Minnesota Vikings vs. St. Louis Rams: Full Report Card Grades for Minnesota
OK, nobody is going to confuse the St. Louis Rams with the Seattle Seahawks, but the Minnesota Vikings' 34-6 beat down of the Rams in St. Louis was quite impressive nonetheless.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer gets his first career victory, and Minnesota already has more road wins this year than they did in all of 2013.
"Congrats to #Vikings Mike Zimmer on first victory as NFL head coach. Long overdue
— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) September 7, 2014"
There will be a lot of that sentiment from people who've been around the league for a while, as Zimmer has been one of the most-respected coordinators in the league for years and he finally gets his shot at a head job with the Vikings.
So far so good.
Again, it would be easy to say that the main takeaway from this game is how pitiful the Rams are, but you know what? Good football teams beat up on bad ones, and that's exactly what the Vikings did Sunday.
For a team that is desperately searching for a new identity after three lost years under Leslie Frazier, sticking it to the Rams is the biggest step forward yet for Zimmer, who's creating a new culture in Minnesota.
Expect to win? That didn't happen much under Frazier. The Rams were favored to win today's game, but the Vikings went to St. Louis completely expecting to win and they went out and did so in a dominating fashion.
The Vikings defense, a punchline in 2013, was dominant all afternoon. The Rams finished with 318 total yards but got 108 of those on their last two drives when the game was already a rout.
Yes, the Rams offense was putrid and their quarterbacks were Shaun Hill and Austin Davis, but that doesn't mean the Vikings didn't do what they needed to do.
The Rams knew they were in quarterback trouble and planned to run the ball against Minnesota. The Vikings stuffed the run all day, allowing the Rams just 72 yards rushing and a long rush of seven yards.
While the defense carried the day, the player of the game was Cordarrelle Patterson, the Vikings dazzling second-year receiver. Patterson, a receiver and kick-returner, had pedestrian numbers in those pursuits, but he threw up 102 rushing yards in just three attempts.
His video-game, 67-yard touchdown run in the third quarter blew the game open and announced Patterson as one of the very best offensive talents in the NFL.
The margin of victory in this one is very important as the Vikings head toward a very tough four-game stretch. The big win lets the Vikings believe they are a very good football team.
In order to beat good football teams, you have to believe you're a good team yourself, and the Vikings have given themselves every reason to believe that.
Bring on the New England Patriots.
Quarterback
1 of 10
As bad as the St. Louis Rams proved to be on Sunday, their defensive front four is no joke. It's one of the best units in the league, and they were in Matt Cassel's face all afternoon.
The fact that they only registered one sack is a testament to both Cassel and his offensive line.
So any description of Cassel's performance on Sunday has to factor in that he was playing against perhaps the best defensive line he'll see all season long.
Having said that, Cassel wasn't spectacular, but he did everything he needed to do to get the win.
He finished 17-of-25 for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns. More important than any of those numbers is the fact that he didn't throw any interceptions. It was clear very early on in this football game that the Vikings were the better team and that the only way they would lose is if they shot themselves in the foot.
They didn't.
To say that Vikings teams over the last four seasons have shot themselves in the foot a lot would be an understatement.
Cassel got better as the game wore on. He started out a little shaky, mostly because of the Rams constant pressure. Once Cassel settled in and got used to the short amount of time he'd have in the pocket, he started getting rid of the ball quicker.
His throws were accurate and delivered with some mustard. He made very few, if any, dumb throws, and his touchdown throws to Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph were both right on the money.
Cassel's final numbers are on the modest side, but his performance was not.
Grade: B+
Running Back
2 of 10
Well here's a tricky grade.
The Vikings best rusher on Sunday was a wide receiver, and we're going to talk about his output in the receiver slide, so this grade will be just the running backs.
We'll start by saying that not a lot of teams are going to rush for 186 yards against that Rams defense this year. Their front four is just too good for that.
Obviously, the lion's share of that went to Cordarrelle Patterson, and the Rams won't face another player like him this year.
For the mere mortals (and how bizarre that that's a segue to get to Adrian Peterson?), there wasn't a lot of room to roam. Peterson finished with 75 yards on 21 carries. That's his lowest output ever on opening day.
It was an odd game for Peterson, as he had three or fewer yards on 13 of his 21 carries, including six carries that resulted in minus-14 yards. So that leaves roughly 90 yards rushing on his other 15 carries, which would have been a very good game.
All in all, it was a pedestrian game for Peterson, but he certainly looked on the verge of breaking off a long run, especially early in the game. The 13 carries for three yards or less is sort of concerning, but we can write that off to the Rams having a really good front seven.
