Vikings' Preseason Losing Streak Reaches Ten in 18-17 Loss vs. Cardinals
The Vikings' preseason slate has come to a merciful end. They lost 18-17 to the Cardinals on Saturday, completing another winless preseason and stretching their August losing streak to ten games.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell held out even more players in this finale than he did in the first two games. There was no Nick Mullens or Ivan Pace Jr. or Brandon Powell or Ty Chandler in this one. It was rookie Jaren Hall at quarterback for the entire game and mostly third- and fourth-stringers making up the rest of the lineup on both sides of the ball.
Early on, it looked like O'Connell was going to get his first preseason victory, as the Vikings jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game. Hall helped lead a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the afternoon, which was capped by DeWayne McBride's second one-yard TD plunge this month. Three plays later, a violent sack and forced fumble by a blitzing Jay Ward got the Vikings the ball back, and Hall hit Abram Smith for a touchdown on the ensuing play.
Instead of cruising to a win, they scored just three points the rest of the way.
A 17-3 halftime lead turned in an 18-17 defeat as former Vikings practice squad QB David Blough led three Arizona scoring drives after the break. Greg Joseph missed a 54-yard field goal attempt — his first preseason miss after six makes — with a little over two minutes left that would've given the Vikings the lead.
Hall had an up-and-down day, completing 16 of 27 passes for 178 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He showed some flashes as a passer and had 21 rushing yards, but also took six sacks. On the Vikings' final drive, Hall hit tight end Ben Sims for a 42-yard gain on fourth down — except he had crossed the line of scrimmage before releasing the pass, so it didn't count and the game came to an end.
The Vikings were just 2 for 12 on third down and surrendered 139 rushing yards to the Cardinals, most of them coming from veteran Corey Clement. Minnesota committed six penalties in another predictably sloppy performance from players deep down the depth chart.
Blake Proehl led the Vikings in receiving. McBride had a solid day. Ward, in addition to his strip-sack, was tied for the team lead with seven tackles. Sheldon Day and Jaquelin Roy were disruptive on the interior. Other than that, there wasn't much that stood out.
On Tuesday, the Vikings' roster will be trimmed down to 53 players and their practice squad will be formed. Then, on September 10th, the regular season will finally be underway.
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