Patriots vs. Vikings: Twitter Reaction and Full Postgame Quotes

The Minnesota Vikings have fallen to 1-1 after a sobering 30-7 loss to the New England Patriots. For as promising as the Vikings’ play was in Week 1, it was equally disappointing today.

Adrian Peterson and his deactivation is the elephant in the room. After being indicted, booked and released from jail on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child, the Vikings deactivated him from today’s game, per ESPN.com.

Not having their star player changed the dynamic of this game entirely for Minnesota. The entire course of the game was heavily affected by it.

After one drive, though, onlookers might not have known any different. They received the opening kickoff and marched right down the field, scoring on a Matt Asiata touchdown reception.

"

#Vikings just carved up #Patriots D on that 7-play, 80-yard TD drive. Tight ends and running backs running totally free.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 14, 2014"

Matt Cassel got off to a great start as well.

"

Matt Cassel: 4-for-4, 75 yards, touchdown

— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurke_SI) September 14, 2014"

The veteran quarterback’s day quickly went south, though, with an interception on the Vikings’ second offensive drive. He wanted receiver Jarius Wright down the middle of the field but didn’t properly account for safety Devin McCourty.

"

Sad thing about that INT for Cassell, the Patriots weren't even cheating McCourty off Revis. Just awful throw: pic.twitter.com/MD341C2L4E

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) September 14, 2014"

Minnesota’s defense took the field with a full complement of starters after concerns about injuries throughout the week.

"

No surprises on #Vikings starting defense: Blanton, Smith a safety, Rhodes and Munnerlyn at CB. Floyd and Joseph at DT.

— VikingUpdate.com (@VikingUpdate) September 14, 2014"

Tom Brady and the Patriots utilized a lot of play-action passes early on and had immediate success against Minnesota’s secondary.

"

All three of Brady's pass attempts so far have been playaction. #Patriots need deception just to buy him time in the pocket

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 14, 2014"

Fortunately for Brady, his offensive line would more than settle in as the first quarter became the second. The Patriots began moving the ball at will through the air.

Minnesota was forced to be passive about blitzing, knowing it couldn’t match up with all the talent New England could put on the field at receiver. When the Vikings did bring one of their first blitzes, Brady made them pay for it.

"

Vikes show blitz, mics pick up Brady saying "I'm out" as he drops into shotgun and throws TD.

— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) September 14, 2014"

That touchdown was a nine-yard completion to Julian Edelman, who had his way with the Vikings secondary throughout the second quarter.

"

This team doesn't have anyone that can cover Julian Edelman. This is an issue. #Vikings

— The Daily Norseman (@DailyNorseman) September 14, 2014"

"

#Patriots 3-6 on third downs. All converted by Julian Edelman. #Vikings

— Master Tesfatsion (@MasterStrib) September 14, 2014"

Minnesota's secondary was also ravaged by penalties throughout the entire game, especially cornerback Xavier Rhodes.

As Minnesota’s offense began to chase the lead after falling behind 17-7, the course of the game began taking shape.

New England cornerback Darrelle Revis proved invaluable, as the Patriots let him chase Greg Jennings all over the field, effectively shutting down Cassel’s favorite target. Cassel wasn’t dissuaded, however, locking in on a blanketed Jennings and throwing his second interception.

"

Darrelle Revis redeems himself and gets his first interception as a Patriot.

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 14, 2014"

Minnesota’s game plan offensively became more limited as a result of the turnovers. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner was scheming a lot of underneath routes to decrease the time Cassel had to spend in the pocket and hopefully make for easier throws.

"

Shallow cross all day for the Vikings

— Steve Palazzolo (@PFF_Steve) September 14, 2014"

"

In neither game has Matt Cassel shown himself capable of completing passes longer than 10-12 yards.

— Paul Charchian (@PaulCharchian) September 14, 2014"

The limitations in the vertical passing game made the Vikings offense predictable, and the unit began to stall. Even when Cassel had an open Cordarrelle Patterson on a corner route before half, he couldn’t connect. It would cost the Vikings dearly when they had to settle for a field goal.

"

Chandler Jones is a freak. Blocked FG, scoop and 60 yard run for the touchdown. Wow

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 14, 2014"

"

That Patriots touchdown starts with a bad pass by Cassel on third down. That play to Patterson was there to be made.

— Judd Zulgad (@1500ESPNJudd) September 14, 2014"

New England blocking the field-goal attempt and returning it for a touchdown swung the game by 10 points. Minnesota could have gone into half with only a seven-point deficit, hardly alarming considering how it played in the first quarter.

