The third preseason game is traditionally the “dress rehearsal” — teams play their starters for an extended period of time (sometimes going into the third quarter) before subbing in their reserves. As the columnists at the Daily Norseman tend to write, it’s the “All-Important Third Preseason Game™”. Friday night’s game in Minneapolis saw the Seattle Seahawks come to town to test Russell Wilson against the Vikings’ league-leading defence from last year. Unlike last game, where the Vikings couldn’t seem to buy a first down, yesterday the first-stringers under Kirk Cousins were able to keep the chains moving (amassing 120 yards in the air through the first quarter) but not to get points on the board. Newly installed placekicker Daniel Carlson didn’t cover himself in glory, missing both of his field goal attempts to the left from 42 yards and encouraging the team to try a two-point conversion after their first touchdown. On the latest Purple Podcast, Judd Zulgad said explicitly that coach Mike Zimmer deliberately ordered the two-point attempt because he didn’t trust Carlson to make the extra point.
Second-string quarterback Trevor Siemian had a bad game (4 of 8 for three yards) and looked very frustrated by the time he was done. However, Siemian did have one particular pass that made the highlight reel:
Brador Siemion pic.twitter.com/bUwdfF9v10
— Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL) August 25, 2018
Third-stringer Kyle Sloter, on the other hand, put on a very good show and led the team to the winning touchdown (and a two-point conversion):
It's @KyleSloter season.
Incredible TD on 4th and 15! #SEAvsMIN pic.twitter.com/CTsKgy4Div
— NFL (@NFL) August 25, 2018
It will be interesting to see if the coaching staff still has confidence in Siemian as the backup after the first three preseason outings, where he didn’t set the world on fire. Sloter is certainly showing that he’s got the chops, if not the experience, for that role at some point in the future. Early in the fourth quarter, I texted to a fellow fan “Sloter >> Siemian” (and that was before Sloter got the first TD. I’m clearly not alone, as at least one Daily Norseman writer feels the same way:
As a former starter with many games of experience in the regular season, you’d expect a guy like Trevor Siemian to show more command. More ability. He should be a little above the second stringers he’s playing against. But he didn’t. He didn’t look like a starter. He didn’t look like a guy you want starting at QB for your team either. And that’s the point.
He was inaccurate. He looked poor under pressure. He did not lead second stringers, he let them down. There was a lack of energy. Quite simply, his game was not up to the task.
By fairly obvious contrast, as soon as Kyle Sloter took the field in each of the first three Vikings preseason games, there was energy and leadership. There was the will to win. There was a QB looking to make plays, not just play out his time.
And Sloter showed presence. Poise. Better scrambling ability. Better acccuracy. And he made plays. Every game. What plays did Siemian make? Zero. Nada. Bupkis.
Sloter led drives. He came through in the clutch. He delivered when he needed to. Yes, he went down twice late on back side blitzes, but he managed to escape from several others and made plays too. Siemian never did.
And, as every NFL head coach knows, if you want to win, you need a quarterback that can make plays. You can’t coach that. You can’t learn that in practice. Experience can help, but not that of Trevor Sirmian’s kind. He was not a playmaker in Denver, and he was released as a result. I’m not sure how that type of experience is a plus. It sounds good to say, “now here’s a QB that’s started a lot of games in the NFL, who can come in a take over if Cousins goes down.” But you could say that about Christian Ponder too.
I don’t think the team should go with only two quarterbacks — not after our experiences over the last several years with quarterback injuries — but I do think that Sloter should be given the primary backup responsibilities.
Newly signed safety George Iloka played a key role with the second team, tipping a pass that was intercepted by Anthony Harris.
