Pre-Season: Game 3

The Vikings played the Seattle Seahawks in their third and most important pre-season game of the 2010 season.  They won the game, and also were able to identify some good things, and also some bad things on offense.  I will breakdown the offense today.  Check back tomorrow for the analysis of the defense.

OFFENSE:

Offensively the Vikings looked much better than the prior two weeks of the pre-season, but the offensive line still looked very shaky.  This is partly due to the fact that starting center John Sullivan is out, and right guard Anthony Herrera had to play center.  I still don't think the Vikings offensive line is as good as advertised.  Bryant McKinnie is slow and really struggles with elite and smaller defensive ends.  Steve Hutchinson is showing his age in my opinion.  He isn't nearly as dominant as he once was, and he gets blown off the ball a lot.  John Sullivan is only in his second year, but he is very undersized and gets pushed back too often, allowing a rush up the middle on the quarterback, or stuffing a run up the middle.  Anthony Herrera is also undersized and allows linemen to get low on him and push him off the ball.  Phil Loadholt is very young, and I think he will eventually be moved to left tackle, after they let Bryant McKinnie go in a year or so.

The Vikings once again struggled to run the football.  Adrian Peterson had a very nice 24 yard touchdown run, but he only gained 13 yards on his other 10 carries.  This must improve if the Vikings are going to be as productive as last year, without Sidney Rice.

Wide Receiver is another big question mark with the loss of Sidney Rice.  Percy Harvin was back, and he made an immediate impact, and played very well.  Greg Camarillo played very well.  He will quickly become Favre's favorite target because he runs very good routes, has great hands, and finds ways to get open.  He will become a huge third down receiver for the Vikings.  Bernard Berrian needs to step up, and he bobbled a slant pass and the ball went into the air and was returned for a pick six.  This cannot happen, and he must step up.  Javon Walker made a nice touchdown catch, but was pretty nonexistent the rest of the game.  He must prove that he is in shape, and can still play in this league.

It is only pre-season, and there is no reason to panic, but the biggest area to improve is offensive line.  If the offensive line plays well, everything else will fall into place.

Until tomorrow....SKOL VIKES!