Post by Purple Pain on Sept 10, 2024 9:41:51 GMT -6
Week 1 against the Giants was fun, but there are always things to improve upon...
Purple Insider: Everything that went right and wrong for the Vikings in Week 1 win over Giants
Purple Insider: Everything that went right and wrong for the Vikings in Week 1 win over Giants
What went wrong
Jordan Addison injured
As good as the Vikings’ offense looked against the Giants, it will be tough to repeat that week after week if Jordan Addison isn’t healthy. He left midway through Week 1 with an ankle injury, which Kevin O’Connell said was the other ankle from when he was hurt in training camp.
“He's got pretty significant soreness getting some treatment today and we'll kind of see how it goes. He's responded in the past quickly with a similar injury. We'll just see, and I'll try to keep you guys updated based upon the week, but still hopeful that Jordan [Addison] will have a chance this week. We'll be smart with him knowing it's a long season and how important he is to our offense.”
Right guard and center in pass protection
While Brandel put together a strong showing, that was not the case by the PFF numbers for Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram. The veteran center allowed four pressures and had a 26.8 grade, second lowest among all centers. Ingram’s 9.3 grade was the lowest in the NFL at his position and his six pressures led the league. The six pressures Ingram allowed were the most since early last season.
For Bradbury, a rough outing isn’t a big concern because he has generally struggled against DTs that are as big as Lawrence and few teams can boast having such a player on their roster.
Ingram’s day is more worrisome because the Vikings have been looking for a step forward from him after some improvement from Year 1 to Year 2. He will need to get up to speed quickly in the coming weeks against good defensive lines in San Francisco and Houston. Otherwise there may be some consideration for Dalton Risner when he comes off IR.
Filling Hockenson’s shoes
While Oliver made a terrific grab on the second drive of the game, he was hit with a penalty and graded a 47.4 in 16 run blocking snaps. Likewise Mundt had a tough missed block that got his grade dinged and he had a drop.
Punting / punt coverage / punt returning
The Vikings had multiple penalties in the punting game. Ryan Wright did get three of his four punts inside the 20 but only averaged 42.0 yards per boot and received the lowest PFF punting grade in the NFL.
Non-Jones runs
When Aaron Jones was running the football, the offense was unstoppable. When Ty Chandler carried the ball, it was less effective. He ran eight times for just 17 yards. Chandler did get a key reception on a short pass that got the Vikings out from the shadow of their own end zone.
Timeouts
In the second half the Vikings had to use two timeouts that appeared to be due to the play clock running down. O’Connell was asked whether there was anything he was unhappy with from the decisive victory and pointed toward letting the clock run down.
“Just some operational stuff where maybe it was a play clock thing where we had plenty of time at the line and there's some moving parts with a shift and a late motion,” O’Connell said. “Just kind of feeling up against it a couple times there at different sequences during the game, and that is totally to be expected.”
Jordan Addison injured
As good as the Vikings’ offense looked against the Giants, it will be tough to repeat that week after week if Jordan Addison isn’t healthy. He left midway through Week 1 with an ankle injury, which Kevin O’Connell said was the other ankle from when he was hurt in training camp.
“He's got pretty significant soreness getting some treatment today and we'll kind of see how it goes. He's responded in the past quickly with a similar injury. We'll just see, and I'll try to keep you guys updated based upon the week, but still hopeful that Jordan [Addison] will have a chance this week. We'll be smart with him knowing it's a long season and how important he is to our offense.”
Right guard and center in pass protection
While Brandel put together a strong showing, that was not the case by the PFF numbers for Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram. The veteran center allowed four pressures and had a 26.8 grade, second lowest among all centers. Ingram’s 9.3 grade was the lowest in the NFL at his position and his six pressures led the league. The six pressures Ingram allowed were the most since early last season.
For Bradbury, a rough outing isn’t a big concern because he has generally struggled against DTs that are as big as Lawrence and few teams can boast having such a player on their roster.
Ingram’s day is more worrisome because the Vikings have been looking for a step forward from him after some improvement from Year 1 to Year 2. He will need to get up to speed quickly in the coming weeks against good defensive lines in San Francisco and Houston. Otherwise there may be some consideration for Dalton Risner when he comes off IR.
Filling Hockenson’s shoes
While Oliver made a terrific grab on the second drive of the game, he was hit with a penalty and graded a 47.4 in 16 run blocking snaps. Likewise Mundt had a tough missed block that got his grade dinged and he had a drop.
Punting / punt coverage / punt returning
The Vikings had multiple penalties in the punting game. Ryan Wright did get three of his four punts inside the 20 but only averaged 42.0 yards per boot and received the lowest PFF punting grade in the NFL.
Non-Jones runs
When Aaron Jones was running the football, the offense was unstoppable. When Ty Chandler carried the ball, it was less effective. He ran eight times for just 17 yards. Chandler did get a key reception on a short pass that got the Vikings out from the shadow of their own end zone.
Timeouts
In the second half the Vikings had to use two timeouts that appeared to be due to the play clock running down. O’Connell was asked whether there was anything he was unhappy with from the decisive victory and pointed toward letting the clock run down.
“Just some operational stuff where maybe it was a play clock thing where we had plenty of time at the line and there's some moving parts with a shift and a late motion,” O’Connell said. “Just kind of feeling up against it a couple times there at different sequences during the game, and that is totally to be expected.”
... and neither is this Chris guy.