Advertisement

Vikings fall 24-16 to Titans after resting most of their starters

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·4 min read

There wasn’t a ton of buzz heading into the exhibition game between the Vikings and Tennessee Titans on Saturday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. The resale market pretty much spoke for itself as fans could get into building for less than $20 on StubHub.

Frankly, it made sense considering the Vikings rested pretty much every starter on the roster, something head coach Kevin O’Connell has been known to do since taking over in Minnesota.

As a result, the home crowd lacked energy throughout, and the Vikings ultimately fell 24-16 to the Titans. The loudest cheer of the night might’ve been when the video board alerted the fan base that star quarterback Kirk Cousins was celebrating his 35th birthday.

The biggest thing the preseason game provided was a chance for young players like rookie quarterback Jaren Hall to gain more experience.

“There are growing pains as a rookie,” Hall said. “It’s all about getting better every week.”

That’s what happened. After struggling in the preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks last week, Hall was better against the Titans. He completed 4 of 7 pass attempts for 49 yards and led the only drive of the game for the Vikings that ended with a touchdown.

“I wouldn’t have minded getting him in a little bit earlier,” O’Connell said. “It was good to see him engineer that touchdown drive.”

As for fellow quarterback Nick Mullens, he completed 13 of 23 for 151 yards, cementing himself as the backup to Cousins, as if there were any doubt.

“He runs the team incredibly efficient (with) his communication (and) his ownership of our offense,” Mullens said. “He is an accurate quarterback. That’s one of the reasons why he’s here. I don’t worry for a second about Nick.”

Some other players that stood out for the Vikings included kicker Greg Joseph, who went 3 for 3 on field-goal attempts, linebacker Troy Dye, who hauled in an interception, and cornerback Tay Gowan, who recovered a fumble in punt coverage.

There wasn’t much going on in the early stages until Titans running back Tyjae Spears provided the lone highlight of the first quarter. He took a handoff in the backfield, eluded a tackle at the point of attack, and raced 33 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-0.

The highlight came at the expense of safety Lewis Cine, who met Spears in the hole, then missed the tackle because he dove at his feet rather than wrapping up. It was unfortunate for Cine, considering he had a couple of nice plays earlier in the drive.

The tide started to turn for the Vikings in the second quarter when quarterback Nick Mullens orchestrated a couple of nice drives that resulted in a couple of field goals from Joseph to cut the deficit to 7-6. As the second quarter wound to a close, Gowan recovered a muffed punt on specials teams, and Joseph made another field goal as the Vikings pulled in front 9-7 at halftime.

“You want to strive for touchdowns because field goals don’t win in the NFL,” Mullens said. “Some good. Some bad. You just keep working and striving for improvement.”

After the Titans retook the lead early in the third quarter with a field goal, they proceeded to make life miserable for Hall whenever he dropped back to pass.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, Willis consistently used his legs to escape from pressure, paving the way for Titans running back Julius Chestnut to rush for a touchdown that stretched the lead to 17-9. On the next possession, the Titans went up 24-9 as Chestnut hauled in a touchdown reception.

The best drive of the night for the Vikings came midway through the fourth quarter as Hall finally found a rhythm. He completed a few passes near the line of scrimmage while also using his athleticism to extend plays. It culminated in running back DeWayne McBride plunging into the end zone to finalize the score at 24-16.

“We got it to one score there,” O’Connell said. “We just couldn’t get that last stop. I tried calling some timeouts to see if I could get one more drive for Jaren. I would have loved to see him in that end-of-game, two-minute drive.”

Related Articles