Here are three primary observations about the Vikings’ 34-25 win over the Saints on Friday night.
Kirk Cousins looked as sharp as he’ll need to be all season.
Through his career as a starter, Kirk Cousins has been an estimable stat-collector—he’s thrown for more than 4,000 yards and at least 25 touchdowns in each of the last four seasons—but he’s generally fallen short when big plays are needed, especially outside structure when he’s asked to think outside the box. That doesn’t automatically mean the Vikings will never ascend to the top of the NFL with him as their quarterback, but it does mean that offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski and his staff will have to create opportunities for Cousins to make big plays in a comfort zone.
In Cousins’ only drive of this game, he completed all four of the passes he attempted for 65 yards and a touchdown. And there was this 34-yard pass to Adam Thielen in which Thielen displayed his typically ridiculous athleticism and catch radius.
That splash play aside, Cousins also hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for 20 yards on a TE Throwback concept, where he was able to use play action and his rushing ability to divert the defense away from Rudolph and create an easy big play. Last season, per Pro Football Focus, Cousins completed 77.1% of his play-action passes for 1,125 yards, 8.6 yards per attempt, and eight touchdowns to just two picks. Using more of it in 2019 would make a ton of sense.
Teddy Bridgewater is still a guy to watch.
Selected 32nd overall by the Vikings in the 2014 draft, Teddy Bridgewater was supposed to be Minnesota’s future franchise quarterback. He appeared to be on that path when he made the Pro Bowl in 2015, but a gruesome knee injury cost him the entire 2016 season and made many—including the Vikings’ front office—wonder if he had a future in the NFL at all. Minnesota declined his fifth-year option, Bridgewater became a free agent after the 2017 season, and the Jets—who originally signed him—traded him to New Orleans in August of 2018.
He obviously saw limited action with the Saints last season (that Drew Brees guy is still pretty good), but in preseason action against his former team, Bridgewater excelled, completing 14 of 19 passes for 134 yards and a touchdown pass. This back-shoulder throw to receiver Cyril Grayson, Jr. was particularly outstanding.
If Bridgewater can keep this going through the preseason, he’ll land on the list for other NFL teams in need of a quality quarterback. The Saints signed him to a one-year, $7.25 million deal in March that’s fully guaranteed, but one never knows what may happen down the road—in New Orleans or elsewhere.
Mike Boone had the play of the game.
In his rookie season of 2018, undrafted Vikings running back Mike Boone gained 47 yards on 11 rushing attempts. The Cincinnati alum endeavored to do more than that in Minnesota’s preseason opener, which led to this outstanding exhibition of smashmouth football as Boone scampered for a 64-yard touchdown that put the game away for the Vikings.
Fullback Khari Blasingame, who blew things open on this play, also caught a two-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter from backup Kyle Sloter.
