Begrüssungsthread » While the Minnesota Vikings are still fully in con

SEATTLE (AP) — trol of their path to the postseason Danielle Hunter Jersey , Adam Thielen knows it’s starting to slip away.Ten points last week in New England. Seven points on Monday night in an ugly 21-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. It’s not good enough. The Vikings know it, and the frustration is beginning to build.“We’re fighting as an offense, we’re trying to get something going. We just need a spark. We need a spark and we need it fast,” Thielen said. “I think we have a bunch of guys on this offense that want to win and want to make plays. But we haven’t found that rhythm. It’s there. It’s there. We just have to keep fighting.”Minnesota lost its second straight and had an offensive night to forget against a Seattle defense that had appeared vulnerable of late. Minnesota (6-6-1) twice had scoring chances in the fourth quarter when it was still a one-score game, but was turned away each time.The Vikings’ chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit with the loss, but they still hold the No. 6 spot in the NFC — for now.“I don’t know how to give you a measurement on that, I don’t know what the scale is for that number, but certainly, when you’re not putting as many points on the board as you’re capable of or have shown in past games it is disappointing,” Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “I think the added piece of the disappointment is when your defense is playing so well.”Minnesota’s defense more than did its part against Seattle. The Vikings held the Seahawks to six points into the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a poor night by Russell Wilson. And while Seattle ran crazy against one of the better run defenses in the NFL, the Vikings did enough to keep it a one-score game long enough for Cousins, Thielen and the rest of their offensive crew to have a chance.But Minnesota couldn’t convert. They were turned away on fourth down at the Seattle 1 with 9:06 remaining and on their next possession Dan Bailey’s 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Bobby Wagner on a debatable call whether Wagner’s leap over the offensive line was legal.Whether or not Wagner’s play was legal, the Vikings never found the end zone until Cousins’ 6-yard TD pass to Dalvin Cook with 1:10 left. All it did was keep the Vikings from being shutout for the first time since 2007.“We’ve got to score points, we’ve got to move the ball, we’ve got to stay on schedule Eric Kendricks Jersey ,” Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “We can’t get behind the chains. It’s simple things. We can’t get behind the sticks.”Cousins finished 20 of 33 for 208 yards, but had just 56 yards passing entering the fourth quarter. He noted that teams are rotating their coverages on Diggs and Thielen, trying to slow down Minnesota’s passing game, and he’s not going to force throws into danger. Seattle played seven defensive backs at times trying to contain Diggs and Thielen.That extra coverage is partly why Thielen, who entered the game with 98 catches, didn’t get his first target until midway through the third quarter. By that point, Seattle offensive tackle George Fant already had a catch after reporting eligible on a play.“We didn’t have a lot of explosive plays, again credit the Seahawks for limiting those,” Cousins said. “When you don’t have explosive plays, and you’re kind of marching methodically down the field, it was hard for us to sustain.”The most frustrating sequence for Minnesota was early in the fourth quarter trailing 6-0 and after finally hitting a 48-yard reception to Diggs to get deep into Seattle territory. The Vikings had first-and-goal at the 4, but after two short runs and an incompletion, faced fourth-and-goal at the 1. Rather than run, Cousins tried to hit Kyle Rudolph across the middle, but the pass was broken up by Bradley McDougald.“Every situation that we failed at the end of the night is frustrating,” Cook said. “We just have to go and fix it and watch film. We have to get it right.” No pads Trae Waynes Jersey , but there were still big plays aplenty. Plus: a perfect kicking day!" Minnesota Vikings 2019 SeasonMinnesota Vikings Training Camp 2019Minnesota Vikings Training Camp: Day 14 Recap New,84commentsNo pads, but there were still big plays aplenty. Plus: a perfect kicking day!CDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Minnesota Vikings Training Camp: Day 14 Recap TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailThe Vikings came out for practice on Tuesday afternoon at TCO Performance Center in shells and shorts. Naturally I assumed that it was going to be a relatively low-key session, but I was quickly proven wrong. There were plenty of splash plays and notable performances by several players. Let’s dive right into all of the action from Day 14 in Eagan.Who’s in, who’s outAmeer Abdullah was the only player missing from Monday’s practice that was back in action on Tuesday. He didn’t get a ton of work in team drills but still did plenty of special teams work, including kick returns. Jaleel Johnson was back in full capacity after leaving early the day before. Brian O’Neill, Aviante Collins, De’Angelo Henderson, Kris Boyd, and Ade Aruna remained sidelined with the other three players still on PUP and NFI.Depth chart and formation updateRotation was the name of the game on Tuesday, as plenty of players got snaps outside of the units they usually play for. The offensive lines remained largely unchanged, but there were plenty of changes everywhere else. Olabisi Johnson started the day getting WR3 reps with the first team. Chad Beebe, Jordan Taylor, and Jeff Badet also got some snaps with Kirk Cousins and the starting offensive line. One wide receiver that still didn’t get any first team reps: Laquon Treadwell. I think his absence from that rotation was rather telling.Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, and Ben Gedeon still got the lion’s share of the first team reps at linebacker. Jayron Kearse filled in for Anthony Harris here and there at first team safety Mackensie Alexander Jersey , but the rest of the starting secondary remained mostly unchanged. The defensive line saw the most new bodies. Shamar Stephen lined up at nose with Jalyn Holmes as the 3 technique a lot on Monday. Later, Stephen switched back to his usual position while Armon Watts got some run with the first team. Jaleel Johnson and Hercules Mata’afa rotated in a bunch as well.There weren’t many exotic looks from either side as far as formations go. Barr lined up on the left edge a lot like he has throughout camp, and there were a handful of snaps in 22 personnel from the offense. But other than that, most of the action was pretty straightforward.One thing I can say definitively: while the offensive line appears to be much improved, putting a mix of second and third teamers out there against the first team defensive line was patently unfair. The 1’s on defense dominated the 2’s on offense about as much as you’d expect during the end of practice when they mixed up the 11-on-11.Big plays of the dayMight as well get the Amazing Adam Thielen Catch Of The Day® out of the way, right? Thielen had just missed a diving grab near the front pylon in 7-on-7 red zone work early in practice. It was honestly the first time I can remember in camp where he didn’t come up with the amazing catch. But just two plays later, he did this:The catch might not have looked all that spectacular, but the initial move on Xavier Rhodes and the toe tap in the corner of the end zone were beautiful. He followed it up later with another ridiculous diving grab in front of Trae Waynes, an event that has seemingly occurred about 40 times in camp.Thielen is always going to get his, but the defense made the majority of the big plays on Tuesday. Kearse picked off a Cousins pass intended for Thielen on a corner route that was thrown a bit behind. Marcus Epps had an extremely impressive day, snagging two interceptions. The first was a pick six on Jake Browning. Treadwell had a half step on his defender and the throw was on target, but Epps jumped the route perfectly and sprinted down the right sideline for a score. The second was an impressive diving effort after a late deflection of a Browning pass. Eric Wilson joined in on the fun by stepping in front of an ill-advised pass from Sean Mannion and taking it to the house.It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the offense though. Mannion led a solid hurry-up offensive drive to set up a long field goal attempt with under a minute remaining on the clock. (More on the results of said kick later.) Kyle Sloter found Brandon Dillon in the back of the end zone through an extremely tight window in red zone drills. Cousins hit Kyle Rudolph with nice throws on a couple of occasions, including a perfectly weighted pass to his tight end at the back left pylon and a “throw him open” pass over the middle against tight coverage from Kendricks.Surges and slumpsI’m really not trying to pile on Treadwell, but it seriously looks like he doesn’t even want to be out there sometimes. It appears that he’s always going about 75% whether the drill calls for it or not. He had another drop on Tuesday and has yet to make an impact anywhere outside of special teams. I’m all for eating the dead cap and moving on from the whole mess this season.My Dillon Mitchell pick for Mr. Mankato looks all but dead in the water. He had another drop on Tuesday. Mannion found him wide open up the right seam in 11-on-11, yet Mitchell didn’t turn for the ball in time. The last few wide receiver positions on the roster remain wiiiiide open, but the former Oregon standout isn’t taking advantage.Yesterday I commented on how Alexander Mattison didn’t look all the way healthy. Today he looked much better Laquon Treadwell Jersey , cutting with a little more confidence and not walking tentatively after reps. A good sign for him.Everson Griffen has been beating Riley Reiff off the edge on pass rushes consistently throughout camp, including a few more instances on Tuesday. I think it says a fair amount about how both are performing so far in the preseason.Kyle Sloter had a pretty awful start to camp while Jake Browning was fairly impressive early on. The practices this week have been the exact opposite. Sloter seems to be gaining confidence and consistency by the day while Browning is waning in both categories. There’s still plenty of football to play, and I think both are still behind Mannion on the depth chart, but right now I think Sloter has the advantage.The depth at linebacker has been notably better than the depth in the secondary. Reshard Cliett, Cameron Smith, Devante Downs, and Kentrell Brothers have all been heavily involved with special teams and most have had some promising reps with the second team defense. According to Mike Zimmer answering a question from Courtney Cronin, there’s a decent chance that all four backup linebackers could make the team at the expense of a member of the secondary. From what we have seen thus far in Training Camp, I wouldn’t argue against that decision.Kicking cornerCall me Vanessa Williams, because I went and saved the best for last. We finally had a perfect day of kicking from Dan Bailey! The results:51 yards, left: GOOD33 yards, middle: GOOD33 yards, middle: GOOD55 yards, left: GOOD33 yards, middle: GOOD40 yards, middle: GOOD33 yards Ben Gedeon Jersey , middle: GOODChad Beebe was the holder for each kick, and each snap from Austin Cutting was right on the money. Bailey is now 49/64 (76.6%) in “live” kicks during camp.Maybe it was the consistency in the snapping and holding. Maybe it was having four kicks from extra point distance after various touchdowns in practice. Maybe it was having none of the seven kicks from the right side, where the vast majority of Bailey’s misses have come from in camp. Maybe it was having a new kicker brought in. Whatever it was, let’s hope that we’ll see more days like this going forward.Kaare Vedvik did all of the punting and kickoffs on Tuesday, showcasing his powerful right leg. Each of his kickoffs to Badet and Bisi Johnson were at least a few yards deep in the end zone. The majority of his punts had plenty of height and distance, highlighted by a 61-yard boomer that made Mitchell back up about ten yards. Meanwhile, Matt Wile did...well, nothing. Apparently Wile cut his left thumb on some equipment in a bizarre accident during the game in New Orleans that’s keeping him out of practice. But if the current kicking trends continue, Wile might have to use that thumb to hitch a ride out of town soon.<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="QmbFfn">The Vikings have on off day on Wednesday and then they’ll be back at it on Thursday afternoon for the penultimate practice of Training Camp. To follow along for live updates, you can find me on Twitter at @eric_j_thompson.If you’d like to catch up on anything you might have missed, here are links to all my previous recaps:Day 13Day 12Day 10Day 9Night PracticeDay 7Day 6Day 5Day 4Day 3Day 2Day 1