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Minnesota: good opening (and only) drive (though Vikings turned it over on downs) for Teddy Bridgewater, 5-6-44. Threw well, ran well if inadvisedly, read the field well. Looks like the real deal.
Vikings couldn't get Mike Wallace going but do show off a lot of speed at WR. SIU's Mycole Pruitt was the star of their first TD drive, with a key block to spring Matt Asiata for 18 and scoring himself on a 34-yard TD, getting wide open on a deep cross. Another (rare) big play of the game was a 62-yard punt return inside the 5 by Stefon Diggs, off a great block at the start of the return by linebacker Brian Peters. Joe Banyard finished that TD off from the 2.
The Viking defense leaves the lasting impression. Mike Zimmer is not going to be afraid to blitz. Their d-line's as deep and talented as the Rams'. Everson Griffen blew up Pittsburgh's opening drive pretty single-handedly. Justin Trattou came off the bench and quickly knocked down a pass and blew up a sweep. DT Tom Johnson made plays all first half, including a 4th-and-goal pressure on Landry Jones that forced a quick throw the TE dropped at the goal line when Jones had a WR wide open in the back of the end zone. He sacked Jones in the 3rd off a stunt that left Dri Archer trying to block him. Yeah, that's a mismatch. DT Shamar Stephen did some good run-stuffing. The Viking line controlled the line of scrimmage. Lot of guys who can play, and it filtered back. LB Gerald Hodges made some nice plays, DB Antone Exum had a long fumble return and DB Jabari Price made several key pass defenses, including a couple in the end zone. The disappointment so far is rookie Trae Waynes, who was burned deep for a big gain and committed a long DPI that set Pittsburgh up at the goal line. After halftime, he gifted Pittsburgh a first down with a needless hold, but Trattou and Price bailed him out with run stuffs, Price's while without his helmet. Peters made a great play in the 4th; the Steelers got Dri Archer iso'ed on him on the outside and you knew the ball was going to him, but Peters limited Archer to a short gain. Trattou ran rookie Steeler tackle Kevin Whimpey, who will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today, ragged late in the game to keep pretty consistent heat on Jones. These are mostly backups, but their defensive depth is impressive, and Zimmer's aggressive scheme should have them primed.
I liked Minnesota last preseason before they slaughtered the Rams opening week and jumped up to 7-9; I like them again this preseason and don't see why they can't make the next jump, into the playoffs, with their talent on hand.
Pittsburgh: Steelers played almost no starters and are almost pointless to evaluate. LB Ryan Shazier made a couple of nice plays, including blowing up the 4th-down run on Minnesota's opening drive. Rookie Shakim Phillips burned Waynes with an excellent one-handed catch of a bomb from Jones. Dri Archer flashed a little in essentially the Tavon Austin role. He had some effective screens and draws, but the Viking D was all over him other times. He was iso'ed against LB Brian Peters in the 4th and got next to nothing, which was pretty disappointing. So the Rams aren't alone in not being able to immediately turn small receiver-types into Percy Harvin.
Landry Jones played the whole game at QB. The Sam Bradford clone had some good throws but regressed to his Senior Bowl performance at times. He has to get the ball out quickly to be effective, gets too many passes knocked down and is much too inaccurate on outside throws. He missed a couple in the end zone at the end of the first half he just shouldn't have. Rookie TE Jesse James had a brutal night, dropping a certain TD pass before halftime and muffing a catch into an INT one play after Vikings TE Chase Ford had done exactly the same thing. Viva preseason!
The game doesn't leave much feel for what the Rams need to watch out for when Pittsburgh comes here in September. They ran a decent amount of no-huddle, which has been kryptonite to the Rams defense recently, and mixed in a read-option package with Tyler Murphy, though I don't know who'd be running that in the regular season. On defense, they're supposed to be switching to a Tampa-style scheme, so Nick Foles is going to have to be able to hit some of those throws he wasn't hitting at Friday night's scrimmage and that Landry Jones wasn't hitting tonight.
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