Glass half SKOL: Four reasons to be positive about the Vikings after Week 1 loss
The Vikings retooled their defense and kept around the key parts to an efficient offense. What did that lead to? A loss in the first week to an inferior opponent.
I think when something like that happens this early, it’s easy to overreact. Minnesota could have used that victory, considering how difficult the team’s schedule is in 2021. However, success in the regular season and a playoff berth are still not out of the question.
Vikings fans need to stay positive. Here are some reasons for optimism after the loss to the Bengals:
The rest of the division played poorly
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Syndication: USA TODAY
The Bengals may end up being a good team whose record doesn't reflect how well they played this year. Cincinnati is in a very tough division, having to play Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh twice. The Vikings may be the opposite kind of team. Minnesota might be a bad team with a good record at the end of the year, because the team gets to play Chicago and Detroit twice. The Packers were tabbed as a Super Bowl contender before the year, but Green Bay looked terrible in Week 1, along with every other team in the NFC North.
The Vikings' special teams played well
Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph (1) kicks a point after with a hold from punter Jordan Berry (3) in the second quarter of the NFL Week One game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Minnesota Vikings at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021. The Bengals led 14-7 at halftime. Syndication: The Enquirer
In his Vikings regular season debut, Greg Joseph hit all his extra points and made the game-tying, 53-yard field goal as time expired. The Vikings stayed with Joseph for 2021 after he missed two field goals from over 50 yards in the preseason. The team got a great Week 1 out of him. Punter Jordan Berry also had a good Minnesota debut, averaging 50.3 yards per punt.
Kirk Cousins played well, too
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) calls signals in the huddle against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
How Cousins played in the Bengals game has divided the Vikings fanbase. Some think he wasn't good enough, while others think there were a variety of other, more important reasons for the loss. I'm somewhere in the middle. You can't always put Cousins' performances in a vacuum. He may not be blamed for the loss due to his stat line, but the fact that he has to dodge defenders constantly — and the fact that the Vikings defense didn't look like the Steel Curtain — is somewhat his fault because the large contract he is on makes it harder to allocate resources elsewhere. That said, I still think it's worth pointing out when he plays well, and he did that in Cincinnati, going for 351 passing yards and two touchdowns. He even marched the offense down the field late in the fourth quarter, leading to a game-tying field goal to send the matchup into overtime. I think if Cousins plays like that most of the time, the team will be fine.
The defensive line had their moments
Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Michael Pierce (58) celebrates after sacking Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in the third quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Cincinnati. (Andrew Souffle/Star Tribune via AP)
OK, so the Bengals ran for 149 rushing yards. But the Vikings still had some positive takeaways regarding the defensive line group in Week 1. The Minnesota defense had five sacks and seven QB hits. Michael Pierce, a nose tackle with 3.5 career sacks before this, had two in one game. Danielle Hunter, coming off a season-ending neck injury in 2020, had a sack and two pressures, per PFF. Minnesota showed that they may have a pretty good pass rush this year.
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