Vikings vs. Broncos: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Minnesota
The Minnesota Vikings suffered a tough, hard-fought loss on Sunday against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Minnesota came close to gaining a huge victory over Denver but ultimately fell on the scoreboard by a final of 23-20.
Denver set the tone early, reaching quarterback Teddy Bridgewater for two of seven total Broncos sacks. Following the ensuing Minnesota punt, Denver put three points on the board with Brandon McManus' first of three field goals on the day.
Minnesota was on the wrong end of a monumental momentum shift later in the first half when Blair Walsh pulled a 38-yard field goal wide left. Denver responded on the next play, as Ronnie Hillman took a Peyton Manning handoff 72 yards around the left side to help put the Broncos up 10-0.
The Vikings and Broncos traded field goals once again before Minnesota was on the right side of another huge momentum-changing play.
Linebacker Anthony Barr picked off Manning with under two minutes remaining in the first half, jumping in front of a short pass to make a great play on the ball. Bridgewater, playing with a shortened field, completed a four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Wallace, his first in a Vikings uniform.
Manning and Co. came out prepared in the second half. Up 13-10 on the scoreboard, the veteran quarterback led his team down the field for a touchdown to open up a two-score lead. The Vikings were able to stuff Hillman at the goal line on third down, but Manning completed a one-yard pass to tight end Owen Daniels on a sneaky fourth-down play.
Minnesota responded with its own touchdown on a fourth-down attempt. Adrian Peterson exploded directly up the middle on 4th-and-1, going 48 yards to the end zone for his third score of the season. Walsh later snuck a field goal inside the left upright to tie the game at 20 apiece.
Denver took the lead once again on McManus' third field goal of the game, a 39-yard attempt to give his team a three-point advantage heading into the game's final stages.
The Vikings appeared destined to tie the game after Bridgewater scrambled for a first down on 3rd-and-10, but a T.J. Ward sack and Von Miller fumble recovery sealed the game in favor of the Broncos.
Bridgewater finished the game 27-of-41 with 269 passing yards, a touchdown pass and 23 rushing yards. Peterson added 81 rushing yards on 16 carries and a rushing touchdown. Rookie Stefon Diggs led Minnesota in his debut with 87 yards on six catches. Wallace was a close second, recording 83 receiving yards on eight catches and a touchdown.
Rookie Eric Kendricks recorded a sack and four tackles. Barr led the team with five tackles and an interception. Harrison Smith also recorded an interception and two tackles.
Position Grades for Vikings
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| Position | Grade |
|---|---|
| QB | B |
| RB | B |
| WR | B |
| TE | C |
| OL | F |
| DL | B |
| LB | B |
| DB | B |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | B |
As a whole, the Vikings put together a pretty strong showing after the game began in a way that suggested it was going to be a long day at Mile High Stadium.
Bridgewater did a lot of great things on the road to his first impressive performance by box score standards. It would have been nice to see him lead the Vikings down the field for a game-winning touchdown with under two minutes to play, but it's hard to blame him for Peterson's missed blitz pickup that led to a game-sealing fumble.
Peterson again looked outstanding as a runner, especially against a tough Broncos defense. However, his blocking severely hindered Minnesota in its ability to put up points. This is is an issue he has had for many years, and it's disappointing he hasn't been able to improve his technique or ability while playing nine-plus years at the NFL level.
Wallace, Diggs and Adam Thielen helped put together the best performance from Vikings wide receivers to date, which is odd considering that No. 2 and No. 3 wide receivers Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright were out with injury. There may be some changes coming on this front.
The offensive line was absolutely dreadful in pass protection on Sunday afternoon, and the unit was not much better at creating lanes for Peterson. Minnesota's offensive line needs to improve, or this issue could hinder the Vikings all season long.
As a group, the Vikings defense played well against a high-powered, Manning-led Broncos offense. However, Everson Griffen needs to be better about jumping offside, and Xavier Rhodes was dealt another soft pass interference penalty. Barr and Smith continue to be difference-makers, and Kendricks is seemingly playing better each week.
The Vikings were certainly hurt by the early Walsh miss, but it's unfair to pin the loss on him given how early the error occurred. Punter Jeff Locke played well for the Vikings, most notably shifting the field with a booming punt from his own end zone.
Pass Protection Must Improve
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The Vikings' pass protection unit was faced with the tall task of stopping a lethal Broncos pass rush, but seven sacks is unacceptable no matter which team it is pinned against.
T.J. Clemmings struggled mightily against Miller, which was to be expected, and it was a bit questionable to not see him receive more help in protection. Matt Kalil, who was in charge of another outstanding rusher in DeMarcus Ware, was possibly the best in protection, continuing a strong rebound year.
The interior trio of Brandon Fusco, Joe Berger and Mike Harris did not play well, either, and the Broncos could easily have sacked Bridgewater another three or four times if not for the QB's ability to escape pressure.
Outside of the line itself, Kyle Rudolph and Peterson both struggled with blitz pickup. While these players are not expected to be outstanding at blocking pass-rushers, their performance was not enough to win on Sunday, and it won't be good enough against other imposing defenses, either.
