Two players who stood out
Harrison Smith: The veteran safety seemed to play with an edge on Sunday, and he made his presence felt early, when he read Philip Rivers' eyes on a zone drop and turned a would-be touchdown pass into a deflected ball that Eric Wilson intercepted. Smith nearly created another pick on the next drive when he tipped a pass off a blitz that Michael Pittman still caught for a 9-yard gain. He combined with Yannick Ngakoue for a 1-yard loss on a run stop later, though Smith did catch a break when T.Y. Hilton dropped a touchdown pass after getting by him in the second quarter.
Eric Kendricks: The middle linebacker had 12 tackles and flashed his sideline-to-sideline speed when he stopped Jonathan Taylor for a 2-yard loss on an outside run early in the game. The Colts tested the Vikings linebackers with throws to Mo Alie-Cox behind their zone drops, and Kendricks got caught chasing the tight end on a 33-yard completion in the first half.
Two trends to watch
How the Vikings create a pass rush: Linebacker Anthony Barr, out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle, has never put up great pressure numbers, but he's been a key piece of the Vikings' blitz packages. Now, they'll have to figure out how to operate without him. Ngakoue played more on the right side on Sunday, and got the Vikings' first sack of the season.. The Vikings could also use Smith as a blitzer on occasion, especially if they move him closer to the line of scrimmage to deal with the Titans' running game after Zimmer said he left safeties in coverage more often vs. the Colts to help out his young corners.
Jeff Gladney's progress: The first-round pick started the game at left cornerback with Mike Hughes in the slot and committed the first of the Vikings' three illegal-contact penalties to give the Colts a first down on their initial drive. We'll have to see how quickly the Vikings can get Cameron Dantzler back from a rib injury, and how they mix Gladney into their rotation at that point. They seem most comfortable with Hughes in the slot at the moment, and Dantzler and Holton Hill have more size than Gladney.
One big question going forward
How much better can we expect this Vikings team to get? There were few elements of the Vikings' operation that escaped Sunday unscathed, and it's tough to expect things are going to magically improve overnight, especially given the choice the Vikings seem to continually face between helping their young corners and providing more run support from their safeties. Tennessee, Houston and Seattle — the Vikings' next three opponents — can all stress the defense in pronounced ways, and the Vikings have to face Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers after that. They've had stretches in the Zimmer era where they've been unable to win a big game, or gotten blown out on an off day, but few times have they looked as outclassed as they have the past two weeks. Perhaps it's part of the life cycle of the team, but this is still a group that is expected to win now. If things keep going in this direction, it will be interesting to see how the Vikings react. Zimmer often talks about how much he loves to prove people wrong; he's got quite the chance to do it here.
Ben Goessling
