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By BOB McGINN
Pat Elflein and Brian O’Neill, probably the Minnesota Vikings’ two best offensive linemen, weren’t in the lineup on Sept. 16 when the Vikings tied the Green Bay Packers, 29-29, at Lambeau Field.
When the two teams meet again Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium Elflein will start at center and O’Neill will start at right tackle. They’ve been the only bright spots for a unit that remains the Vikings’ weakest position.
Elflein was a third-round draft choice in 2017 after following Green Bay’s Corey Linsley as the center at Ohio State. He started as a rookie but suffered a broken ankle in the NFC Championship Game and wasn’t ready until the week after the Minnesota-Green Bay game.
“Pat does a good job of denting the line of scrimmage at the point of attack,” offensive coordinator John DeFilippo told reporters earlier this month. “We always just talk about getting the play started.
“He’s really quick with his hands. He gets the ball out to the quarterback very, very quickly. He has a great first step. He can diagnose fronts very quickly.”
O’Neill was the Vikings’ second-round draft choice in April out of Pittsburgh. Rashod Hill started the first five games although O’Neill did play the final 32 snaps against Green Bay when Hill suffered a hamstring injury.
“He might be their best player right now,” an executive in personnel said Wednesday. “He’s pretty good in the run game. Pretty physical kid. Really athletic. Needs to get stronger.”
O’Neill (6-7, 300) ran 40 yards in an extremely fast 4.84 seconds at the combine and scored 29 on the Wonderlic intelligence test. One personnel man said he reminded him of Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari, just 2 ½ inches taller.
With Riley Reiff having another mediocre season at left tackle, the door might be open for O’Neill to take over there next season. He started at left tackle as a senior in 2017.
“He’s got all the traits that Bakhtiari probably had,” one scout said. “He’s just probably a little longer. Coming out they both were a little strength-deficient. O’Neill could put on 10, 20 pounds.”
Right guard Mike Remmers is coming off a rough game against dominating defensive tackle Akiem Hicks Sunday night in the 25-20 defeat at Chicago. The left guard will be Tom Compton if his bad knee permits. Otherwise, Danny Isidora, who split time with Compton against the Bears, would start.
“Isidora is a better athlete,” one scout said. “Might have a little more power. Not as experienced, obviously, or as savvy.”
New booter: The Vikings waited less than 24 hours after the tie in Green Bay before releasing rookie kicker Daniel Carlson, the fifth-round draft choice from Auburn.
Overtime came to a close when Carlson blew a field-goal attempt from 35 yards. He also missed from 49 early in overtime and from 48 just before halftime.
Dan Bailey, the Cowboys’ kicker from 2011-’17, had an offer from Cleveland and reportedly several others before taking a guaranteed one-year, $1.75 million deal Sept. 18 from Minnesota. Bailey has made 14 of 17 field goals and 16 of 17 extra points. One of his field-goal misses was ruined by a bad snap.
Over the eight years of his career Bailey ranks seventh in 50-plus field goals made with 28; Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has 23 in that span. Bailey’s career mark of 87.7% ranks fourth all-time behind Justin Tucker, Stephen Hauschka and Stephen Gostkowski.
Stingy scheme: Since allowing 556 yards against the Rams and 364 the next week in Philadelphia, the Vikings have yielded an average of just 263.6 yards in the past five games. Ten days ago, they amassed 10 sacks in a 24-9 victory over Detroit at U.S. Bank.
“They did a good job with some of their disguises,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said afterward. “Especially at home they do a great job (late) with the play clock. They’ll jump into some different looks in the coverage part of it. Some of those are confusing looks that gave us trouble.”
Coach Mike Zimmer is credited with developing the Double A gap scheme during his 13 seasons (1994-’06) as an assistant in Dallas and his six seasons (2008-’13) as coordinator in Cincinnati. Today, most teams in the league at least experiment with that look.
“Quite honestly, I don’t think we’ve run any Double A blitzes this year,” Zimmer said the day after the Detroit game. “It’s because everybody is practicing them so we do something else.
“They’ve been stealing our blitzes for a long time. They’ve been stealing our coverages now. It may not be the same but it’s similar.
“There’s probably 10 or 12 teams that are running what our base coverage was the whole time. Everybody copies you if you’ve been good. So then you’ve got to change up and do other things.”
Changing of the guard: Defensive end Everson Griffen, who was voted to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, played 69 of a possible 77 snaps in the first Packers game. At that point, he left the team for five weeks because of mental health issues.
Against Green Bay, Griffen posted one-half sack and six hurries. In the three games since his return Griffen had almost no production against New Orleans and Chicago but did have 1 ½ sacks and seven hurries against Detroit.
