Matthew Coller: Everything that went right and wrong for the Vikings in Week 1

Under the microscope from the Vikings' blowout victory in East Rutherford.

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Minnesota Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (7) celebrates with teammates after defensive stop during the second half against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings put together one of the most impressive victories of the NFL’s opening week. Here’s a closer look at where they thrived and areas where they can improve…

What went right

“Playing point guard”

Sam Darnold said over and over this offseason that he was going to simplify his game and “just play point guard.” Well, he did just that against the Giants, registering the highest PFF grade in the NFL for Week 1, in large part because he played mistake-free football in New York.

PFF totaled him at zero “turnover-worthy” plays for the game. They did not grade his interception as “turnover-worthy” because his arm was hit due to pressure when he threw his lone interception. They also credited him with zero QB pressures that he brought upon himself.

When Darnold was throwing between 0-9 yards through the air, he completed 12 of 14 passes at 6.0 yards per attempt and the only two incompletions were drops. When throwing to RBs or TEs, Darnold went 11-for-12 with 93 yards.

We can expect in the future that the Vikings’ quarterback will have to push the ball to receivers more often and make more intermediate (11-20 yards) than the four passes he threw in that part of the field but in terms of the point-guard-y stuff that he was asked to do, he nailed it.

Aaron Jones

PFF also graded Jones as the No. 1 running back in the NFL for opening weekend. He posted a ridiculous 5.3 yards after first contact and had five runs that went for 10 yards or more.

The Vikings were able to mix up the running game with PFF tracking nine zone runs and five gap plays for the versatile veteran RB.

Jones also caught two passes for 15 yards. Interestingly he was not asked to pass block on any of his 30 snaps.

Left guard

Have a debut, Blake Brandel. The Vikings have shown a ton of belief in Brandel this offseason, giving him first-team reps all throughout camp and sitting him for two preseason games. In Week 1, he justified that belief, grading as the best Vikings lineman at 91.2 overall. Brandel gave up zero QB pressures and scored an outstanding 87.4 PFF grade.

Was his grade so high because Giants star DT Dexter Lawrence lined up on the other side? Not exactly. Per PFF, Lawrence was on Brandel’s side for 15 plays and the right side for 20 snaps.

Could he be the guard that everyone has been dreaming about since Steve Hutchinson? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet but Sunday was a very good sign for the development project LG.

D-line and OLB depth

Everybody got involved in the party up front for the Vikings on defense. In total, nine DTs or outside linebackers ended up playing at least 10 snaps against the G-Men. Jonathan Greenard led in pressures with five and then Jihad Ward had four, Jerry Tillery three, Harrison Phillips and Pat Jones posted two and then Dallas Turner and Jonathan Bullard each had one.

That’s a lot of pressure from different players. Last year the Vikings relied heavily on Danielle Hunter and tons of blitzes but that wasn’t required on Sunday. Daniel Jones was only blitzed on 19 of his 50 drop-backs and he gained 3.7 yards per attempt when he wasn’t blitzed and was sacked four times.

Harrison Phillips played 36 snaps, which would have tied for his lowest number in 2023. That’s not reflective of performance (he was the highest graded DT), rather the fact they can keep him more fresh with Tillery and rookie Taki Tiamani (10 snaps) in the mix.

Safeties in coverage, linebackers everywhere

Welcome to Year 13, Harrison Smith. The Vikings’ star safety graded a 90.4 in the opener, allowing one reception in three targets and grabbing a dagger interception in the end zone. Smith was on his typical line-up-everywhere game, spending 35 snaps as a deep safety and 23 plays in the box and nine more either in the slot or on the DL.

This time last year we were all surprised to see Josh Metellus all over the field but after a year of playing one of the most versatile roles in the NFL, the hybrid safety/linebacker/corner was at it again against the Giants. He played 63 total snaps, made three run stops, allowed eight yards receiving on nine targets and had an impressive pass breakup. Metellus spent 29 snaps in the slot and 27 in the box.

Cam Bynum had a solid, uneventful day with just one target into his coverage.

Inside linebackers Ivan Pace Jr. and Blake Cashman showed they are quite a combination in the opening game. Pace Jr. had four QB pressures and four run stops, grading 82.2 (third best on the defense). Cashman had five run stops and allowed 21 yards on five attempts into his coverage. They combined for 15 pass rush snaps.

What went wrong

Jordan Addison injured

As good as the Vikings’ offense looked against the Giants, it will be tough to repeat that week after week if Jordan Addison isn’t healthy. He left midway through Week 1 with an ankle injury, which Kevin O’Connell said was the other ankle from when he was hurt in training camp.

“He's got pretty significant soreness getting some treatment today and we'll kind of see how it goes. He's responded in the past quickly with a similar injury. We'll just see, and I'll try to keep you guys updated based upon the week, but still hopeful that Jordan [Addison] will have a chance this week. We'll be smart with him knowing it's a long season and how important he is to our offense.”

Right guard and center in pass protection

While Brandel put together a strong showing, that was not the case by the PFF numbers for Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram. The veteran center allowed four pressures and had a 26.8 grade, second lowest among all centers. Ingram’s 9.3 grade was the lowest in the NFL at his position and his six pressures led the league. The six pressures Ingram allowed were the most since early last season.

For Bradbury, a rough outing isn’t a big concern because he has generally struggled against DTs that are as big as Lawrence and few teams can boast having such a player on their roster.

Ingram’s day is more worrisome because the Vikings have been looking for a step forward from him after some improvement from Year 1 to Year 2. He will need to get up to speed quickly in the coming weeks against good defensive lines in San Francisco and Houston. Otherwise there may be some consideration for Dalton Risner when he comes off IR.

Filling Hockenson’s shoes

While Oliver made a terrific grab on the second drive of the game, he was hit with a penalty and graded a 47.4 in 16 run blocking snaps. Likewise Mundt had a tough missed block that got his grade dinged and he had a drop.

Punting / punt coverage / punt returning

The Vikings had multiple penalties in the punting game. Ryan Wright did get three of his four punts inside the 20 but only averaged 42.0 yards per boot and received the lowest PFF punting grade in the NFL.

Non-Jones runs

When Aaron Jones was running the football, the offense was unstoppable. When Ty Chandler carried the ball, it was less effective. He ran eight times for just 17 yards. Chandler did get a key reception on a short pass that got the Vikings out from the shadow of their own end zone.

Timeouts

In the second half the Vikings had to use two timeouts that appeared to be due to the play clock running down. O’Connell was asked whether there was anything he was unhappy with from the decisive victory and pointed toward letting the clock run down.

“Just some operational stuff where maybe it was a play clock thing where we had plenty of time at the line and there's some moving parts with a shift and a late motion,” O’Connell said. “Just kind of feeling up against it a couple times there at different sequences during the game, and that is totally to be expected.”