The Vikings forced three turnovers in the span of just under seven minutes and also had two sacks. “Shaun has run every third-down play we have in our package since two years ago, so not only the play going in, the speed of the third-down situation, the play getting called, lining up, the defense giving you [different looks]”, offensive coordinator Norv Turner said Friday.
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We reported earlier today that Rhodes had been downgraded to “questionable” on today’s injury report, and he is officially out of this one.
First-round pick Laquon Treadwell has yet to make his first National Football League catch, while Stefon Diggs continues to be the top receiving weapon for the Vikings, finishing the first half with four catches for 46 yards. Bradford, who the Vikings traded a first-round and fourth-round pick for, is expected to take over as the team’s starter once he gets a stronger grasp on the playbook.
“There’s a lot of things we have to clean up and we’ve got to get better at, but it was good to win”, Zimmer said. He carried 19 times for just 31 yards. He began the season as the starting quarterback after Bradford tore his ACL and faced the Vikings in Zimmer’s first regular-season game as coach.
The Titans were driving trailing 12-10 when Mariota tried to force a quick throw under pressure to Harry Douglas only to be picked off by Kendricks who returned it for the TD with 1:24 left in the third quarter. Then Murray lost a fumble on the next drive.
“The turnovers obviously were catastrophic”, Mularkey said. While the offense wasn’t able to accomplish much after that, the Vikings were already in scoring position and Blair Walsh delivered a 50-yard field goal to cut Tennessee’s lead to 10-3.
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But it was a shaky afternoon for Walsh, playing in his first game that counts since missing a 27-yard field goal with 22 seconds in Minnesota’s 10-9 loss to Seattle last January in the playoffs. They scored the game’s first points on a 28-yard field goal by Ryan Succop with 4:45 left in the first quarter.
