Rookies shine as Vikes hold on to stay undefeated at home

Purplestick

The Vikings hosted the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday October 18^th on a day that turned out absolutely beautiful with blue skies and temps in the low 60.’s. What a beautiful day on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

The Vikings are coming off a bye and the Chiefs come in after a last second loss to the Chicago Bears and in that game the Chiefs lost running back, Jamaal Charles, who I believe is a top 5 running back in the league.

The pregame had a great Minnesota sports flavor with Maya Moore along the Minnesota Lynx team having the honor of blowing the Gjlarhorn. Maya blew it with the rest of the team around her.

The coin toss was conducted and Sunday’s honorary captain was Minnesota all-time great, Jim Marshall.

THOUGHTS ON THE FIRST HALF

Minnesota absolutely dominated every sense of the game especially in stats. Teddy was already at over 170 yards passing but Adrian was shut down very well by an aggressive attacking Chiefs defense.

The Vikes defense held the Chiefs to less than 70 yards of total offense so the Vikes passing game going strong and the Chiefs going nowhere left me not feeling as confidant as I had hoped.

It seemed the Vikes would make big plays to get down the field but then bog down and end up with either a field goal or eventually punting,

The kicking of Blair Walsh on Sunday was a much needed boost. It is such a strange atmosphere in the stadium when Blair gets ready to kick. I hear so much out fans, don’t screw it up or please don’t miss it again. The kick is up and it seems the crowd gets so quiet as all eyes are on the ball making sure it goes through the uprights.

The offensive line seemed to really struggle in the run blocking on Sunday but the pass protection seemed a little better as the sack numbers allowed were down from the Broncos game. The other part of this is the athleticism of Teddy was a big part of the sack number being down as well.

In my opinion one of the biggest plays of the first half involved the non-call of what I felt was a sure safety as the result of holding in the end zone by the Chiefs. As it turned out the ref said the holding was outside the goal line which I still don’t believe as I am writing this Sunday night. It is what it is and the game rolled on.

Half has come with the Vikings dominating yet only up 13-0. The thought of 2 plays by the Chiefs and we could be down real quickly.

The halftime had more Minnesota theme with the University of Minnesota marching band performing at half. The second part of halftime was the introduction of several former Viking players who participated in all 4 Super Bowl games. What a treat to see the heroes of the past even though the Vikings lost all 4 games.

THOUGHTS ON THE SECOND HALF

The Vikes made plays at times but not consistent enough leaving Kansas City in the game. The game sees Kansas City come to 4^th and less than a yard and Quarterback Alex Smith takes the handoff and pitches back to the running back and bam he is stopped short. It was a great win for the Vikings defense on that play. I will never understand NFL teams when it’s that short why not give the ball to an up back or qb sneak.

I know late in the 4^th quarter the Chiefs were driving again but thanks to the hustle of the Vikes defense a fumble was caused by Danielle Hunter and recovered by Brian Robison. Thank you, Vikings.

GAME BALLS HANDED OUT

If I was a coach today I would hand 3 game balls out with 1 going to 2015 5^th round rookie, Stefan Diggs who made his first NFL start and what does he do? He makes 7 catches for 129 yards with 3 of the 7 catches on 3^rd down good for a first down.

The other 2 game balls I would give to rookie linebacker, Eric Kendricks who got the start at middle linebacker lead the team in tackles and was all over the field.

The other game ball would go to Danielle Hunter who started in place for Everson Griffen, Hunter got credit for a half sacks and was also responsible for forcing the fumble with the Chiefs driving late in the 4^th quarter.

OVERALL SUMMARY

The Vikings won the game they needed. Was it pretty? Absolutely not but it is a win. There is definitely much to improve on. The home winning streak now goes to 6 which include 3 from last year. The Packers won again going to 6-0 so the Vikings really have no margin for error.

NEXT UP:

Sunday October 25^th at the Detroit Lions

Thanks for reading