Patriots at Vikings: Game Recap

Full game recap posted over at Vikings Journal. There’s a lot to recap, but some quick hits:

  • On the outside, Matt Kalil was abysmal. Giving up several sacks and pressure, Kalil had perhaps the worst game of his career. Typically not a sustained worry if a tackle happens to have a bad game, this continues the trend of subpar play since his rookie year, which is increasingly long ago. He perhaps put in the worst performance of the day.
  • Despite abysmal play by the interior offensive line last week from the Patriots, the Vikings couldn’t find ways to create pressure with their front four. Sharrif Floyd and Linval Joseph were both quiet in the game, and it wasn’t until Tom Johnson arrived that interior pressure manifested itself, not just with a sack but with pressure. Linval Joseph couldn’t get off his blocks as quickly as he did last week and Floyd was quiet.
  • While it normally is a rather perfunctory note, special teams played a big role in the Vikings loss, with a few of Jeff Locke’s punts, a 57-yard boomer aside, causing issues in the field position battle. With that, Ellison—despite his good blocking in plays from scrimmage—was the one who gave up Jones’ unreal block, scoop and score on the field goal try. In one punt return attempt, the Vikings only had nine men on the field.

Check out the full recap over there.

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