Can’t Cry in Your Beer—Vikings Lose Opener to Tampa Bay
Mike Woldum
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Vikings Territory Breakdown
Well, there will be no beer sold the rest of the season at U.S. Bank Stadium . . . because the Vikings lost the opener. (Okay, that’s an old joke and is likely stale, but not as stale as the taste of this loss.) The Vikings were beaten by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17 on the home turf and it already puts them behind the eight-ball in the NFC North. The work to clean up this mess up begins yesterday since the Vikings travel to Philly to play the Eagles on Thursday Night Football.
The mess referred to is three turnovers (two in the redzone) in the first half of the game kept a struggling Bucs stay in the game and eventually come back and win it. The Vikings had some good moments on defense early, but they didn’t make enough to win the game. The offensive line was troublesome in the first half (contributing mightily to two of the turnovers) and never really were good enough to help them rally late.
Justin Jefferson has a big game (nine receptions for 150 yards); T.J. Hockenson had eight catches (for only 35 yards); and Jordan Addison made four catches in his first game as a pro (including a 39-yard touchdown reception), Alexander Mattison made a nice run on a touchdown catch and Kirk Cousins put up some nice stats (33 of 44 for 344 yards, two touchdown passes and rating of 102.8). But JJ didn’t find the endzone and got caught few balls in the second half; Hockenson caught two passes for losses in two three-and-outs late in the game; Mattison and the running game never really got going and Cousins had a hand in on the three turnovers—although it is hard to blame him for any of them.
There is much to discuss in this one and it has to happen soon, so we can flush this one and focus on the Eagles. The Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast fellas (Joe Oberle from Vikings Territory and purplePTSD and Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and startribune.com) are on hand to do exactly that. Tune in, check it out, throw your purple foam brick and then look for a beer somewhere else than at U.S. Bank this week (perhaps at Mankato Brewery!).
Listen to Vikings Territory Breakdown here or on you favorite podcast network.
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