Titans take down Vikings 24-16 in second preseason game
The Titans wrapped up their week in Minnesota with a 24-16 win over the Vikings inside U.S. Bank Stadium Saturday night. It was the second preseason game for Minnesota, which fell to 0-2 ahead of the final exhibition this coming Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals.
Minnesota again rested starters and key players, leaving the action to backups who are down to the final two weeks of competition before the 53-man roster is settled ahead of the Sept. 10 regular season opener in Minneapolis against Tampa Bay.
The Vikings got three field goals from Greg Joseph and led 9-7 at the half before Tennessee outscored Minnesota 17-7 in the second half. The Titans were fueled by backup quarterback Malik Willis, who was 10 of 17 passing for 85 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The interception went to inside linebacker Troy Dye.
Vikings LB Troy Dye picks off Malik Willis!
— vikesinsider (@vikesinsider) August 20, 2023
(video via @mnspnews) pic.twitter.com/wyFmDO1Y9s
Both second half touchdowns for the Titans were scored by running back Julius Chestnut. He had a five-yard touchdown run and then a one-yard diving reception for a touchdown. Overall, Chestnut had 98 rush yards fueled by a 55-yard run.
Minnesota's only touchdown of the night came on a fourth quarter one-yard rush by rookie running back DeWayne McBride.
DeWayne McBride gets it back to a one-possession game. @Debo323232
— NFL (@NFL) August 20, 2023
📱: Stream #TENvsMIN on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Zb9wcSUiZu
McBride had six carries for 18 yards serving as the backup to Ty Chandler, who had just 24 yards on 11 carries. Minnesota's starting running back in the regular season will be Alexander Mattison.
Nick Mullens got the start at quarterback and finished 13 of 23 or 151 yards. Jaren Hall played the second half and was just 4 of 7 passing for 49 yards.
Tight ends Nick Muse (3 catches for 46 yards) and Ben Sims (2 catches for 38 yards, along with wide receiver Thayer Thomas (3 catches for 32 yards) were Minnesota's leading receivers. Trishton Jackson and Jalen Reagor each finished with 2 catches and 10 yards.
Second year safety Lewis Cine led the Vikings with seven tackles and a sack.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.