed within the first four games, which is this year’s version of the preseason.
The coaching staff has to design a game plan that, cliche coming, puts their people in the best position to succeed. It is easier to run block than pass block. Offensive lines deliver hits when run blocking. Defenses have to react to pulling guards, jet sweeps, etc. When pass blocking, offensive lines must react to the charge of large and focused human beings trying to get by them. The Vikings run blocked better than they pass blocked against Green Bay. Going forward, the Vikings have to run the ball more than they throw, and they have to be successful at it to prevent their defense from being on the field for 41 minutes and change, like they were against Green Bay. And...they can’t wait until Week 7 to rediscover Kyle Rudolph is good at catching short passes.
One person commented that s/he thought the Vikings defended the run pretty well against Green Bay. I’m not sure I agree with that and I haven’t seen any stats from the game. It seemed like the Packers had big-chunk gains against the Vikings when they ran the ball. The Vikings have to be willing to make the other team pay when they come inside on the run. The middle of the defense has to play nasty. I didn’t see much of that type of physicality from the interior of the defense Sunday against the Packers, who created a physical advantage when their defenders were on the field. Playing nasty and pissed off has to become a partial solution to the Vikings problem on run defense. Other teams might make five yards, but the ball carrier and the linemen blocking for him are going to suffer physically for it. Zimmer has to build that characteristic into his defense within the first four games of the season.
By no means has this writer given up on the 2020 Vikings. I do understand, however, that it is not likely that the 2020 edition of the Vikings is going to be among the top defenses in the league, but they can get better, they should get better, they have to get better. Giving up a fat 43 points to Green Bay, or any opponent, is not a sustainable solution.
Sunday was odd. No fans. Not much fire from the defense. Just enough mistakes by the Vikings to be lethal. Covid-19 continues to rage, virtually unabated and ignored by the people who shouldn’t ignore it, so we’re going to continue to see empty or near-empty stadiums until we don’t. This is all so bizarre, but I have to tell you, it was so much fun to watch the Vikings play again.
They stumbled Sunday. The Good News is there is 15 games left.
Terrible play calling. Two examples: 1) who in the world calls a play fake 5 yards deep in the end zone with our offensive line?; 2) a deep shot on fourth and 3, when your defense has zero chance against Green Bay?
Same old Vikings, year after year after year. It was obvious after the Eagles obliterated us in the NFC Championship, that the Vikings needed to upgrade the o-line and interior d-line. Instead, they have spent their money on a QB who needs perfect protection, linebackers, and defensive ends and continue to trot out Elflein, Reiff, Shamar Stephen et al. expecting different results. That's the definition of lunacy. They needed 2 new guards in the draft and they spent their first five picks on a wr, 2 cbs, a tackle and a project defensive end, but then they're surprised when they can't hold onto the ball, sustain drives and give their defense a breather?
I don't want to hear about Pierce either. They have had over a month to replace him, but did absolutely nothing. Football is not that complicated. You dominate the trenches, you are going to win unless your QB is terrible.