Preseason Week 2 preview: Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks
The Minnesota Vikings travel out west for the second week of preseason action for a contest against the Seattle Seahawks.
In all obviousness, preseason football is still football. Some may think against that thought-process, but not this guy. Another guy that takes the preseason extremely serious is Minnesota Vikings head coach, Mike Zimmer.
Zimmer will be taking his 13-1 preseason record on the road to lovely Seattle, seriously one of my favorite places to visit, to take on the Seahawks this Friday, August 18th. Local viewers will hopefully have nothing to do on Saturday as kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.
Although the Vikings and Seahawks are different teams than the two that last faced-off a mere 19 months ago, this game will have some “in-season atmosphere.” Of course, all that really has to be said to describe this matchup is, “27-yards.”
That is correct, this is the second-straight preseason the two teams have competed since Blair Walsh, now of the Seahawks, missed a 27-yard field goal to send the Vikings to victory in the playoffs. I swear I’m pretty much over it but the wound is re-freshened by the fact Walsh now kicks for the very team he helped elevate to the next round.
The Vikings head back on the road after narrowly defeating the Bills in Buffalo by the score of 17-10. Although it was less than ideal, the Vikings did come away with the victory. The first-team offense will need to improve to give the fans that shot of positivity they need to make it through their day.
The Seahawks, however, looked to be in midseason thrashing-all-opponents-mode by dismantling the Chargers 48-17. Seattle’s defense looked to have the same swagger we have come to love or hate by turning-over the Charges four times.
Essentials to win the game
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Of course, this is just the preseason but winning in the preseason is much like an NHL goalie never letting a dead-time puck head into his goal. That mindset has to be the same regardless if the games mean nothing in terms of playoff seeding or wins and losses.
The Vikings need to get off to a hot start offensively against a very stout Seattle defense that tends to punish quarterbacks and other ball-carriers. The screen game was obviously something the Vikings were attempting to get going to no avail. If the purple continually leaves their offense in third-and-long situations, the Seahawk defense will pounce even heavier than the Bills’ defense did.
In order to get the offense off to a much more torrid pace, the offensive line obviously must play better than they did in game one. Eric Smith of Vikings.com wrote about the Vikings testing out various combinations during practice this week. Hopefully whatever combination the Vikings throw onto the field looks much more prepared than it did the first three series again Buffalo.
Downfalls to avoid
The same goes for every game, pre and regular season alike; stay healthy. Stay healthy, look fluid and, for the love of whatever you believe in, do not get on Zimmer’s bad side. Zimmer’s bad side and/or dog house can seemingly take a while to get out of; players will want to do their jobs correctly every week.
Seattle’s quarterbacks all throw on the run effectively and utilize their speed to get outside of the pocket. The Vikings defense will want Seattle’s quarterbacks inside the pocket. The Vikings then need to wrap them up once they get their hands on them. All it takes is one long quarterback scramble on third down to get Zimmer upset. As mentioned above, that may be the biggest downfall to avoid every week.
Player Spotlight
As Josh Clarke of The Viking Age stated, it is time to believe the hype when it comes to the rookie, Dalvin Cook. The first-team offense will look to get him the ball any way necessary to break him loose. His blocking out of the pistol-offense left a bit to be desired. To Cook’s defense, the play that led to a sack out of that formation was not all his fault.
Seattle’s backup quarterback, Trevone Boykin may be the most-perfect backup in the entire NFL. He may not be the best backup in the league but he perfectly mimics what starter, Russell Wilson does. Boykin was 12 of 15 passing for 189 yards and one touchdown against the Chargers. He also added 31 yards rushing and another touchdown.
As mentioned in the week one notebook, Rodney Adams returned three kicks and handled two punts, one of which he muffed. Muffed punts can turn a win into a loss quickly (i.e vs Dallas last season).
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Blair Walsh needs an introduction to the Vikings’ fans as much as bar-goers need that last drink at bar-close. In both demographics, I will attest no introduction is needed. However, this will be fans’ first look at Walsh as competition.
It will be interesting to see if Taylor Symmank continues to get most of the punting duties. Although not a position most take note of, Symmank was allegedly the number-two punter on the depth chart. Symmank performed admirably by averaging 44.4 yards per punt and pinned the Bills inside the 20 three times.
Game projection and prediction
This is the section that will be filled out once the season starts. Preseason games are an absolute mess to project and predict. The Seahawks are favored by three points; I see the Vikings not only covering the spread but winning outright. Vikings 19-17 over the Seahawks. Definitely, do not put money on this game or any preseason game for that matter.
Next: An updated Vikings roster prediction!
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