Defensive end Danielle Hunter has stepped to the forefront with 11 ½ sacks, which ranks second in the NFL, and 40 hurries.
“He is a guy that doesn’t think he’s a superstar,” Zimmer said, referring to Hunter. “He thinks he is one of the guys. He is playing a lot more free. A lot of times those young guys are a little paint-by-the-numbers guys.
“If the tackle oversets him, he goes underneath. If he short-sets him, he beats him on the corner. If he sits down on them, he will long-arm them and work a second move off him. That’s the development I see in him, and it’s been going on for maybe a year now.”
Stephen Weatherly, a seventh-round pick in 2016, started for Griffen and made substantial strides. He has three sacks to go with 25 hurries, which ranks third on the club.
“When he first came here he was a guy that would stop his feet on the rush and kind of measure,” Zimmer said. “Now he’s just rushing and using his athletic abilities. A year ago I wouldn’t have guessed that he would be playing this much or doing the things he’s doing.”
Sheldon Richardson, the 3-technique, leads the team in hurries with 41 to go with 1 ½ sacks. In March, the Vikings gave Richardson a one-year, $8 million contract that contained $7.8M in guarantees.
The Vikings credited Richardson with eight hurries against the Packers, equaling his season high.
“Sheldon has been an ultimate pro since he’s been here,” defensive coordinator George Edwards said last week. “He’s very stout against the run. You’re not going to move him off the ball. In the passing game, he’s getting push in the pocket. He’s been unselfish. He’s been a big plus for us inside.”
Safety switch: Strong safety Andrew Sendejo is expected to miss his sixth straight game with a groin injury. Former Bengal starter George Iloka and Jayron Kearse, a seventh-round draft choice in 2016, both saw action for Sendejo before Anthony Harris nailed down the job in Game 8.
Harris (6-0 ½, 202), an undrafted free agent in 2015, made eight starts in his first three seasons but never intercepted a pass. He has three picks this season, including two against Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky on Sunday night.
“He’s really smart and instinctive,” one scout said. “Has good eyes. He’s just not an elite athlete.”
Rookie Mike Hughes, the cornerback from Central Florida who was the 30th pick in the draft, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Game 6. At the time, Hughes was challenging Trae Waynes for a starting berth.
Minus Hughes, Mackensie Alexander has shown improvement as the nickel back while Holton Hill, a rookie free agent from Texas, has played 140 snaps in various roles.
“Hughes was the best nickel back they had since (Antoine) Winfield,” said one personnel man. “He was further along than Waynes or Alexander were.
“Hill is still raw but he’s big, fast and athletic. He’s talented.”
Like father, like son: Wide receiver Don Beebe (5-10 ½, 176) was a third-round draft choice from Chadron State in 1989 partially because the Buffalo Bills liked his 4.42-second clocking in the 40 at the combine in February 1989. Beebe went on to play nine seasons for the Bills, Panthers and Packers, finishing with 219 receptions for 3,416 yards (15.6) and 23 touchdowns.
His son, Chad, also played wide receiver but at 5-9 ½, 178 with a 40 of 4.68 he didn’t possess the size or speed of his father.
After a nondescript four-year career at Northern Illinois the young Beebe signed with the Vikings after the draft. His deal contained no signing bonus.
The Vikings released Beebe at the end of training camp but kept him around on the practice squad. He was promoted Nov. 3 and has played 42 snaps primarily from the slot in the last two games, catching four passes for 39 yards.
“It started back in training camp,” offensive coordinator John DeFilippo said. “You could just tell this kid understood football. He obviously has great bloodlines.”
Beebe kept making catches on the scout team.
“He is really, really quick,” said DeFilippo. “And he is a fast decision-maker. The more he shows he can handle, the bigger his role will be.”
Injury report: The Packers submitted one of their more problematic injury reports of the season Wednesday with 10 names, including seven that didn’t practice.
That list included tight end Jimmy Graham (broken thumb), guard Lucas Patrick (concussion), defensive tackle Mike Daniels (foot), linebacker Nick Perry (knee), cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland (groin) and Kevin King (hamstring), and safety Raven Greene (ankle). Limited participants were wide receiver Randall Cobb (hamstring) and safety Kentrell Brice (ankle).
The Vikings listed 12 players but only four didn’t practice: tight end David Morgan (knee), Weatherly (back), linebacker Ben Gedeon (concussion) and Sendejo (groin).
The Vikings (5-3-1) are favored by 3 ½ points over the Packers (4-5-1).
