As they opened U.S. Bank Stadium for football Sunday afternoon, welcoming fans inside their new stadium for the first time, the Minnesota Vikings were all about selling hope.
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With sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling glass on the west side and through the translucent, space-age roof, the Vikings enjoyed a gleaming debut for U.S. Bank Stadium. Shaun Hill played just one series after getting the start last week in Seattle, and Joel Stave lost one of his two fumbles while playing most of the second half. That’s to be expected, given the fact the stadium has the largest capacity of any of the Vikings’ four homes, but the $1.1 billion stadium was packed by kickoff. Jerick McKinnon led the team in rushing with 56 yards on 8 carries, including a big 35-yarder on the Vikings’ first drive. Playing the first half, Bridgewater completed 12 of 16 passes for 161 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Rudolph with 1:18 left in the half.
After signing a five-year, $45 million contract with Jacksonville, the former Pittsburgh Steelers starter sat out the team’s entire offseason program and the first two exhibition games while completing his recovery from reconstructive surgery. Andre Hal intercepted Palmer’s second pass of the day to set up Houston’s first score, a 1-yard touchdown run by new running back Lamar Miller.
Palmer’s second drive was his only clean one, and it ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by David Johnson.
Today wasn’t exactly successful for the Chargers, but they received a glimpse of what Melvin Gordon can really do if the guys up front can give him a tad bit more daylight.
A surprise player who impressed: Defensive end Justin Trattou has managed to hang around with the Vikings for the better part of three seasons, and even though he was released at one point last season, he managed to pick off two passes in five games of work.
“It was a good outing for us”, Dalton said.
In the National Football League, you take points wherever you can get them. Dalton found Giovani Bernard for a 19-yard score on a third-down play, and then Jeremy Hill capped a 9-minute drive with a 1-yard scramble to the pylon. Defensively, the Bengals held Jacksonville to just 90 yards in the first half.
The Cardinals, after advancing further into the NFL’s elite with a 13-3 regular-season finish in 2015, will undoubtedly be looking around at Houston’s NRG Stadium and pondering the possibility of a February return for the Super Bowl.
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One of the biggest issues for the Bengals this season will be the replacement of wide receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, their top two targets behind star A.J. Green who left as free agents. Cornerback Adam Jones strained a calf in preseason warmups and did not play.
