Minnesota Vikings: 5 Winners and Losers from Preseason Week 2

With two preseason games under their belts, the Minnesota Vikings are looking like a team that is slowly putting it all together. Last week's contest with the Seahawks gave a little insight into that claim.

As we did last week, we're going to take a look at the winners and losers of this contest, with a heavy favor towards a lot of winners this week.

Let's see why.

1. Vikings Depth: Winners

In my personal opinion, the more preseason focus you can get on your second and third string the better, considering just how important the depth chart really is.

The Vikings first string, despite a terribly slow and halted start, was able to reach their minimum number of plays, which afforded the coaching staff the ability to take an extended look at the second and third string.

Tristan Davis, Marcus Sherels and Adrian Awasom were the leaders of this group.

Davis exploded for a 35-yard TD run, Sherels had an interception returned for 64 yards and a TD and Awasom sealed the night with a game-ending sack.

2. Vikings Defense: Winners

Obviously the goal line stand is the grand mention here, but from a fundamental standpoint, the defense just looked very sharp for being so early in the season.

The corners showed great execution in keeping their men to the shoulder, and were making their turnarounds a lot sharper than Week 1. The D-line was getting pressure up front and flushing out the QB and the linebackers were very responsive, despite being a bit rusty off the snap.

All-in-all, the D looked very solid which was reassuring to watch.

3. Seahawks Offense: Losers

For the second straight game in a row, the only person on the Seattle offense that really looked good was QB Charlie Whitehurst, which is something Seattle fans have to be happy about.

The trouble is, they also must be frustrated with the rest of the offense.

The O-line looked shaky, the receivers need a lot more seasoning, and the ground game looked stagnate, which is pretty similar to Seattle’s first preseason game.

Whitehurst, on the other hand, looked incredibly crisp once again and is making a case for himself to be the undisputed starter this season.

This offense has a lot of talent, but looks to be a about another week or two away from becoming congruent.

4. Vikings Offense: Winners

On the flip side, the Vikings offense showed a lot of consistency and focus in this contest despite missing Harvin and Shank, among others.

I would’ve liked to see more than one series from McNabb, but here we are.

Otherwise, Peterson looked better this time around, the receivers responded well to the limited but specific use, and the second string looked fantastic.

Mr. Booker, I'm looking your way!

5. Bill Musgrave: Winner

There was more emphasis on the running backs than on the receivers in this contest for sure, but it is also the first real go at Bill Musgrave’s new implementation, and it went over swimmingly.

God I hate that word.

The running backs were utilized heavily in the passing game as well as the ground game, and so were the TEs. If you paid close enough attention, you could see what the coaching staff was doing here.

You also should’ve gotten a nice preview of what’s to come.

If the Vikings can find this type—or even better—execution in this offensive system like they did against Seattle, they will be very difficult to deal with.

The Vikings next matchup will be against the Cowboys.

Make sure to check back to the Vikings page regularly, and especially on Thursday when I break down the Vikings' next contest against the Cowboys.