Minnesota Vikings' Week 14 Stock Report
The task awaiting Minnesota Vikings in Week 14 will be easier said than done.
Not only do the Vikings need to rebound from their ugliest loss of the season, but a Thursday-night showdown with the 10-2 Cardinals in Arizona means they'll need to do it quickly and efficiently.
Good luck. The Cardinals have won six straight games, while the Vikings have dropped consecutive home games to the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks over the last three weeks.
In the following slides, we'll take a look at the Vikings' risers and fallers ahead of Week 14. Spoiler alert: This edition will be packed with fallers.
Falling: Offensive Line
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It's hard to be "falling" when you're at or near rock bottom, but the Vikings offensive line managed to find a way.
Adrian Peterson rushed eight times for 18 yards, with a long run of just five yards. According to Pro Football Focus, 17 of Peterson's 18 yards came after contact. Not good.
Amazingly, the pass protection was worse.
Bridgewater dropped back to pass on 33 plays on Sunday. He faced pressure 15 times and took four sacks, per PFF. The Seahawks blitzed just three times, a measure of Seattle's supreme confidence in beating Minnesota's five protectors with just four rushers.
What more needs to be said?
The Cardinals' defensive front isn't on the same level as Seattle's, which ranks as one of the NFL's best. But Arizona isn't a bunch of scrubs in terms of stopping the run and getting after the passer.
If the Vikings offensive line doesn't play better on Thursday night, it'll be another long day at the office for the Minnesota offense.
Falling: Teddy Bridgewater
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A few facts before we proceed:
- Teddy Bridgewater plays behind one of the NFL's worst offensive lines.
- Teddy Bridgewater plays in an offense designed for and around Peterson.
- Teddy Bridgewater is the quarterback for an offensive coordinator struggling to make adjustments.
However, these realities do not absolve Bridgewater of fault for what is happening within the Vikings offense.
He's becoming less and less confident in the pocket, relying on cheap checkdowns and safe throws underneath regardless of the circumstance. He's also become utterly incapable of making a big play down the field, even when the play is there to be made.
Bridgewater is a young quarterback stunted in his progression. Many factors around him have helped create this environment, but it looks like he's allowed those factors to change the way he plays the game. That's a big problem for a team in the postseason hunt.
Can Bridgewater snap out of his funk and help the Vikings win an important game on Thursday night?
Falling: Antone Exum Jr.
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Antone Exum Jr. is like a backup quarterback. Everyone begs for him to play when the starter is going through issues, but then he does play and you find out exactly why he's holding a clipboard and wearing a ball cap.
Exum's start against the Seahawks was a disaster.
While he did force a fumble on Seattle's first drive, he also blew an early coverage assignment in the flats, missed at least three tackles creating big plays and lost Doug Baldwin deep on a 53-yard touchdown in the second half.
Maybe Exum will be a good player someday. But it won't be in 2015. The Vikings placed him on injured reserve this week with shoulder and rib injuries.
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Falling: Defensive Depth
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To be fair, you could take away the top three players from any defense and see the same kind of drop-off experienced by the Vikings on Sunday against the Seahawks.
Without nose tackle Linval Joseph, linebacker Anthony Barr and safety Harrison Smith, the Vikings gave up season highs in points, total yards and rushing yards.
The losses were akin to taking away Michael Bennett, Bobby Wagner and Earl Thomas from the Seattle defense.
Still, the Seahawks made playing offense look far too easy against one of the NFL's up-and-coming defenses.
Seattle rushed for over 170 yards without Joseph clogging the middle and clearing lanes for linebackers. Minnesota's versatility in playing the run and blitzing the quarterback was limited once Barr left the game, and Exum Jr. and the healthy safeties were an unmitigated disaster filling in for a banged-up Smith.
According to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, all three players have missed the last two days of practice. Any of the three playing on Thursday night seems to be a long shot.
When all 11 starters are healthy, the Vikings undoubtedly posses one of the top five NFL defenses. Strip that same defense of three main components, and the whole operation fails. Head coach Mike Zimmer just doesn't have the depth to plug in the holes. It's possible that no defense does.
A Few Risers
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Not everything went wrong against Seattle. Here are a few risers.
WR Mike Wallace: He caught two of his three targets for 43 yards, including a season-long reception of 25 yards. Maybe he can come back to life over the final four games. The Vikings offense would open up in a hurry if he and Bridgewater suddenly got on the same page.
RB Jerrick McKinnon: Pressed into duty in a lopsided game, McKinnon rushed for a team-high 18 yards on just four carries. He provides something different in the Minnesota run game when the mash-and-dash of Peterson isn't working.
KR Cordarrelle Patterson: He danced like a fool into the end zone, but his kickoff return for a touchdown did provide Minnesota's only points. While Patterson is a full-on bust as a receiver, he does lead the NFL in kickoff return touchdowns this season. The Vikings might need another big special teams spark to upset Arizona.
DE Danielle Hunter: It was painful watching Russell Wilson run circles around him in space, but Hunter did provide some disruption. He wrapped up Wilson on a zone-read play and nearly had two sacks. The rookie makes plays.
DE Brian Robison: He had one sack each of Wilson and backup Tarvaris Jackson. While the Vikings' pass rush was a second or two away all afternoon, Robison actually finished a few plays. In fact, he finished his sack of Wilson too well, according to the officials.
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