The Minnesota Vikings’ defense was dominant in the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They only allowed 90 yards and one sustained drive in a two-minute drill situation.
The second half was less dominant, as the Vikings allowed sustained drives that ended in a 20-17 loss to the Buccaneers.
Could that have been because the Buccaneers figured out the Vikings signals? According to running back Rachaad White, that’s exactly what happened and he said as much during an appearance on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
“I just remember Bake came in the locker room, literally at halftime, he said, ‘I got it. We got all these signals,’” White said of Mayfield. “We’re in there talking as an offense and he’s like, ‘I know all these signals. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-2. If they do this, they’re going into Cover-3. Every time I alert this and they do this signal, they’re dropping back to this.’ And I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ … I was just listening to him and we were listening to him and we just kind of understood.”
Now, this is just the first game for Brian Flores as defensive coordinator. There is still plenty of time to hash all of this out. Right now, it’s worrisome but there is plenty of time to fix it.
Will they have enough time to make the proper adjustments on a short week? We will find out on Thursday night.
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