A slow start and a tough penalty call ultimately doomed the Minnesota Vikings on the road at New Orleans. Being unable to finish drives and not get key stops contributed greatly as Minnesota felt to 1-2 on the season with Sunday's 20-9 loss to the Saints.
The Vikings will be able to take some positives from the loss, but have enough questions that they were dealt another loss and face another important week.
Here's how Minnesota graded out in each phase in Sunday's loss:
Pass offense: D
The beginning of the Teddy Bridgewater era likely began Sunday. Quarterback Matt Cassel was injured after going 5-of-10 passing for 53 yards. Coach Mike Zimmer said Cassel broke his foot, which means Cassel is out for the foreseeable future. Bridgewater, the rookie first-round draft pick, got his first regular-season action. By the time Cassel is ready to return, Bridgewater might not give the job back.
Bridgewater had his moments Sunday, including a couple of big passes and a key called run on a third-down. Bridgewater, forced into action in a loud environment, seemed composed and finished 12 of 20 for 150 passing yards. He was pressured by New Orleans, escaping defenders a few times and being sacked twice.
Ultimately, Cassel and Bridgewater didn't do enough to beat the Saints in the Superdome. Minnesota had to settle for three field goals and didn't score a touchdown. The Vikings were 6 of 15 on third downs, including 2 of 6 in the second half. Cassel and Bridgewater didn't commit any turnovers, but tallied a net 188 passing yards against the team that entered the week as the worst passing defense.
Run offense: F
Cassel had a 5-yard run, and broke his foot while being tackled. Bridgewater ran the ball six times for 27 yards and picked up a first down on a 9-yard designed run. The rest of the team ran for 27 yards. Minnesota finished with 22 runs for 59 yards, a 2.7-yard average as it struggles for any semblance of a running game without Adrian Peterson.
Matt Asiata started and 12 carries for 35 yards, a 2.9-yard average. Rookie Jerick McKinnon didn't see the field as much as expected and ran for minus-1 total yards on two carries. Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson got the ball on one carry, losing seven yards on an end-around. Bridgewater could use help from the running game as he learns on the fly.
Pass defense: C
Facing one of the league's top quarterbacks for the second consecutive week, Minnesota had no answer for Drew Brees and the Saints early. New Orleans, with a mix of runs and passes, marched down the field on its first two drives, going 162 total yards and scoring two touchdowns. Drew Brees finished with 293 yards passing for two touchdowns and completed 27 of 35 passes.
The Vikings did make some adjustments and held the Saints to 66 total yards and five first downs on the next four drives. New Orleans had seven first downs on the opening drive alone. Brees is one of the more difficult quarterbacks in the league to pressure and sack, and Sunday was the same. Minnesota got just one sack on Sunday and Brees moved effectively around the pocket even as the Vikings began to find ways to pressure him.
Of course, the big blow was on a sack that was negated. Brees was sandwiched between Captain Munnnerlyn and Robert Blanton, and Munnerlyn bent back and slammed Brees to the ground and was called for unnecessary roughness. The penalty negated the sack on a third-down play, extended the drive for New Orleans which ended in a touchdown to, essentially, seal the game. Rookie Anthony Barr had his first career sack.
Run defense: B
After Minnesota's defense had success in the middle of the game, Brees and the Saints were able salt the game away. But this game wasn't about Brees' brilliance. Brees was good, but New Orleans offense was at its best when the running game was working. The Saints were without starting running back Mark Ingram.
The first two drives succeeded because Ingram's replacement, Khiry Robinson, and Pierre Thomas were effective running the ball. The final drive, in which New Orleans ran out the final 6 minutes, 58 seconds was Robinson's time. Robinson had eight carries for 26 yards on the final drive. Brees completed three passes on the drive, but two were on third down for first downs. In all, the Saints were 9 of 13 on third downs.
Robinson had 18 carries for 69 yards and Thomas had eight carries for 30 yards as New Orleans ran the ball 32 times for 108 yards, a 3.4-yard average.
Special teams: A
Coordinator Mike Priefer returned this week and the special teams were status quo Sunday. Special teams did their job but didn't have any explosive plays from the returners. Patterson had four kickoff returns for 120 yards, with a long of 43 yards. Punt returner Marcus Sherels had four returns for 11 yards.
Walsh was perfect on his three field-goal attempts and had touchbacks on all four kickoffs. Punter Jeff Locke had a 45.3-yard average on four punts, with a long of 57 yards.
Overall: D
A difficult week was followed by a tough loss but the Vikings will take some positives after recovering from the first quarter when New Orleans appeared ready for a rout.
Minnesota showed improvement in some areas, particularly on defense. But the slow start defensively and settling for three field goals weren't going to be enough Sunday, even without the Munnerlyn roughing call.
A week that was filled with distractions regarding Peterson's status and the release of receiver Jerome Simpson finished with a loss and a focus on rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. It's Bridgewater's time now and the Vikings go forward at 1-2 with their rookie quarterback, while also dealing with injuries to linebacker Chad Greenway, tight end Kyle Rudolph, guard Brandon Fusco and cornerback Josh Robinson, who all left Sunday's game early.
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