Written by Chris Schad
The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their 2014 season in unfamiliar fashion in Week 1 by dismantling the St. Louis Rams 34-6.
The offense did their part in the game by utilizing their weapons and not turning the ball over. With Cordarrelle Patterson getting the ball in his hands and Adrian Peterson being the key focus of opposing defenses, it’s safe to say that offensively, the Vikings are good enough to be a playoff team.
The bigger question for Vikings fans is whether the defense is good enough to stop opponents.
On Sunday, the defense did their job against a reeling St. Louis team. While the defense held the Rams to six points, many will point to the fact the opponent was using a combination of Shaun Hill and Austin Davis at quarterback. However, there were many encouraging things that didn’t happen a season ago.
It might not be a big deal to get a couple interceptions off of bench-warming quarterbacks, but it’s fair to point out that the Vikings forced just 20 turnovers all season a year ago. On Sunday, their two interceptions swung the momentum in their favor.
With the game at 6-0 late in the second quarter, Josh Robinson made an acrobatic catch along the sidelines to give the Vikings the ball deep in Rams territory. That lead the Viking offense to their job on the short field and capitalize with a Greg Jennings touchdown to go up 13-0 at the half.
Then, with the game out of reach at 27-3, the Rams were trying to get a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. As Davis dropped back and fired, Harrison Smith, who missed eight games last season with turf toe, came in like a rocket and took the interception 81 yards for the game-sealing touchdown.
The Vikings also got pressure on the quarterback with five sacks from four different players. As trademark of the Mike Zimmer defense, the Vikings could make a leap back into the top-five in that category, as they were in 2012. Pressure is also a good thing when you’re going up against the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler on a regular basis.
Perhaps this was just a one-game performance that could be a break from the norm when an angry Tom Brady shows up at TCF Bank Stadium next week, but the defense had the look of a playoff team against the Rams. The only question is whether they can keep it up.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |