Studs and duds from Chargers’ victory over Vikings

Who shined and who disappointed in the Chargers’ win over the Vikings?

The Chargers got their first win of the season in Minnesota on Sunday. In a back-and-forth contest, Los Angeles’ offense powered them over the top with huge days from Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen. On defense, the pass rush got after Kirk Cousins consistently.

It cannot be understated how much the Chargers needed that game. From a win-loss standpoint, the need was obvious. But the Bolts needed to finally close out a game for the first time since before last year’s postseason. Let’s get to the first massive positive.

Stud: WR Keenan Allen

Year 11 and he’s aged like a fine wine. Allen is up to 402 yards on the season after a 215-yard effort on Sunday. It was a record-shattering performance for the Chargers receiver as he broke his single-game receiving record by 32 yards. His previous high was set against Houston four years ago.

Allen took advantage of Byron Murphy and whichever poor corner had the responsibility of covering him. His route running was as smooth as it’s looked since the pre-2022 hamstring injury days. Throw in a trick play where he shows off his Julian Edelman arm on a trick play for a passing touchdown. He was just unstoppable.

With the unfortunate injury to Mike Williams, Herbert and Los Angeles will need Allen to continue playing at his Pro Bowl pace this season.

Dud: Kellen Moore’s 4th and 1 play call

Brandon Staley’s decision to attempt a 4th down conversion with the lead sparked intense debate on Sunday. As far as that debate, I’ll say that I agree with the decision to go for it. I’ll phrase that another way: I trusted the offense to gain one yard to end the game more than I trusted the defense to get a stop.

Most analytical models agreed with Staley, for what it’s worth:

My issue was exclusive to the play call. A fourth-down fullback dive with Joshua Kelley never made sense. Kelley had rushed for 11 yards on 10 carries prior to that point in the game. The run blocking from the line was not at its best partially because of the bodies Minnesota was consistently sending with heavy blitz packages.

To me, there were two choices: Keep the ball in the air with Herbert and Allen’s connection or QB sneak it. In that situation with a 6’6″ quarterback, I don’t see why a Kelley run was preferred over doing some variation of the Eagles’ tush push.

The decision by Staley was fine, but there were so many other play-call options Moore should’ve gone to.

Stud: QB Justin Herbert

Herbert had the first 400-yard passing game of his career. He had come close a few times like Cleveland in 2021 and Miami in 2022, but 40-of-47 passing and 405 yards was otherworldly from him yesterday.

Herbert had played well in his first two games of the season, but there was a different level of decisiveness and efficiency from him on display in this one. The pocket awareness was on an elite level. Herbert also read the looks that Brian Flores’ defense was giving him at the line of scrimmage very well. The drive before the end of the first half that resulted in a Donald Parham touchdown was a prime example of Herbert dialed in and responding to everything an opposing defense was throwing at him.

It’s not an overreaction to say that was the best game of Herbert’s four-year career.

Dud: RB Joshua Kelley

Kelley had a great Week 1 performance that worked incredibly well in complement with Austin Ekeler. But the last two weeks of him as the starter have been unsuccessful. Kelley has put up 51 yards on 24 carries as the lead Chargers’ back. Against Minnesota, specifically, it was 11 carries for 12 yards.

Getting past the statistics, it really felt like this was a game where the Chargers missed what Ekeler could offer as both a runner and his gravity as a pass catcher. Defenses never have to consistently account for Kelley in the receiving game and it tends to show in the gameplan.

Kelley will have better games once Ekeler gets back, but the last two weeks have shown why he’s more of an RB2 than an RB1.

Stud: EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu

What a start to the season from Tuipulotu in these last two weeks. Against Minnesota, the rookie defensive lineman had nine pressures, four quarterback hits and a sack.

Frankly, if you told me that Tuipulotu had 12 or 13+ pressures in this game instead of the unofficial nine, I’d have believed it. He was that impactful on every rep.

To some extent, he took advantage of a Minnesota offensive line that’s going through a lot of turmoil right now. But his speed to power was just unprecedented to see in this game. There were plays where Tuipulotu just shifted Vikings tackle Brian O’Neil backward five yards seemingly at the line.

It cannot be understated how huge his performances have been with the impact of Joey Bosa’s nagging hamstring injury making him more limited in these last two games.

Dud: Let’s talk about the secondary

Cornerback J.C. Jackson was a healthy scratch in this game. He signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract just two years ago. The Chargers allowed 149 yards to Justin Jefferson and allowed a number of Vikings to convert more explosive plays on them.

