The Vikings picked up a 25-19 over the Seattle Seahawks in their second preseason game of the season Sunday night, and we might’ve been able to glean a bit more clarity from the kicker and punter competitions.
In his first game in Minnesota, Karee Vedvik handled kickoffs, punting and nailed down an extra point, while Dan Bailey attempted – and made a 24-yarder – the Vikings’ only field goal try. Vedvik was also practicing field goals on the sidelines during the game.
When the Vikings scored their third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter, head coach Mike Zimmer opted to go for a two-point conversation. Also, the Vikings made a weird decision to have Matt Wile line up for a punt in the final seconds of the game.
So it’s still unclear what the Vikings want to do at kicker and punter but Vedvik seems to have more responsibilities, and Wile appears to be the odd man out.
“I thought he did well,” Zimmer said of Vedvik. “He kicked the ball deep, had the one extra point, and then he punted OK, so we’ll just keep looking at him and see where we’re at from there. We won’t make a decision today.”
If one were to guess, it appears that Bailey will be the primary field goal kicker while Vedvik handles punting and kickoff duties, in addition to taking some of the longer field goal attempts. Wile appears to be the odd man out.
Other game notes
Kirk Cousins and Minnesota’s first-team offense played two series in the victory but weren’t able to find the end zone. The highlight from the group was Cousins hitting Adam Thielen for a 34-yard strike down the sideline.
However there was some plays that were worrisome, including Cousins fumbling a snap from rookie center Garrett Bradbury, as well as the quarterback missing on a screen pass to Alexander Mattison. Cousins finished the day completing six of eight passes for 68 yards.
Speaking of Mattison, the rookie running back had a decent showing rushing for 41 yards on 10 attempts.
The second-unit offense led by Sean Mannion took over in the second quarter. Mannion led the team into the red zone on his first series but the veteran quarterback threw a pick-six putting Seattle up 10-3.
He did make up for it at the end of the first half finding Mike Boone for a 45-yard gain which set up an Irv Smith Jr. touchdown.
Minnesota’s defensive starters were also taken out of the game in the second quarter.
After Seattle retook the lead with a field goal, Kyle Sloter led the Vikings to a touchdown, connecting with Brandon Zylstra for a four-yard score.
All in all, the Vikings offense finished with 409 yards with the defense allowed just 221 yards.
Minnesota will play its third preseason game Saturday at noon when they host the Arizona Cardinals.