The special teams calamity would continue in the third quarter, however, after the defense forced a Patriots punt.

"

The #Vikings had nine guys on the field on that punt.

— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) September 14, 2014"

"

Don't usually expect the Vikings to be massively outplayed on special teams

— Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL) September 14, 2014"

As a team already being outplayed on both sides of the ball, the Vikings couldn’t afford gaffes in special teams. All of this occurred without suspended special teams coach Mike Priefer.

"

If Mike Priefer is back this week, he's not going to enjoy watching this special teams game film.

— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingESPN) September 14, 2014"

Then, to make matters worse, Cassel threw another interception.

"

Matt Cassel stared down Patterson the whole time. Nice job by Ryan to step in front of the throw, but man, that was bad.

— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) September 14, 2014"

"

Another ugly Casselception. Chants for "TED-DY!" have begun.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 14, 2014"

Twitter joined in on the refrain, calling for the rookie quarterback to get his shot.

"

"TED-DY. TED-DY. TED-DY. TED-DY" #VIKINGS

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) September 14, 2014"

Though Minnesota felt no inclination to pull its veteran quarterback, verdicts of his inadequacy as a starter began to roll in.

"

Matt Cassel is who we thought he was.

— Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) September 14, 2014"

"

Matt Cassel opening drive: 4-4, 75yds, TD. Rest of game: 15-32, 127, 4 INT #Vikings

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) September 14, 2014"

Those numbers tell the story of the Vikings offense from start to finish.

Minnesota’s offensive line also did little to properly protect Cassel. Throughout the game, it was third-year left tackle Matt Kalil who received a majority of the scorn. He deserved it, too.

"

I know the Vikings coaches disagree on this but I think Matt Kalil hasn't been at his best since his rookie year, which is a while ago now..

— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) September 14, 2014"

"

Matt Kalil has looked very bad today. Cassell holding the ball forever and not moving in pocket doesn't help though.

— Cian Fahey (@Cianaf) September 14, 2014"

That lack of synergy between Cassel and his offensive line was evident all game long. He didn’t appear comfortable making throws in the pocket, quickly searching for his check-down options on a large amount of throws.

Having no run game was limiting, of course. The Vikings finished with a paltry 2.8 yards per carry. Matt Asiata became the No. 1 rushing option without Peterson, and the results were predictably poor.

What most didn’t predict was that Norv Turner wouldn’t involve Patterson as a rusher. After his big week to open the season in St. Louis, Turner was content to use the dynamic receiver as a decoy when in the backfield.

"

Is there a reason Cordarrelle Patterson has zero carries?

— Josh Collacchi (@JoshCollacchi) September 14, 2014"

"

If Norv Turner is such an offensive genius, how did Cordarrelle Patterson have no touches in the running game today?

— Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) September 14, 2014"

All in all, it was a mediocre performance from an offense limited by the loss of its star player. That won’t quell the focus on Matt Cassel’s poor performance, though.

"

Coach Zimmer: Today's game was disappointing. I am disappointed that we didn't have any sense of urgency offensively.

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 14, 2014"

The defense was put in difficult positions throughout the game by the offense’s turnovers. The unit was also limited by mismatches the Patriots were able to utilize, so Mike Zimmer was less willing to call blitzes. The most disappointing outcome was that the defensive line failed to make a big impact against a shaky New England offensive line.

Their failings in all three areas of the game will have the Vikings going back to the drawing board.

"

Reality check for the Vikings today.

— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) September 14, 2014"

Some signs indicate Adrian Peterson could be deactivated again in the coming weeks, so the Vikings will have to move on from here. Excuses about distractions won’t be excepted after this week, and Zimmer isn’t interested in using them anyways.

"

Zim: "“No, it didn’t affect the team. You know what affected the team? Throwing INTs, getting a FG blocked, not tackling well enough.”

— VikingUpdate.com (@VikingUpdate) September 14, 2014"

When asked about the quarterback situation, Zimmer was steadfast in his support of Cassel.

"

Cassel will start next week.

— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) September 14, 2014"

Vikings fans who clamor for the Teddy Bridgewater era to begin will have to wait a little longer.

In the meantime, Minnesota has a lot to improve on before it heads to New Orleans to take on the Saints next week. The Vikings were ill-prepared for what New England brought to the table and may have been affected by the Peterson news.

Today is one that Vikings fans will wish to forget.

"

Less than an hour after the game and the field crew is doing their best to erase the memory of this game! pic.twitter.com/ynsRhVAInh

— Aj Mansour (@AjKFAN) September 14, 2014"