National Football League

Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers: Week 2 review and grades

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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What grades were earned during the 112th matchup of the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers? And what might happen against Carolina in week 3?

Sep 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford (8) is pressured by Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews (52) during the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Trading a first round draft pick for a former Heisman Trophy winner who has battled 2 serious injuries, and whose potential never seemed to full materialize in the NFL seemed like a reach to many in the analyst community. It was considered a desperate reach and a blind faith prayer, even though Sam Bradford was the best player available in a thin crop of players capable of being an NFL starting QB.

Sometimes blind faith gets repaid tenfold. On Sunday a QB who has only been a Viking for 14 days

out dueled a QB who has been an almost untouchable standard of QB for over a decade. In every statistical category Sam Bradford looked every bit the top draft pick he was touted to be, as he walked all over Aaron Rodgers statistics en route to throwing for more yards than any other Vikings QB in their debut game.

The Green Bay Packers saw their last lead dissipate with 10:14 remaining in the second quarter and the Minnesota Vikings never looked back. It was a tense fight back and forth as the Vikings punted a half-dozen times, and it seemed the Packers turned the ball over almost a half-dozen times. Almost if not more painful as the final interception by Trae Waynes was, Mike Mccarthy”s choice to go for it on 4th and 2 instead of going for an almost sure field goal, turning the ball over and providing the 3 point margin that separated a Viking win from OT and who knows what else would have happened in the extra frame.

The only dark cloud looming over the Minnesota Vikings camp, is the injury to Adrian Peterson and even that comes with a silver lining. The injury that people feared could have been the Minnesota Vikings second season ending knee injury of the year was only minor, and will require a minimal amount of recovery time. At least the loss of Peterson is cushioned by the fact that Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon are more than capable of shouldering the load until AP can make it back on the field.

Border battle 112 was far from a perfect showing by the Minnesota Vikings by any means. It was though, an indicator of a team with a lot of grit and determination. Going in to the last Green Bay Packer drive, this drive had the feeling of many other Green Bay Packer drives that were orchestrated by Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre before him, where somehow more often than not those drives end in touchdowns it seems. In the end it was retribution for Trae Waynes, sealing the Minnesota Vikings victory with an interception.

Every week I will look at my keys to the season and grade how we fared in those categories. Let’s start with offense.

Sep 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford (8) smiles following the game against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Packers 17-14. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The QB situation – Grade: A

Sam Bradford came in and completed 22 of 31 passes for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns in his Minnesota Vikings debut for a QB rating of 121.2. This grade may seem high but considering the circumstances of stepping on to the field after being a Viking for only 14 days, opening up a brand new billion dollar stadium packed with over 60,000 fans, and to top it all off to have the game be against the Minnesota Vikings biggest rival, the Green Bay Packers, it makes the performance of Sam Bradford all the more special. It may arguably be his most impressive game as a pro. For only being a Minnesota Viking for 2 weeks he appeared in rhythm with his receivers, completing passes to 7 different receivers, most notably showing a connection with our star WR Stefon Diggs with 9 completions for 182 yards and a touchdown throw perfectly placed over the top right down the middle of the field.

The O-Line performance – Grade: D-

The only part of the Vikings team to take a noticeable step back was the offensive line. I have no doubts that the boys up front will get it together, as they will have to go up against the ultra talented Carolina Panthers D-Line and linebackers. Not only this week did they fail to open up running lanes, they stood idly by as AP and Sam Bradford got tossed around by Clay Matthews, Jake Ryan and the rest of the Packers. During the offseason it was a topic of conversation that the Minnesota Vikings have one of the most expensive O-Lines in the NFL and with the price tag that high its safe to expect much more out of this group. Alex Boone made comments on the level of crowd noise when the offense is on the field, at home it is supposed to be to your advantage to work on the field in a quieter atmosphere while letting the crowd noise affect the opposing teams defense, but it was US Bank stadium game #1 and it was of course going to be hyped up. The O-Line needs to be better this week, no sugar-coating here, the Carolina Panthers fans aren’t gonna care about the be quiet memo, I’m guessing its gonna be tough sledding to start for the offense but I’m confident the line can pull it together.