"I think they have some great rushers, but we didn't block them good enough," head coach Mike Zimmer said during his press conference, per Vikings.com. "We didn't block them good enough to win. They have good rushers, I don't know, put it on whoever you want."
This has been an Achilles' heel for the Vikings all season, and if it persists, Minnesota won't be able to achieve the goals it set at the beginning of the season.
Coming out of its Week 5 bye, Minnesota will face Justin Houston and the Kansas City Chiefs, making this an issue that needs to be ironed out sooner rather than later.
Stefon Diggs Blows Up
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There was reason for concern when the Vikings ruled out Johnson and Wright with injuries, but Diggs (and Thielen) covered these worries quickly.
Diggs, a rookie out of Maryland, finished the game with six catches on 10 targets for a total of 87 receiving yards in his debut. Bridgewater clearly felt comfortable targeting the young talent in any situation, throwing passes in his direction on short, intermediate and deep routes.
His highlight of the day came against cornerback Aqib Talib. Diggs broke away from the outstanding defensive back's one-on-one route coverage, creating separation with an impressive move for a 21-yard completion.
It is clear at this point that Diggs is worthy of more playing time given his receiving talents, but his issues with ball security may keep him from seeing the field more. He fumbled twice on Sunday, though he did recover both balls.
"He did like I expected him to do," Zimmer said, according to Vikings.com. "He put the ball on the ground twice though, which you can't do."
Diggs showed impressive route running and separation skills while also dazzling Vikings fans with his ability to make a contested catch, but this is an issue that appears to bother Zimmer and may be the reason he had been inactive prior to Sunday.
However, given the performance of Vikings receivers during the season's first three weeks, Minnesota's head coach may have no choice but to play the impressive rookie more often—even when Johnson and Wright return from injury.
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Bridgewater: We Were a Couple Plays Away
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Bridgewater was not completely deflated in the same way he was after Minnesota's loss to the San Francisco 49ers during his press conference (h/t Vikings.com), but he certainly wasn't thrilled, either.
He was asked about how this loss felt in comparison to the Week 1 blow:
""Definitely," Bridgewater said when asked if this loss hurt more than the one against San Francisco. "We were in this game, and we had an opportunity to win it. We were a couple plays away. Like I said, this is one of those games that you have to be perfect, but we know that we are going to be in another game like this at some point this year, and we're going to make sure that we come out on top."
"
It was certainly a tough loss to swallow, especially considering the Vikings were about 20 yards away from a reasonable field-goal attempt to tie the score at the time of Bridgewater's fumble. With that said, Minnesota did show it can play with teams like Denver, going shot-for-shot with the No. 1 defense in football.
The touchdown Wallace scored at the end of the second quarter was the first passing touchdown Denver has allowed to a wide receiver this season and only the second of this variety. Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah caught the other in Week 3.
Yes, the Vikings could have potentially won this game had they stopped Hillman's touchdown or found a way to score at the end of the game, but this performance as a whole was encouraging.
Bridgewater and the Vikings will grow from this tough loss and "make sure" to find a way to win the next time they are in a close game with a great team.
Zimmer: We Didn't Play Good Enough to Win
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Per usual, Zimmer seemed rather disgusted during his postgame press conference posted to Vikings.com after the Vikings suffered their second loss of the season.
"It was a good hard-fought game today," Zimmer said. "Hats off to Denver, they did a good job, in crucial situations of the game they made some plays. My team will fight; they will keep competing. We didn't play good enough to beat a very good team on the road though, and we have a lot of things to clean up."
Some of these mistakes he attributed to himself, such as the Hillman touchdown, which he said was a play-calling mistake on his part. He also touched on a few other issues his team had throughout the game, including the field goal Walsh missed early in the game.
"It's disappointing, he needs to make those kicks," Zimmer said before a long pause. "It's disappointing."
Walsh has been disappointing all season after foreshadowing struggles in the preseason. He needs to improve, as 38-yard attempts should be an automatic three points for NFL-level kickers.
Zimmer summed up his team's performance pretty well with a short quote later in the press conference, again noting his team's mistakes after being asked about the Vikings' potential to win this game.
"I think we had a chance to win, but I think Denver played better than we did," he said. "I think we made too many mistakes to win."
Aside from the Hillman 72-yard touchdown and the Walsh miss, some of these mistakes include multiple fumbles, taking poor angles to the ball (looking at Robert Blanton here) and, most importantly, dreadful pass protection.
This game was a litmus test, as the Fox broadcast called it, of where the Vikings are in relation to the rest of NFL teams.
By this standard, Minnesota passed, as it competed with one of the top teams in the NFL until the final whistle sounded. Still, there are plenty of areas in need of improvement, which Zimmer and his staff will focus on moving forward.
Minnesota's next five games following a Week 5 bye are against the Chiefs, Lions, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders before taking on the Green Bay Packers at home.
It's possible that Minnesota could go 5-0 and be 7-2 heading into an NFC North showdown with the Packers, but even four wins over the course of a rather soft five-game span would be encouraging and put the Vikings in good position to reach the postseason.
For more Vikings news, analysis and discussion, find me on Twitter @RobertReidellBT.
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