Vikings Territory Breakdown – Vikings Bungle the Bengals Game – VIDEO
Joe Oberle
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We’re back with another Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast with Mark Craig, Vikings writer for Star Tribune Newspaper and StarTribune.com, giving us the lowdown on all that went right (very little), wrong (we might need a second podcast to cover it), and sideways in Cincinnati. The Vikings got beat in overtime 27-24, and a winnable game went by the wayside thanks to a very poor performance by the Purple.
In the first segment of the podcast, Craig and myself (your humble host with a new and most prodigious microphone designed to put out some better sound) diagnose and analyze a Vikings squad that started very slowly on offense (marching backward over and over before they ever started going forward) and good on defense and then flipped flopped as the game wore on. The special teams had some nice moments (and head coach Mike Zimmer couldn’t really complain about their performance for once), but it all added up to three points shy of a victory that the Bengals tried like heck to hand to the Vikings.
In the second segment, we look ahead to next Sunday’s Cardinals game in Arizona, which is looking like it will be a tough test for Minnesota. The Cards shut down running back Derrick Henry of a decent Tennessee Titans team and look to do the same against Dalvin Cook and his struggling offensive line.
But before we preview the Cards game, we look back at a very interesting interview of Mike Zimmer by Mark Craig in the Strib last weekend. You should check it out and be sure to hear what Mark has to say about his annual sit-down with Zim.
In the final segment of the VT Breakdown, we discuss the NFL as a whole, picking apart the big storylines from opening weekend and trying to figure what is coming next. And you want to miss Craig looking back at the Packers’ debacle in Jacksonville. The Packers were Mark’s pick to win the Super Bowl this season, and a pitiful performance by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers put Craig in a pickle trying to figure out what went wrong with a Green Bay team that looked anything but Super.
As a result, the Vikings are in first place (thanks to tie-breakers) in the NFC North due to every team losing on opening weekend—and if the season ended today (which it doesn’t), this Minnesota-Arizona game would be the first-round playoff game. (So, you’re saying there’s a chance.) You don’t want to miss the game this weekend, and you don’t want to miss the VT Breakdown, where we analyze it all for you. See you then.
Watch or listen to Vikings Territory Breakdown Wednesdays.