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Pat Elflein and Brian O’Neill, probably the Minnesota Vikings’ two best offensive linemen, weren’t in the lineup on Sept. 16 when the Vikings tied the Green Bay Packers, 29-29, at Lambeau Field.
When the two teams meet again Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium Elflein will start at center and O’Neill will start at right tackle. They’ve been the only bright spots for a unit that remains the Vikings’ weakest position.
Elflein was a third-round draft choice in 2017 after following Green Bay’s Corey Linsley as the center at Ohio State. He started as a rookie but suffered a broken ankle in the NFC Championship Game and wasn’t ready until the week after the Minnesota-Green Bay game.
“Pat does a good job of denting the line of scrimmage at the point of attack,” offensive coordinator John DeFilippo told reporters earlier this month. “We always just talk about getting the play started.
“He’s really quick with his hands. He gets the ball out to the quarterback very, very quickly. He has a great first step. He can diagnose fronts very quickly.”
O’Neill was the Vikings’ second-round draft choice in April out of Pittsburgh. Rashod Hill started the first five games although O’Neill did play the final 32 snaps against Green Bay when Hill suffered a hamstring injury.
“He might be their best player right now,” an executive in personnel said Wednesday. “He’s pretty good in the run game. Pretty physical kid. Really athletic. Needs to get stronger.”
O’Neill (6-7, 300) ran 40 yards in an extremely fast 4.84 seconds at the combine and scored 29 on the Wonderlic intelligence test. One personnel man said he reminded him of Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari, just 2 ½ inches taller.
With Riley Reiff having another mediocre season at left tackle, the door might be open for O’Neill to take over there next season. He started at left tackle as a senior in 2017.
“He’s got all the traits that Bakhtiari probably had,” one scout said. “He’s just probably a little longer. Coming out they both were a little strength-deficient. O’Neill could put on 10, 20 pounds.”
Right guard Mike Remmers is coming off a rough game against dominating defensive tackle Akiem Hicks Sunday night in the 25-20 defeat at Chicago. The left guard will be Tom Compton if his bad knee permits. Otherwise, Danny Isidora, who split time with Compton against the Bears, would start.
“Isidora is a better athlete,” one scout said. “Might have a little more power. Not as experienced, obviously, or as savvy.”
New booter: The Vikings waited less than 24 hours after the tie in Green Bay before releasing rookie kicker Daniel Carlson, the fifth-round draft choice from Auburn.
Overtime came to a close when Carlson blew a field-goal attempt from 35 yards. He also missed from 49 early in overtime and from 48 just before halftime.
Dan Bailey, the Cowboys’ kicker from 2011-’17, had an offer from Cleveland and reportedly several others before taking a guaranteed one-year, $1.75 million deal Sept. 18 from Minnesota. Bailey has made 14 of 17 field goals and 16 of 17 extra points. One of his field-goal misses was ruined by a bad snap.
Over the eight years of his career Bailey ranks seventh in 50-plus field goals made with 28; Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has 23 in that span. Bailey’s career mark of 87.7% ranks fourth all-time behind Justin Tucker, Stephen Hauschka and Stephen Gostkowski.
Stingy scheme: Since allowing 556 yards against the Rams and 364 the next week in Philadelphia, the Vikings have yielded an average of just 263.6 yards in the past five games. Ten days ago, they amassed 10 sacks in a 24-9 victory over Detroit at U.S. Bank.
“They did a good job with some of their disguises,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said afterward. “Especially at home they do a great job (late) with the play clock. They’ll jump into some different looks in the coverage part of it. Some of those are confusing looks that gave us trouble.”
Coach Mike Zimmer is credited with developing the Double A gap scheme during his 13 seasons (1994-’06) as an assistant in Dallas and his six seasons (2008-’13) as coordinator in Cincinnati. Today, most teams in the league at least experiment with that look.
“Quite honestly, I don’t think we’ve run any Double A blitzes this year,” Zimmer said the day after the Detroit game. “It’s because everybody is practicing them so we do something else.
“They’ve been stealing our blitzes for a long time. They’ve been stealing our coverages now. It may not be the same but it’s similar.
“There’s probably 10 or 12 teams that are running what our base coverage was the whole time. Everybody copies you if you’ve been good. So then you’ve got to change up and do other things.”
Changing of the guard: Defensive end Everson Griffen, who was voted to the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, played 69 of a possible 77 snaps in the first Packers game. At that point, he left the team for five weeks because of mental health issues.
Against Green Bay, Griffen posted one-half sack and six hurries. In the three games since his return Griffen had almost no production against New Orleans and Chicago but did have 1 ½ sacks and seven hurries against Detroit.
