Last night I watched the Vikings preseason game versus the 49ers. The game took place here in Minnesota, our only home game of the preseason. Here are my takeaways:
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has a clue. He purposely scheduled the 49ers because he know their head coach, Kyle Shanahan, emphasizes the physical side of the game, and KAM wanted to help the Vikings move to the next level in terms of the quality of our play.
- I don’t like either of our backup options at quarterback.
- Sean Mannion is not very mobile and his windup and delivery are long — which would give elite defenders more chance to close to the ball. SM is 30 - this is as good as he is going to get in all probability.
- Kellon Mond has a very good arm, and is much more mobile - but he struggles to move the ball consistently. On an early drive the team was moving down the field and then he threw a ball of his back foot and it was picked.
- There is no question that Mond as the greater upside - but do you take a chance that Kirk Cousins is going to be gone for two or three games and that Mond can figure it out. In last night’s game the team did move better with Mannion. Put last year when Mannion was the starter he was brutal. Teams prepared for him and we were horrible. He is a statue back there.
- I am sure the Vikings will take Mannion, because he can do more tomorrow if you need him, but the optimist in me would take Mond. Even though he has yet to demonstrate he can lead consistent drives…
- And the 49ers. They are going with a guy who has thrown 400 passes in college and the pros. 71 of those passes are at the professional level. Boy that speaks volumes about how badly they want to get away from Jimmy Garafolo. Scary.
- Our defense looks very stout. The new man at the point - Pierce? is huge and the film made him appear to be a force to be reckoned with. He is a very large human being.
- The 49ers kept the defense on the field and then started to run the ball at us and we tired.
- The offense needs to stay on the field enough to allow our defense to catch a breath. We can’t have a serious of three-and-outs.
- I think the new coach is pushing Kirk Cousins to not “check down” so quickly. This makes me wonder if other teams schemed to get Kirk to “check down” in an effort to contain the Viking offense - or look for opportunities for “take away” by jumping “check down” options.
- I think the Vikings offense will be less predictable and we will have more turnovers. I think we are going to take more chances on offense, but some of those may turn into interceptions. We seems to be “okay” with that plan.