Not one of the more memorable games for the Vikings running backs. Unless, of course, you want to talk about that No. 84 guy.
Grade: B-
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Here's thinking that by the end of the 2014 season there are going to be 26 teams that are absolutely kicking themselves for not drafting Cordarrelle Patterson in the 2013 draft.
First among those teams will be the Rams and the Houston Texans, who both took wide receivers ahead of Patterson. Is anyone willing to bet that Tavon Austin and DeAndre Hopkins are going to have better careers than Patterson?
We're going to run out of adjectives pretty quickly when trying to describe Patterson's play. He's the made-up video game player who can basically do whatever he wants with the football.
Patterson had two carries in the first quarter that got Vikings fans out of their seats, gaining 12 yards and then 23 yards, while looking like he might explode on both runs.
He was just warming up.
Patterson's third carry came near the end of the third quarter, and this is when every light on the pinball machine lit up. This was the grand finale at any fireworks show you've ever been at. This was the eighth-grader playing against fifth-graders.
Patterson is a scary combination of size, speed and running ability. As big and fast as he is, it's that third trait that makes him special. There are very few people who can run like Patterson does. He knows how to set up his cuts, and then he can execute those cuts without slowing down one iota.
As silly as it is to say this, it needs to be said: We've seen that before out of Patterson. It's completely amazing, and we hope to see it all season long, but he's already had a career's worth of those highlight-reel runs in just 17 games.
What we didn't see last year was Patterson playing receiver with any nuance. He caught quick-hitters and let his running take over. In the second quarter against the Rams, Patterson caught an out pattern that he turned into a 13-yard gain. Not much in the huge scope of things, but it was a timing pattern that was executed perfectly.
If Patterson becomes a receiver who can catch balls all over the field, he's going to be the MVP of the league.
Greg Jennings had six catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Rudolph had two catches for 16 yards and a touchdown. Jarius Wright had two catches for 25 yards.
Cassel spread the ball around to seven different receivers for a very efficient 170 yards in the face of great pressure.
There were a couple of drops, but other than that it was a very solid day for the Vikings receiving corps.
Toss in that video game guy, and the grade is a no-brainer.
Grade: A
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
We'll preface all of this by saying the Vikings offensive line might not see a better front four than the Rams' all season long.
Having said that, there were still too many negative yardage plays, too little time to throw and too many offsides penalties.
With all of those complaints, you'd think they were awful, and that's not near the truth. They gave up just one sack, and that was off of a snap that Cassel didn't know was coming.
Matt Kalil had two offsides penalties in the first half. Charlie Johnson gave up a tackle for loss to Robert Quinn, but he was clearly confused on the play as he stood up and looked at Cassel instead of blocking.
All in all, they gave up just one sack, none to sack-monster Quinn, and just four QB hits. They have to improve on the five tackles for loss, but again, the Rams have an awesome front.
The Vikings won 34-6 on the road—everyone is getting a good grade.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
So Jared Allen's replacement is on pace for 32 sacks.
What can you say about a defense that holds an NFL offense to a pair of field goals? Suffice it to say that none of the top eight tacklers in Sunday's game were Vikings starters in 2013.
Linval Joseph had five solo tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. Everson Griffen had two sacks. Tom Johnson had a sack and a pair of tackles. Sharrif Floyd had a tackle for loss and was a disruptive force all afternoon.
Six quarterback hits from the defensive linemen. The Rams rushed for just 72 yards and only averaged 3.3 yards per rush.
What was best about the Vikings defensive line is that it felt like everybody was contributing an equal amount. Jospeh, Floyd and Johnson were terrific at the point of attack. Griffen flashed several times and looks like he could indeed be the explosive player the Vikings hope he will become.
Yes, this performance might have to have an asterisk beside it because they were playing against Shaun Hill and Austin Davis, but you can only play against the people in front of you.
The Vikings defensive line was dominant.
Grade: A
Linebacker
6 of 10
Did you ever think the Vikings linebackers could get an "A" grade with Chad Greenway recording just two tackles?
Me neither.
Rookie Anthony Barr tied for the team lead with seven tackles. Jasper Brinkley and Gerald Hodges both chipped in with five.
The most remarkable thing about the Vikings linebackers on Sunday is that they played with speed. When was the last time you heard that about Minnesota's linebackers?
Shaun Hill completed a third-down dump off in the second quarter that would have resulted in a first down against past Vikings teams, but Jasper Brinkley closed hard and make a solid tackle, forcing the Rams to punt.
