That was certainly the case with tonight’s Hall of Fame Game.
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Viewed as an extra preseason contest, one of many that doesn’t count in the record books, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings looked at the NFL Hall of Fame Game as an early chance to evaluate personnel competing for roster spots. Teddy Bridgewater and the Vikings’ first-team offense came out against the Steelers’ first-team defense and marched 51 yards in 10 plays down to the Steelers’ 10-yard line. Pittsburgh Steelers stars Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown also get the night off while the coaching staffs take a long look at the reserves.
“There were good things and bad things”, said Jones.
Fans and followers of the NFL had a heartbreaking year in 2014 as Adrian Peterson, one of the most notable players in the league, was suspended from playing 15 games following the domestic violence abuse charges he faced.
After a sluggish first quarter-and-a-half of the preseason-opening Hall of Fame game, the Vikings rookie fifth-round pick caught a 34-yard touchdown. That’s what the preseason is about. Four snaps, however, produced zero points.
Shaun Suisham’s opened the scoring with a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter was the lone score for the Steelers. The Vikings’ offensive coordinator Ron Turner has proven to be a tight end guru in his time as an NFL coach, so the return of Rudolph should provide a huge boost to the fantasy value of the Minnesota’s young field general.
There is no secret that his wide receivers played a huge role in the rough night that he had overall, in a manner that goes well beyond a dropped touchdown and two fumbled receptions that resulted in turnovers and killed drives that had potential.
Boykin was flying around, breaking up a short pass at the line of scrimmage and shooting into the zone to clean up a screen pass.
A 62-yard punt was returned 24 yards by Marcus Sherels before Bridgewater completed 5 of 6 passes for 44 yards and two first downs. Wallace starred for the Steelers from 2009-12….
The only other injury of note, per Tomlin, was running back Cameron Stingily, whose right knee was termed by Tomlin as “a possible meniscus, but not definitive”.
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2015 first round pick Trae Waynes had a night he would rather forget. Pittsburgh visits Jacksonville on Friday. The Vikings play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday….
