Vikings Week 1 Stock Market Report

The Minnesota Vikings produced a dramatic 39-22 comeback victory over the Green Bay Packers that included one of the more memorable late game meltdowns by a Vikings opponent in franchise history. It was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. Apparently it was the first time a team was down 12+ points with 20 minutes remaining and ended up winning by 17+ points in NFL history.

Let’s break down the stock market report.

Stock Down and Up

The Vikings Coaching Staff. One thing that makes early season games more unpredictable is that teams have not shown the new wrinkles to their scheme and don’t have much beyond preseason and whatever videos of practice were leaked on tape for opponents to dissect. The Packers game plan in that respect was better than the Vikings game plan initially because the Vikings had to deal with more surprises, particularly from the Packers defense which is under a new coordinator in Jonathan Gannon.

Gannon was able to bring more pressures than he has been known for in the past that made it difficult for the Vikings offense to function well. They also had a pretty good idea about what the Vikings’ offensive game plan included. The Packers also seemed to have a pretty good read on what the Vikings were doing defensively as well and had a plan for how to attack it.

All that, and poor execution by the Vikings, led to a poor start to the game in all three phases. And in the midst of all that, Kyler Murray went down with a concussion on a slide that was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the Packers for hitting Murray in the head on the slide- knocking him out of the game after only a handful of plays.

The Vikings clearly didn’t have as good a game plan as the Packers, nor did they execute well what they did have. That is a failure of the Vikings coaching staff to a large degree. The Packers were likely helped by signing former Vikings safety Kahlef Hailessie to their practice squad a week ago, which likely informed their game plan.

But they were able to mitigate the poor start and disadvantages in game plan, keeping the game within two scores while they adapted. And after halftime things slowly began to improve for the Vikings, and go south for the Packers, as the Vikings made adjustments and the Packers didn’t as much, which had a snowballing effect as the game wore on into the fourth quarter. The Vikings began to execute better while the Packers melted down in dramatic fashion.

Clearly the Vikings were aided by penalties called on the Packers, but with maybe the exception of the roughing the passer call, the calls were correct. And they also missed a couple facemask penalties on the Packers against Wentz and Justin Jefferson.

The point here is not only were the Vikings’ coaching staff able to make adjustments, they also created a culture where players believe they can overcome adversity and have often done so- including this game which started about as bad as it can get. Kevin O’Connell is often judged on his ability as the offensive coordinator and play caller, but he should also be judged on the head coach’s job of creating a positive culture which he has been at the center in creating and maintaining since he arrived in Minnesota.

The Vikings have won six games in a row going back to last season, at a time when they were 4-8 and effectively out of the playoffs and suffering from basically the worst quarterbacking in the league and multiple quarterback injuries. At the same time, the Packers have lost every game since their star defensive player- Micah Parsons- went down with an injured knee last season. The focus of the Packers offseason was on ‘finishing’ as they had lost both games to the Bears last season, including their playoff game, after having a double digit lead in the fourth quarter.

So also credit the Vikings coaching staff with having the ability to make adjustments and maintain a belief and focus on doing what is necessary to win the game despite adversity.

Stock Up

Myles Price. Price had a couple good returns but his 69-yard return in the second half was just what the doctor ordered to help a struggling offense score points.

Deejay Dallas. Most fans may not know Dallas is on the team as he was a recent practice squad addition who was called up for week one. He had the key block on Price’s big kickoff return.

Dallas Turner. The hype about Turner’s improvement this offseason was real as Turner was credited with nine total QB pressures according to preliminary PFF charting including a sack and a forced fumble. He looked the part of a top edge rusher despite having just one sack against Jordan Love, who is among the best in sack avoidance.

Blake Cashman. It didn’t come until the second half for the most part, but Cashman was credited with five pressures on 18 pass rush attempts and was in Jordan Love’s face frequently in the fourth quarter, blasting through the center and creating quick pressure. He also had a tipped pass that led to James Pierre’s interception.

Carson Wentz. Wentz showed his limitations, and as he said after the game it’s better to be lucky than good when it came to penalties erasing a redzone interception, but he also showed he could move the offense under difficult circumstances with few reps in practice. He finished 12/19 for 133 yards and 3 TDs and a 123.5 passer rating.

Justin Jefferson. He had most of the biggest catches of the game for the Vikings and equalled his touchdowns for all of last season in just the first game this season.

T.J. Hockenson. He had four catches for just 36 yards, but they were mostly key first downs or a touchdown and so were high leverage plays and mostly difficult catches too. His passer rating when targeted was 143.8, just behind Jefferson’s 148.8.

Andrew Van Ginkel. He was credited with the forced fumble against Jordan Love that gave the Vikings the ball on the Packers one-yard line, allowing the Vikings to score a touchdown and put the game out of reach. He was also credited with two sacks and an elite coverage grade in preliminary PFF grading.

Levi Drake Rodriquez. He was having a good game before his sack of Love, and with a young defensive tackle group, the Vikings need LDR to step up.

Domonique Orange. It was Orange who prevented Jordan Love from converting the 4th and 1, which was a key turning point in the game. He was average otherwise, but credit the rookie in his first game for rising to the challenge at a key moment.

Stock Down

Kyler Murray. He looked shaky in the 11 plays he had, throwing a bad interception before suffering a concussion on an unnecessary roughness call when sliding. Those two key plays hit on the key worries about his career at this point.

Josh Metellus. It appeared that Metellus was responsible for a couple of the coverage mistakes that allowed the Packers to generate explosives in the passing game.

Theo Jackson. It appeared that Jackson was responsible for the long Christian Watson touchdown by being out of position and missing the tackle on Watson after the reception.

Buy

Vikings ability to come back from adversity and poor play.

Sell

Vikings overall execution to start the season.

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