Compared to previous weeks, I’m not sure I’d say that Asante Samuel Jr. or Michael Davis were as bad. But the miscommunications in the secondary were as rough as they previously had been. On Justin Jefferson’s touchdown, for example, Ja’Sir Taylor and the other corners were unsure as to who was supposed to follow him as he crossed inside.

If the pass rush pressure hadn’t been as good as it was for the Chargers, Kirk Cousins probably would have had a much better passing day than he ended up having. A lot of Samuel and and Davis’ best plays were pass breakups because Cousins was a second late.

Key things to know about Chargers’ Week 3 opponent: Vikings

Here are some important things to know about the Vikings ahead of the Week 3 matchup with the Chargers.

The Chargers will travel to face the Vikings on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 10:00 a.m. PT.

To get you prepped for the Week 3 bout, here are five key things to know about Los Angeles’ opponent ahead of the matchup.

Prolific passing offense

The Chargers, who are dead last in passing defense, are in for quite the challenge facing a Vikings team that’s one of the best through the air. With Kirk Cousins under center, Minnesota ranks No. 2 through the first two weeks of the season, averaging 337 yards per game. Cousins is tied for the most passing touchdowns (6). Minnesota has the second-most explosive pass plays (17), per Pro Football Focus.

Best of the best

It only took three years for Justin Jefferson to establish himself as the league’s best wide receiver. Jefferson has yet to find the end zone, but he leads the NFL in receiving yards with 309 on 20 catches. He is in elite company as one of two players in NFL history with over 5,000 career receiving yards before turning age 25. The other player? Former Viking WR Randy Moss.

Off to a great start

The Vikings selected Jordan Addison with their first-round pick and so far, he has been very promising. Addison, the former USC product, has been a downfield weapon for Cousins and has seven catches for 133 yards, with an average of 19 yards per reception and two scores.

Turnover problem

The Vikings have had no issue putting up points on the scoreboard, but there have been a handful of wasted opportunities. Minnesota leads the league in giveaways (7). Six of them resulted from fumbling and the other one was an interception.

Uneven defense

It’s only been two weeks, so it’s not fair to make an accurate judgment, but the numbers show a Vikings defense that’s been solid against the pass and poor against the run. The Eagles gashed Minnesota for 259 yards on the ground just last week. But the pass defense has made great strides under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Flores’ aggressiveness at blitzing the quarterback has played a significant factor.

Look out for…

Edge defender Danielle Hunter. Hunter leads the NFL with four sacks and nine quarterback pressures.

No, the Vikings are not rebuilding

No matter what happens with Danielle Hunter, the Minnesota Vikings will not be in a rebuild in 2023 or soon thereafter.

A lot of discussions have been occurring over the last few months about the direction of the Minnesota Vikings. They have seen a lot of roster turnover with veterans leaving the team, including Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks and Dalvin Cook.

With Danielle Hunter potentially the next one to leave the Vikings, the word “rebuild” has been thrown around by quite a few people in both article and tweet form. Here’s the thing: Even if they move on from Hunter, that doesn’t mean the direction of the team is any different.

The Vikings are not rebuilding, nor will they under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

The failure of the front office under Adofo-Mensah would be the reason Hunter could eventually be traded prior to the start of the 2023 season. That also doesn’t mean that the Vikings are rebuilding. That word is used when talking about teams like the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears, but that’s not the Vikings.

Adofo-Mensah said so himself that the Vikings weren’t rebuilding in one of his first press conferences back on March 23, 2022.

“We’re all aligned on what our vision is and how we see the needs of our team this year, next year and overall our whole time horizon,” Adofo-Mensah said. “I think when people look at teams they sometimes do it in a very binary way. And they ask, ‘Are you either all-in or tearing down and rebuilding?’ And I don’t really look at the world that way. The way we look at it is we’re trying to navigate both worlds, we’re trying to live in today and tomorrow, or the competitive rebuild, however you want to phrase it or market it, and so I think that’s kind of how we’ve approached this offseason and our time horizons going forward.”

Competitive rebuild is something that you have heard a considerable amount over the last 18 months. The idea behind it is to do what a lot of teams want to be able to do: stay competitive while turning over your roster.

This is something that the Wilf’s want with the Vikings. They want a team that is competitive year in and year out. It’s good for both business and fan interest. While tearing things down like the Bears have done can work long-term, that can lose a lot of fan interest, and in turn, money.

Moving on from Hunter doesn’t signal a rebuild. It only signals a failure in how they handled things with his contract. Do they need to replace him on the roster and in the starting lineup? Absolutely! A rebuild? Far from it.

Ex-Chargers LB Troy Reeder signing with Vikings

Troy Reeder was a core special teams player for the Chargers.

Former Chargers linebacker Troy Reeder has signed with the Vikings.

