Vikings Open the Preseason with a Win over the G-Men

Vikings Territory Breakdown

Stop the presses: The Vikings beat the New York Giants in the preseason opener last Saturday. On second thought, keep those presses rolling. The game’s outcome is not the headline we need to focus upon. In the preseason, it’s not whether you won or lost (sorry Denny Green and Vince Lombardi), it’s how you played the game, and this one was a typical first preseason game that include little scoring (13-10), some exciting plays (e.g., Myles Price’s one-handed grab for a score) and plenty of performances to dissect. So, dissect them we will.

The starters only played one series, so there wasn’t a whole lot to write home about. But since Kyler Murray competed a couple passes, had command of the offense and led the team to a field goal (and did not performa as though head coach Kevin O’Connell made a bad decision when he named him this year’s starting QB), we don’t have to spend too much time or handwringing on his performance. The other three quarterbacks, J.J McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer require a bit more scrutiny.

There were also some decent play from Vikings rookies in their first game in purple, including by running back Demond Claiborne, safety Jacob Thomas and linebacker Jake Golday. Plus there were some rookie performances that were less than stellar, specifically defensive tackle Caleb Banks and offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan. 

Good, bad or ugly (hey, it was the first preseason game) the fellas at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com, and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com—are here to talk about it. Tune in and check it out. Skol!

Listen to Vikings Territory Breakdown Podcast here or on your favorite podcast network.

Joe Oberle is a veteran sportswriter/editor/reporter and has covered the Vikings since 2008. The author of three books, he … More about Joe Oberle