WaveGate at Mall Of America Field (Vikings/Bills)

[Angry Man]

Vikings wave - YouTube

I was at the game last night myself. This bit of craziness went on nearly the entire third quarter before finally dying down at the start of the fourth. Prior to this to be honest this was one of the worst crowds I ever seen. It was like sitting through a Sunday sermon at church just so freaking dead quiet. It was like people were almost too afraid to cheer whenever something good was happening on the field or boo when something bad happened.

On that note the Bills didn't look that good last night. Fitzpatrick looked okay-ish at times but nothing too dangerous to the point of where I'd be too concerned going into this season when our Pats face the Bills. Of course its pre-season so its hard to really judge a team but if this is any indication I'm not going to sweat too much come regular season time.

 

[Angry Man]

Some game highlights:

Bills vs Vikings highlight 2012 nfl preseason 08/17/2012 - YouTube

Audie Cole's Interception Return Touchdowns 2012 (HD) - YouTube

 

[jmt57]

Although I'm very hesitant to put too much stock into a preseason game, perhaps this game will apply some brakes to the Bills' fans who are convinced that their defense is the second coming of the '85 Bears, and there offense will routinely score 30+ points like they did in the first few games of 2011. About the only thing the Buffalo defense can hang their hat on is that they forced field goals (five of them) rather than touchdowns.

Granted 14 points were scored by the Vikings' defense on back-to-back Pick Six', but the starting Buffalo D did virtually nothing; Minnesota did not have to punt until the 3rd quarter. Considering Buffalo's lack of protection and Fitzpatrick's injuries, the idea of Young or Thigpen at QB is a real possibility - and their turnovers did not invoke much confidence if Fitzpatrick gets injured once again.

 

[Angry Man]

Although I'm very hesitant to put too much stock into a preseason game, perhaps this game will apply some brakes to the Bills' fans who are convinced that their defense is the second coming of the '85 Bears, and there offense will routinely score 30+ points like they did in the first few games of 2011. About the only thing the Buffalo defense can hang their hat on is that they forced field goals (five of them) rather than touchdowns.

I haven't had a chance to watch the game on DVR but from my live experience it seemed like it was more of the Vikings offense still working on gelling together that stalled out the offensive drives. Seems like the offensive line in particular seemed a bit spotty as Ponder (and Webb for that matter) had to scramble on multiple occassions. Even with that said the Vikings offense is already looking much better this year in preseason compared to last year. But we'll see when it comes to game time especially once Adrian Peterson is back in the fold (and if he'll really be effective after his injury).

Granted 14 points were scored by the Vikings' defense on back-to-back Pick Six', but the starting Buffalo D did virtually nothing; Minnesota did not have to punt until the 3rd quarter. Considering Buffalo's lack of protection and Fitzpatrick's injuries, the idea of Young or Thigpen at QB is a real possibility - and their turnovers did not invoke much confidence if Fitzpatrick gets injured once again.

Well truth be told the two Vikings pick sixes happened in garbage time since the game was pretty much sealed up at that point. Yeah exciting to watch regardless and even more so since it was the SAME player who got both picks. The saddest part of all that is most of the fans had already either left the game or had started to leave when the first pick six happened.

In regards to the Bills just going by this game alone I don't see them as much of a threat as their fans believe they are. I was kinda stunned while taking in the game myself that the Bills just kinda seemed lifeless for the most part. I went into the game expecting either a close game or the Bills to tear the Vikings apart much like the 49ers did in the previous game.

And what a mess for their second and third string QBs. Young? Thigpen? Really? I mean yeah the Vikes still for whatever reason has Rosenfels I mean LOLCopter around but I can understand that more so for some kind of veteran presence for the younger QBs on the team (Ponder, Webb, and Bethel who didn't get one snap in this game). At this point its almost like you have to flip a coin to really determine who has a worse situation on QBs between the Jets, Dolphins, and Bills.