Defensive end Danielle Hunter has stepped to the forefront with 11 ½ sacks, which ranks second in the NFL, and 40 hurries.
“He is a guy that doesn’t think he’s a superstar,” Zimmer said, referring to Hunter. “He thinks he is one of the guys. He is playing a lot more free. A lot of times those young guys are a little paint-by-the-numbers guys.
“If the tackle oversets him, he goes underneath. If he short-sets him, he beats him on the corner. If he sits down on them, he will long-arm them and work a second move off him. That’s the development I see in him, and it’s been going on for maybe a year now.”
Stephen Weatherly, a seventh-round pick in 2016, started for Griffen and made substantial strides. He has three sacks to go with 25 hurries, which ranks third on the club.
“When he first came here he was a guy that would stop his feet on the rush and kind of measure,” Zimmer said. “Now he’s just rushing and using his athletic abilities. A year ago I wouldn’t have guessed that he would be playing this much or doing the things he’s doing.”
Sheldon Richardson, the 3-technique, leads the team in hurries with 41 to go with 1 ½ sacks. In March, the Vikings gave Richardson a one-year, $8 million contract that contained $7.8M in guarantees.
The Vikings credited Richardson with eight hurries against the Packers, equaling his season high.
“Sheldon has been an ultimate pro since he’s been here,” defensive coordinator George Edwards said last week. “He’s very stout against the run. You’re not going to move him off the ball. In the passing game, he’s getting push in the pocket. He’s been unselfish. He’s been a big plus for us inside.”
Safety switch: Strong safety Andrew Sendejo is expected to miss his sixth straight game with a groin injury. Former Bengal starter George Iloka and Jayron Kearse, a seventh-round draft choice in 2016, both saw action for Sendejo before Anthony Harris nailed down the job in Game 8.
Harris (6-0 ½, 202), an undrafted free agent in 2015, made eight starts in his first three seasons but never intercepted a pass. He has three picks this season, including two against Chicago’s Mitchell Trubisky on Sunday night.
“He’s really smart and instinctive,” one scout said. “Has good eyes. He’s just not an elite athlete.”
Rookie Mike Hughes, the cornerback from Central Florida who was the 30th pick in the draft, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Game 6. At the time, Hughes was challenging Trae Waynes for a starting berth.
Minus Hughes, Mackensie Alexander has shown improvement as the nickel back while Holton Hill, a rookie free agent from Texas, has played 140 snaps in various roles.
“Hughes was the best nickel back they had since (Antoine) Winfield,” said one personnel man. “He was further along than Waynes or Alexander were.
“Hill is still raw but he’s big, fast and athletic. He’s talented.”
Like father, like son: Wide receiver Don Beebe (5-10 ½, 176) was a third-round draft choice from Chadron State in 1989 partially because the Buffalo Bills liked his 4.42-second clocking in the 40 at the combine in February 1989. Beebe went on to play nine seasons for the Bills, Panthers and Packers, finishing with 219 receptions for 3,416 yards (15.6) and 23 touchdowns.
His son, Chad, also played wide receiver but at 5-9 ½, 178 with a 40 of 4.68 he didn’t possess the size or speed of his father.
After a nondescript four-year career at Northern Illinois the young Beebe signed with the Vikings after the draft. His deal contained no signing bonus.
The Vikings released Beebe at the end of training camp but kept him around on the practice squad. He was promoted Nov. 3 and has played 42 snaps primarily from the slot in the last two games, catching four passes for 39 yards.
“It started back in training camp,” offensive coordinator John DeFilippo said. “You could just tell this kid understood football. He obviously has great bloodlines.”
Beebe kept making catches on the scout team.
“He is really, really quick,” said DeFilippo. “And he is a fast decision-maker. The more he shows he can handle, the bigger his role will be.”
Injury report: The Packers submitted one of their more problematic injury reports of the season Wednesday with 10 names, including seven that didn’t practice.
That list included tight end Jimmy Graham (broken thumb), guard Lucas Patrick (concussion), defensive tackle Mike Daniels (foot), linebacker Nick Perry (knee), cornerbacks Bashaud Breeland (groin) and Kevin King (hamstring), and safety Raven Greene (ankle). Limited participants were wide receiver Randall Cobb (hamstring) and safety Kentrell Brice (ankle).
The Vikings listed 12 players but only four didn’t practice: tight end David Morgan (knee), Weatherly (back), linebacker Ben Gedeon (concussion) and Sendejo (groin).
The Vikings (5-3-1) are favored by 3 ½ points over the Packers (4-5-1).
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