The Minnesota Vikings won their first preseason game, 24-23, over the Las Vegas Raiders. Coming into the season, many oddsmakers set Minnesota’s over/under at 6.5. It seems that only diehard Vikings fans have high hopes for this season.
However, there is the spice of a new-looking roster on both sides of the ball. Veteran Kirk Cousins and defensive stalwarts Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport all left town to sign elsewhere in a fascinating offseason where Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell likely hitched their future in Minnesota to J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner‘s potential. Fans can be encouraged by the Vikings taking home this win, as this is unquestionably the time of year for hope to spring eternal, even if tragedy, calamity, and injury woes are already dogging the Purple before August is over.
Here’s what I noticed from the first preseason game:
J.J. McCarthy was flawed but electric
J.J. Jr. had a great stat line, finishing 11 of 17 with 188 yards in just over two quarters of play. The rookie out of Michigan showed off his cannon, moved well in the pocket, and displayed pinpoint accuracy on most of his throws. However, he struggled in a few critical situations.
First, he misses what should be an easy completion to C.J. Ham on a naked bootleg* to his right:
Nobody blocks the Raiders OLB, as is often the case on nakeds, and he plays it well. He doesn’t take the cheese on the play-action and accelerates towards McCarthy. Despite the rush, this is a short pass and a relatively easy completion for most NFL quarterbacks.
Later, the same thing happens on a similar play to the left:
On this play, the Vegas defender plays it well again. McCarthy looks a bit sped-up and contact-shy, dropping down to a side-arm delivery and throwing another errant pass.
But most glaringly, McCarthy also threw this ill-advised pass:
It doesn’t help McCarthy that a blitzing linebacker steamrolls the running back who’s supposed to be blocking him, collapsing the pocket and forcing McCarthy to roll to his right. Perhaps McCarthy should reasonably expect his receiver to attack the ball and come back aggressively toward the line of scrimmage, but an interception is an interception and never good.
Later, McCarthy flirts with a turnover again:
The officials later ruled this an incomplete pass, but no coach likes to see their quarterback put the ball on the ground.
However, McCarthy displayed some brilliance. He spent a lot of the day looking like the type of mobile big-armed QB that leads to winning in the NFL. His rookie side did show through in his first in-game appearance. These are the little things that make coaches bring their rookie QBs along slower than rabid fanbases would like. It’s more than likely that nuances like these will be a big part of the focus of much of McCarthy’s training going forward. Vikings fans who want to see their rookie QB early in the season can take solace in Sam Darnold looking quite solid in his one drive (4/8, 59 yards).
Of course, now the looming question is whether or not McCarthy’s meniscus injury will require a few weeks of recovery or the majority of the season, delaying his both his development and the gratification of fans eager to see their new franchise guy in action.
Dallas Turner is freaky good
Vikings defensive rookie Dallas Turner is a freak of nature. Those worried that Minnesota gave up too much to get him had their fears assuaged on his first play:
Turner lined up in an outside shade on Raiders TE Brock Bowers, a potential rookie phenom, and Vegas ran an inside zone in their direction. At the snap, Turner snapped Bowers’ head back and moved him backward. He then proceeded to make the tackle for only a four-yard gain. Keep in mind that in this defensive alignment, Dallas likely has edge contain responsibilities, and his secondary responsibility is an inside run. This is a phenomenal play.
Turner was good all day, winning most of his one-on-one battles and applying consistent pressure to the Raiders QB in passing situations.
Later, he did this:
What’s most impressive about this is who he is doing this against. Andrus Peat is a former 1st-round pick who is a three-time All-Pro. Dallas Turner looks like he’s going to be a problem for opposing offenses, and I can’t wait to see how Brian Flores finds ways to get him loose.
Corner battle
Much has been made of Minnesota’s misfortune at cornerback. Whether it’s bad luck in the draft, horrific misfortune off the field, or a rash of injuries, the Vikings just can’t seem to catch a break at one of the most important positions in today’s pass-happy league. This is on a defense that did not fare that well in 2023 and relies heavily upon their DBs in their frequent man-to-man coverages.
Byron Murphy had a particularly rough first drive, first whiffing poorly as an unblocked defender on a simple bubble screen:
That prompted the Raiders to run a play that attacked the exact same area immediately:
This time, Akayleb Evans came up and made an excellent play. It can’t be easy for Byron, in the middle of battling for playing time and/or a starting spot, to see such a drastic difference in results on an ironically similar play.
Then this happened:
It is very possible that this is not Murphy’s fault because the Vikings will most likely switch this underneath criss-cross route by the Raiders later in the season. However, Cam Bynum was in the slot, and Byron and Cam have played together before. Suffice it to say that there is ample work to be done in Minnesota’s CB room.
*An earlier version of this post identified this play as a rollout. We regret the error.