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Rams in 2019, Reeder produced 230 tackles, fives sacks, eight passes defended, and two interceptions over three seasons.

Reeder signed with the Chargers last offseason, as Brandon Staley was familiar with him, having been his defensive coordinator during the 2020 season.

In 2022, Reeder was a core special teams player. He logged 11 tackles, a pass deflection and a forced fumble.

With Reeder joining the Vikings and Drue Tranquill signing with the Chiefs, here is a look at the state of the linebacker room.

Report: Chargers request interview with Vikings’ Jerrod Johnson for offensive coordinator position

This marks the second requested interview for the Chargers’ offensive coordinator vacancy.

As the Chargers look to fill their offensive coordinator vacancy, they have requested permission to interview Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson, according to CBS Sport’s Jonathan Jones.

Johnson’s career as a coach began in 2017 when he was a part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship with the 49ers. In 2019, he resumed the same role with the Colts. In 2020 and 2021, Johnson was an offensive quality control coach with Indianapolis.

This season, Johnson joined the Vikings as the assistant quarterbacks coach, where he helped Kirk Cousins amass the most passing yards of his career (4,547) en route to a 13-4 Minnesota record.

Los Angeles has also requested an interview with Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson.

An Introduction To SKOL Search

The future of the Vikings comes from the NFL draft and finding the next star Vikings has started. Welcome to SKOL Search!

The NFL Draft process is a wonderful time for fans and analysts alike. It brings a sense of hope to each fanbase and excitement for the following season. The process in making decisions in both the front office and mock drafts derives from in-depth film study and understanding the analytics that contextualizes the film.

In 2021, I started to SKOL Search series, profiling the Vikings draft needs, mock drafts and scouting reports of various prospects that the Vikings might target in the NFL Draft. Over the course of the series the next 20 weeks, there will be a lot of varying opinions on what the Vikings should do in the offseason.

The purpose of this series is to educate about prospects and processes. This piece specifically is meant to lay out my process including grading scale, what I prioritize and how I have my big board and positional ranking structured.

Initial Vikings 53-man roster

Here is the first look at the 2022 Minnesota Vikings

Cuts have been made and the initial 53-man roster is live.

The Minnesota Vikings and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah moved on from 28 players and added one in his first cutdown day as the man in charge of personnel.

There were a multitude of takeaways from the way Adofo-Mensah handled his first preseason and constructing of the roster and it starts with how the 53-man roster looked.

Here is the first look of the Minnesota Viking 53-man roster.

Report: Vikings have expressed interest in Deshaun Watson

Should the Vikings trade for Watson?

We have already seen two starting quarterbacks switch teams, and more changes could be on the way.

One of the biggest dominoes in that carousel is Kirk Cousins. Rumors have been floating around for weeks about both potential extensions and trades, but nothing has come to fruition. The other major domino to fall is Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

After not being charged on Thursday by a grand jury when he was accused by 22 different women of different variations of sexual assault, some of the big-name journalists and news breakers were quick to start discussing how fast a potential Watson trade could come together.

The biggest factor in those trade talks is the landing spot.

While there are many teams that would want his services, Watson’s no-trade clause does inhibit where he could go in a trade. Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network named the Vikings as a potential suitor on Saturday.

This matches up with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler’s mentioning of the Vikings as a potential team to acquire the services of the star quarterback.

Acquiring Watson would likely cost as much, if not more than what the Denver Broncos gave up for Russell Wilson: two firsts, two seconds, three starting caliber players and a fifth. With the uncertainty of Cousins’ future beyond this season, this is something that will be worth monitoring as we approach the new league year next Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.

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Vikings TE Tyler Conklin expected to play vs. Packers in Week 17

Vikings TE Tyler Conklin, who was listed as questionable on the Week 17 injury report, is expected to play Sunday night, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Minnesota’s starting lineup is decimated heading into a key game in Green Bay on Sunday night.

But at least Vikings TE Tyler Conklin is expected to play in the Packers matchup, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Conklin, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, was listed as questionable on the injury report this week. He has 540 receiving yards and three touchdowns this year.

Minnesota downgraded DT Michael Pierce to out for the game against the Packers. The team also has CB Cameron Dantzler listed as doubtful.

Without Pierce, the Vikings will have just one available starter on the defensive line: DT Dalvin Tomlinson. Minnesota edge Danielle Hunter went down with a season-ending injury, while DE Everson Griffen resides on the NFI list.

If Dantzler ends up missing time, the Vikings will likely have to give more reps to CB Kris Boyd. Slot corner Mackensie Alexander and former All-Pro Patrick Peterson will both have to step up as well.