Sep 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) carries the ball and is injured on the play during the third quarter against the Green Bay Packers at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Packers 17-14. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Adrian Peterson – Grade: D

Not trying to add insult to injury, literally, but the theme again for the Minnesota Vikings rushing attack was, FAILURE TO LAUNCH. Be it the O-Lines inability to block, too much dancing at the line of scrimmage, or in some cases a brilliant defensive effort from the Packers defense, a rushing attack never materialized.

This season though has reached a pivot point where now we have a QB who can make our WR’s require more attention. That means no more stacking the line, and thankfully in backups Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata we have 2 competent and complimentary backups to Adrian Peterson.

Yes, in this game, like the Tennessee Titans game before it, Green Bay sold out on the run, but Bradford did soften the defense by the end of the game. If the Vikings want any chance to play the spoiler in Carolina they will need to be multi-dimensional offensively.

The ball hawking defense – Grade: B+

It was another great performance for the Vikings defense allowing only 2 touchdowns to an offense that sits firmly as one of the most consistently strong offenses year in and year out. The thing about being great in the Minnesota Vikings defense is now seeing how great they can be, and that is where the expectations come from. The defense was all over Rodgers all game long registering 5 sacks, and forcing 3 turnovers.

In previous seasons, this would have been another grade A showing but the couple of flaws in this game could have had more of an impact. I will say that Trae Waynes, as rough as a game as he had, came up with the ultimate retribution in the 4th Quarter when it mattered the most. The young man had a rough game, but as they say, it’s not how you start a game, it’s how you finish it.

Minnesota forced a couple of fumbles they didn’t recover but the one that stands out is the one that Captain Munnerlyn reached down for but chose to only reach for and not fall on. The other play they left on the table was the interception that was dropped by Terrence Newman, on a play that looked like the Malcolm Butler Super Bowl sealing interception a couple of years back. Yes, its being picky, but to be elite those are the things that when shored up will separate a Playoff team from a Super Bowl team.

Sep 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Fans enter U.S. Bank Stadium before its inaugural game between the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Special teams – Grade: A-

No missed kicks for Blair Walsh, a couple of exceptional punts for Jeff Locke on a day he punted a half-dozen times, great kickoff coverage, and a second game with an exceptional kick return by Cordarrelle Patterson highlighted a game where controlling field position was like another game within the game. The only negative was the blocked punt early in the game but in the end that was truly the only blemish the entire game for the Minnesota Vikings special teams unit.

The fans – Grade: A+

The Minnesota Vikings fans proved how powerful of a home field advantage US Bank stadium will provide. It was loud in there and the purple faithful showed up in droves, to drown out any and all of the Packer backers hoping to be there if Green Bay could manage a spoiler. It didn’t go down like that and even more so to the point Sunday Night Football dominated viewership Sunday night even over the usually popular Emmy awards!

Overall Grade against the Packers: B+

Well the Green Bay Packer game was a close tight affair but when it came down to making the necessary plays, Minnesota made more of them when it mattered. For the second game of the season, it really looks like the team is starting to fire on all cylinders.

It’s a pretty safe bet that the Packers have already eyed up the rematch in Lambeau on Saturday December 24th. Aaron Rodgers himself has stated that he hopes that the Packers still have something to play for come week 16. As Vikings fans hopefully they are playing for the Wildcard!

Week 3 at the Carolina Panthers

Well if ever there is a barometer of how far a team has come, it’s taking on the team that currently is at the top of the NFC, Last years NFC Champion Carolina Panthers and NFL MVP Cam Newton. A win would solidify the Vikings as a top 3 NFC team, a close loss would be a moral victory knowing we had them where we wanted them, and a blowout would show the Vikings the areas they can improve on in this young developing season. When torn on a prediction here is two:

In my heart: Vikings 35 – Panthers 28. In my head: Panthers 45 – Vikings 35