image courtesy of Vikings.com
Despite Dalvin Cook, Anthony Barr, and a few other big names not taking the field last Saturday. But Captain Kirk did, and the Vikings put up the highest numbers in preseason Week 1 with their 48 to 28 trouncing of the Broncos.
Cousins opened up against the Broncos going 4 for 4 and then putting a little cherry on top with a touchdown. But this is what we expect from the new franchise guy. What was almost better was seeing both ex-Denver QBs Kyle Sloter and Trevor Siemian go to work against their former team. Sloter went 9/11 and rushed for a touchdown while Siemian went 11 for 17 dropping in two scores against one interception. Sure, Denver wasn’t running with their best defensive unit, but what I take away from this is that the Vikings QB situation is better than it has been in a long, long time. If Capt. Kirk needs a breather; we have a pair of guys who can step in and be productive.
When we check the NFL odds for Preseason Week 2, we find that the Vikings are 4.5-point favorites at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After the offensive performance that the Purple and Gold showed in Week 1, it surprises me that this line hasn’t moved closer to 6.
Even though this is still preseason football, this game should be exciting because it is the top two defenses in the league going head to head. But this also makes the game harder to predict. Preseason football is a strange beast some coaches just want to rotate as many players as possible to evaluate and care nothing about winning, and other coaches do want to win … or at least have a history of winning during certain weeks of preseason ball. This is why it is more important to assess the coaches than the roster when trying to figure out who is going to win a preseason matchup.
Mike Zimmer
2014 – a win against the Cardinals 28-30
2015 – a win against Raiders 12-20
2016 – a win against Seahawks 18-11
2017 – a loss against Seahawks 13-20
Doug Marrone
2013 – a win against Vikings 16-20 (Bills)
2014 – a loss to Steelers 16-19 (Bills)
2016 – a loss to Buccaneers 27-21 (Jags)
2017 – a loss to Buccaneers 12-8 (Jags)
The short and skinny of it is that Zimmer is 3 and 1 in Week 2 of Preseason play, while Marrone is 1-3. It is a small sample size, but the trend is already making itself apparent. Mike Zimmer likes to win in Week 2. And with the new-found depth on offense, I think the Vikings are going to do just that.
The Jags picked up Cody Kessler in the offseason to add some much-needed depth to their QB roster, so there will be some talent coming out on the field even if they don’t play Blake Bortles at all on Saturday. We are likely to see a lot of Tanner Lee, and that bodes well for the Vikings.
As far as other skill positions are concerned, we will probably only see Leonard Fournette in a limited capacity, along with T.J Yeldon. Most of the touches will go to Corey Grant, Tim Cook, and Brandon Wilds so that Marrone can keep working out his 53-man roster. The same can be said for the receiving corps. Guys like Marqise Lee and Keelan Cole will probably be limited, letting the guys like DeAndre Smelter, Dorren Miller, Montay Crockett, and Allen Lazard duke it out for spots on the roster.
I expect Doug Marrone to be fiddling and fussing with his personnel on Saturday and he doesn’t seem to care too much about winning in week 2 of preseason play. On the other hand, Zimmer does care about winning in the second week of preseason
Prediction: Vikings win by double-digits