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Access Vikings morning walkthrough: Bridgewater vows to bounce back, Griffen's guarantee, a plug and more

After changing up their schedule yesterday, the Vikings are back to their routine today. The coordinators talk at 11 a.m. and practice is at 1 p.m.

By Matt Vensel

September 17, 2015 at 12:49PM

Every weekday, we walk you through what's going on with the Vikings.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Teddy Bridgewater admitted yesterday to being "too excited," too "sped up" and "overdoing it" against the 49ers in the season opener. But the Vikings quarterback vowed to play better against the Lions on Sunday.

— Kicker Blair Walsh conceded he might be overthinking things right now.

— My five Vikings stats that stand out this week are not pretty.

— Defensive end Everson Griffen guaranteed victory against the Lions.

— Coach Mike Zimmer, meanwhile, channeled his inner Bill Belichick yesterday, saying that the Vikings are "just going to focus on Detroit now."

— Chip Scoggins, Michael Rand and I weren't yet done talking about San Francisco, though. On this week's Access Vikings podcast, we broke down what went wrong against the 49ers before looking ahead to the Lions.

AROUND THE NFC NORTH

— Matthew Stafford sometimes gets criticized for throwing to Calvin Johnson too frequently. But this week, the Lions quarterback is being criticized for not throwing to his star wide receiver enough last weekend.

— The Vikings aren't the only NFC North team that has concerns when it comes to their run defense. The Packers, too, are trying to plug holes.

— Chicago plays Arizona this weekend, and Cardinals coach Bruce Arians still can't believe the Bears didn't hire him as coach two years ago.

TODAY'S VIKINGS SCHEDULE

After changing up their schedule yesterday, the Vikings are back to their routine today. The coordinators talk at 11 a.m. and practice is at 1 p.m.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Should the Vikings just forfeit the rest of their games after losing by 17 points in Week 1? One irrational reader suggested that to me via email. But all is not lost, Vikings fans. There are still 15 games left to play, and keep in mind that three of the four teams to reach the AFC or NFC championship game last year lost their season openers, too. Now, I'm not saying I see the Vikings bouncing back like that, but hey, you never know, I guess. But if they are going to do that, they should probably win this weekend against the Lions, who are also 0-1. Since 2007, only five of the 66 teams that started the season 0-2 went on to make the playoffs, according to Sports Illustrated.

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Matt Vensel

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