By Joseph Gunther
The Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers nearly did something that had not been done since the 2011 season — play a scoreless first half. The two teams picked up their offensive play in the second half before the Vikings won 19-13 in overtime Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
Blair Walsh broke the scoreless tie with a 46-yard field goal as time expired on the first half.
The Vikings (3-5) scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Greg Jennings.
The fireworks really started in the fourth quarter when the Buccaneers (1-6) scored 13 straight points to take their only lead of the game with two minutes and two seconds remaining in the game. Patrick Murray made a pair of field goals from 54 and 45-yards out, respectively. Then Mike Glennon lofted a pass to rookie tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins right before the two-minute warning.
The Vikings drove the field to tie the game with a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter. Then in overtime, the Vikings won on the first play from scrimmage when Anthony Barr stripped the ball from Seferian-Jenkins, picked up the fumble and ran 27-yards for a touchdown.
Offense Grade: B-
The Vikings offense was mostly stagnant all game. They had seven drives that failed to go 30 yards. The Vikings offense was clearly better than their counterparts on this day. The Vikings ran nine more plays, had 107 more yards of offense, 1.1 more yards per play, allowed four less sacks and turned the ball over two fewer times.
The Vikings offensive line was better than it had been in recent weeks, but still needs to get better. They had moments of greatness, including most of the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter.
The wide receivers still had their drops, but Cordarrelle Patterson and Chase Ford combined for half of Bridgewater’s completions.
Defense Grade: B+
The Vikings defense was great for three quarters. Then things went a little awry in the fourth quarter. The Vikings forced a punt on seven consecutive drives after forcing an interception on the first possession of the game. However, in the fourth quarter, the Vikings gave up three straight scoring drives to finish regulation.
The Vikings defense made the play of the game on the first play of overtime when Barr stripped, scooped and scored for the winner. Barr finished the game with eight tackles, one sack, one pass defensed, one quarterback hit, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Chad Greenway led the team with nine tackles. Sharrif Floyd, Everson Griffen, Brian Robison and Tom Johnson added one sack each. Captain Munnerlyn recorded the game’s only interception.
Quarterback Grade: B-
Bridgewater was all right. He completed 24 of 42 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown. He had a quarterback rating of 81.5 and QBR of 71.7. He also had one rush for three yards. He got away with one bad pass in the fourth quarter on the game-tying drive when the defensive back got his hands on the pass, but couldn’t hang on to it.
In the two games Bridgewater has started in which the offensive line has given him some time, he has played really well. In the other two starts, just the opposite occurred.
Special Teams Grade: C-
The Vikings special teams made several mistakes that could have cost them the game. Walsh missed a field goal on the team’s opening possession. Jeff Locke had three of his eight punts go into the end zone for a touchback, including one that land near the back of the end zone on the fly. On the positive side, Locke did get three punts downed inside the 20-yard line and had a long of 59 yards.
The return game was just average as well. Patterson averaged just 26.3 per kick return and Marcus Sherels had a punt return average of 6.3 yards. Sherels had a long punt return of 42 yards, but a holding penalty by Jabari Price brought it back inside Vikings territory.
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Joseph Gunther is an avid fan of Minnesota sports, including football, hockey and baseball. He covered a wide variety of sports while attending Hastings College in Hastings, Neb. While at Hastings College, he was a part of the first collegiate media group to broadcast a national tournament via television, radio, internet and newspaper at the 2004 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Tournament. He grew up in the Twin Cities playing three years of varsity football in high school. Joseph is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
