It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective.
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After controlling the ball for more than 17 1/2 minutes and producing 194 total yards in the first half, the Titans managed only 122 total yards, 74 coming on their meaningless touchdown drive that feebly answered 25 straight Vikings points.
Like the entire game, there was nothing eye-popping from the veteran QB, but Hill completed passes on back-to-back third downs to sustain a drive that would take 4:05 off the clock and put the Vikings up 15-10. Shaun Hill had issues making plays with the ball and Adrian Peterson had no room to run.
The Vikings set their season off by facing the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Sunday.
Stephon Diggs took over right where he left off in the preseason when Teddy Bridgewater was throwing to him.
Of course, Blair Walsh missed field goals on two long drives by Hill and the offense, but moving the ball was key.
I also expect the Vikings defense will continue to generate more turnovers than past year, primarily based on the fact that there are no easy holes for offenses to exploit. Walsh missed a 37-yard field goal and horrifically botched a 56-yard attempt, even after receiving a practice attempt when the Titans called a timeout. Cordarrelle Patterson only had one kickoff return but made it count, taking it for 61 yards setting up a Walsh field goal.
The Ugly was mainly Blair Walsh’s missed FGs, particularly the one just before the half, which looked about 20 yards wide- and that was his second attempt- and miss- at it. Granted the line faced 8- and 9-men boxes when Peterson was in the game (and not when Matt Asiata was), but those are the kinds of defense they are going to see all season. At the end of the day you have to put points on the board, and consistently settling for field goals puts more pressure on the defense to bail out the offense, which will be a tall order against better teams.
It got worse. Mariota fumbled early in the fourth quarter, and Danielle Hunter returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.
This story has been corrected to show the final score of the game was 25-16 instead of 26-15. But quarterback Shaun Hill took care of the football, throwing for 236 yards without a score or a turnover.
Stefon Diggs caught seven passes for 103 yards for the Vikings.
The ground game, however, did not find similar success. While Mariota threw for 271 yards and a pair of touchdowns to running back DeMarco Murray, he also committed two game-changing turnovers. Peterson does have a habit of starting the season off slowly and kicking it into gear after a couple of games, so not a real concern for this team, yet.
Minnesota’s offense was mostly moribund.
Zimmer remained mum on his quarterback situation.
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Whether what happened Sunday is a sustainable way to win football games in today’s NFL environment is unlikely, but Zimmer is trying to build a bridge to new quarterback Sam Bradford, who was acquired just eight days before the season opener and deemed not quite ready to play in the Music City. The Vikings will have to sort out their offense down the stretch to really contend, but this week’s combination of dynamic defense and cautious offense proved just enough. Let’s be fair to assess that Harambe gave the Vikings much inspiration to nab the W. She’s up in Heaven looking down on the state of Minnesota as proud as she could possibly be with a Vikings hat on while beating her chest.
