Brian Hoyer was able to throw the ball at will on the Vikings first team defense for 176 yards and two touchdowns, which helped the 49’ers break out to a 14-0 first half lead. That doesn’t bode well for the regular season opener in two weeks against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium for this reporter. Hopefully this doesn’t send a message to the Saints that they will be able to go up and down the field with ease for an entire game with their vaunted passing attack.
The Vikings starting offense was still unable to get into the end zone with Sam Bradford at the helm. I think it is more of a mental thing, and it doesn’t help when the starting receivers are dropping potential scoring opportunities. Bradford completed 17 passes for 134 yards for the night, with the longest completion being to Adam Thielen for 28 yards, but he was still sacked three times in the first quarter on their first possessions, which is not going to fly during the regular season. If you are going to continue with that, you will end up with losses and finish out of the playoffs once again.
There is much work to be done in the next two weeks to get this team up to the standards that I expect of them. Mike Zimmer and his staff will need to work hard to get this team ready for the season opener against the Saints on September 11th.
