Minnesota Vikings: Studs and duds from Week 14 vs. Buccaneers
Minnesota Vikings studs and duds from a disheartening loss to the Buccaneers.
The Minnesota Vikings entered Week 14 of the 2020 NFL season looking to continue to make a climb up the NFC standings while staying hot as of late.
In what has become an impressive turnaround to the regular season while grabbing the final Wild Card spot in the conference a week ago, Minnesota hit the road aiming to stay in the win column in a very important matchup against the team right in front of it in the NFC standings.
The Vikings, winners of two straight and five of their last six going into Week 14, battled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay in a contest between two teams in the final two Wild Card positions in the conference.
Minnesota came into the game with a record of 6-6 overall, sitting just one game behind Tampa Bay at 7-5 overall in the NFC standings. At the end of the conference battle in Week 14, the Buccaneers were the team that came out with the win, taking down the Vikings 26-14.
To kick off the game, the Vikings got on the board first with a touchdown from Dalvin Cook early in the second quarter, but the Buccaneers battled back before halftime with a long touchdown reception from Scotty Miller that allowed Tampa Bay to take a 7-6 lead. That score would expand to 17-6 on the side of the Buccaneers going into halftime.
In the second half, Tampa Bay was able to hold off Minnesota over the final two quarters, outscoring the Vikings 9-8 in the second half to pull out the 12-point victory.
Minnesota will get back to action in Week 15 when it returns home for the final regular-season home game of the 2020 campaign against the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Tampa Bay returns to the field in Week 15 when it travels to battle the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.
With the big NFC matchup now in the books between the Vikings and Buccaneers, let’s look back at some studs and duds from the purple and gold in the contest.
Stud: Tight end targets stepping up
Going into the game on Sunday, Minnesota found out it would be without veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph in the contest while he battles back from a foot injury. With Rudolph out of the lineup, that meant that backup tight ends Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin needed to step up and fill that void in the Vikings offense both in the blocking game and receiving game.
At the end of the Week 14 matchup, the two of Smith and Conklin did just that to help lead Minnesota receiving group. and it was good to see them step up throughout the course of the game. Conklin finished the game with a total of five catches for 40 yards, while Smith managed to haul in four catches for 63 yards and one touchdown.
Dud: Kicking struggles
One thing that has been a common occurrence for the Vikings over the last few years has been issues at the kicker position and the lack of consistency at that spot on the depth chart. Veteran kicker Dan Bailey‘s struggles continued on Sunday in Week 14, most notably early on in the contest on the road in Tampa Bay.
After Minnesota found the endzone early in the second quarter, Bailey missed an extra point that resulted in the Vikings putting up just six points on the board rather than seven. Later on in the second quarter, Bailey ended up missing a 36-yard field goal that would have pushed the game to two possessions rather than remain at one and then missed a 54-yard field goal later on in the frame.
By the end of the game, Bailey ended up missing a total of four field goals that would have accounted for 10 points. That’s the game right there. Kicking struggles have continued for Minnesota, and you know that has to drive head coach Mike Zimmer crazy.