Minnesota Vikings: Perfection over, Vikings drop final preseason tilt
Most would call it the preseason finale for the Minnesota Vikings, but I want to call it something else. I’m going to call it part one of the ‘teams Randy Moss played with after leaving the Vikings the second time’ tour. The tour has two stops and the stop on Thursday night was quite literally meaningless.
While the Minnesota Golden Gophers had a real game against a real good opponent at TCF Bank Stadium, the Vikings were down in Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Titans in the last warmup game. The last game would be the first one the Vikings lose all preseason as they fell 24-17 to the Titans.
Here’s the thing. Nobody really played for the Vikings. Teddy Bridgewater never saw the field. In fact, Taylor Heinicke, an undrafted rookie out of Old Dominion, played the whole game at quarterback for the purple and he did great. Heinicke went 27/41 for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the game. The two TD tosses went to Stefon Diggs and Dominique Williams.
Both Diggs and Williams were favored targets on the night. Diggs caught a game high eight passes for another game high of 85 yards. Williams caught five passes for 45. Also of note in the receiving core for the Vikings, Ryan Whalen caught four balls for 65 yards.
Nobody rushed for more than 25 yards for the Vikings on Thursday night. Williams was the high man in the backfield with 24 yards on nine carries.
It must be noted that Blair Walsh missed a field goal again. Walsh went 1 for 2 in his attempts. He hit a 33-yarder, but missed a 48-yarder.
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Some excitement could be found on the Titans sidelines as new franchise QB Marcus Mariota finally threw a preseason TD in the game. The former Oregon Ducks QB went 2/3 for 75 yards and the one touchdown in the parade of four Titans QBs on the night.
The Vikings final preseason record stands at 4-1 with a 1-1 record on the road. The Titans improve to 2-2 with a perfect 2-0 record at Nissan Stadium in beautiful Nashville, but, of course, none of that matters anymore.
In a little over a week, the regular season kicks off as the Vikings continue the ‘teams Randy Moss played with after leaving the Vikings the second time’ tour in San Francisco. That game is the final game of Week 1 and is the conclusion of the Monday Night Football doubleheader on ESPN. The game is set for a 9:20 central kickoff, so you might as well already call in sick for the Tuesday after because that game ain’t getting over until 1:00 AM.
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