Barr's first tackle as an NFL player was on a quick-hitter to Tavon Austin that is designed to let Austin take off, but Barr closed immediately and shoved him out of bounds for no gain. Hodges made several nice plays running people down.
The Vikings linebackers played with speed. What a concept.
Grade: A
Secondary
7 of 10
That's now six career interceptions for Harrison Smith, and he's taken three of them back for touchdowns.
Smith's 81-yard interception return was the highlight of the day for a Vikings defense that completely dominated the Rams offense. He also threw in a wicked sack and will quickly be in the conversation about the best safeties in the league.
Josh Robinson, who was much maligned in 2013 while playing out of position, once again looked like the speedy playmaker that showed some much potential during his rookie season in 2012. Robinson had an interception and two passes defended.
Newly minted starter Robert Blanton led the team with seven tackles and showed everyone why the coaches were so high on him early on in training camp. Blanton and Smith could really develop into an excellent safety pair for the Vikings.
Captain Munnerlyn and Xavier Rhodes were both physical and disruptive on the outside and never let the Rams passing game get untracked.
Things will look a whole lot different next week when Minnesota is defending against the passing of Tom Brady. They looked ready for the challenge today.
Grade: A
Special Teams
8 of 10
It's kind of a small miracle that the Rams let Cordarrelle Patterson return two kickoffs and he didn't make them pay for it.
Maybe he was too busy making their defense pay.
Absolutely nothing to complain about for the Vikings special teams.
Blair Walsh nailed both his long field-goal attempts, hitting from 52 and 46 yards to get the Vikings their first six points. The Rams were able to return just one kickoff, and the coverage unit did their job.
Jeff Locke was excellent on his five punts, averaging 47.4 yards per kick, and the coverage unit was excellent, limiting the dangerous Tavon Austin to just a 4.8-yard average on five returns.
The highlight was a instruction-reel play on how to cover punts by Rhett Ellison, who rumbled down the field and swallowed Austin up for a three-yard loss.
As close to perfect as you can get without any returns to speak of.
Grade: A
Coaching
9 of 10
A huge congratulations to head coach Mike Zimmer on a dominant win in his long-overdue debut as an NFL head coach.
You hear it all the time in football, but it's absolutely true: Good teams whip bad teams. They don't monkey around with them and give them hope that they can sneak out a win against a better team.
The Vikings left zero doubt as to whom the better team was on Sunday. They played an inferior team and they cleaned their clocks. That is exactly what good teams are supposed to do.
The Vikings defense was nearly unrecognizable from the unit that was 31st in the league last year. They were quick to the ball, tackled in bunches and aggressive against the pass. They registered five sacks and two interceptions.
The truth is that this game had an eerily similar feel to many games of the past four seasons deep into the second quarter. The Vikings deserved to have a big lead but could only convert two field goals.
The next score would be very important. If the Rams got it, it was a whole new ball game. If Minnesota got it, they were on their way to a convincing win. Far too many times in the recent past, the Vikings have surrendered that crucial score that swung the momentum away from them.
Not against the Rams. You could almost feel Zimmer willing his team to get the ball in the end zone as the half wore down.
Josh Robinson got a huge pick. Matt Cassel found Greg Jennings in the end zone for a 13-0 lead. Those plays just haven't happened enough over the past four years.
The Vikings were unpredictable on both sides of the ball. They attacked on defense and they mixed things up on offense.
It was an inferior opponent, but you have to whip those teams and the Vikings did just that.
This tweet from Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press, pretty much sums up the general consensus of the Vikings and their fans following Sunday's dominant victory:
"Everson Griffen's post-game moment with Mike Zimmer: "He gave me a dap. I said 'I’m so happy to be here.' He said I’m happy to be here too."
— Brian Murphy (@murphPPress) September 7, 2014 "
Final Grades
10 of 10
Positional Unit Final Grade
QB B+
RB B-
WR/TE A
Offensive Line B
Defensive Line A
Linebacker A
Secondary A
Special Teams A
Coaching A+
Overall Grade A
The Vikings gave the game ball to Zimmer afterward, and it was only fitting. The man has taken on a big reclamation project, and so far every single result has been hit out of the park.
"Zygi Wilf gave Mike Zimmer the game ball afterward.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 7, 2014"
The Rams were worse than anybody thought. The Vikings looked better than anybody thought they would. It's easy to say that the 4-0 preseason record was meaningless, but in this team's case it wasn't. Momentum was built, and it showed in Sunday's easy win.
This team should expect to win football games. That's a huge step forward for a team that looked like they would always find a way to lose in its recent past.
Kudos and bouquets all around. Bring on New England.
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