THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE GAME
1. Bradford has been solid this season, but he has come up small in big spots. Even if the Vikings don't make the playoffs, their trade for Bradford was the right move because he buoyed their Super Bowl hopes this season and gives them insurance in the event that Teddy Bridgewater is not ready by Week 1 next season. And for the most part, Bradford has played pretty well, especially when you consider the issues in pass protection. But his play in critical moments has been spotty. He threw costly picks late in close losses in D.C. and Detroit. And in yesterday's must-win game, he was inconsistent early, threw a bad interception that led to that field goal before halftime and fumbled to cease a promising drive early in the third quarter. He also had another interception wiped out by a penalty. Bradford has been pretty good overall, but not good enough when it counts.
2. The Vikings really missed Smith, their star safety, against the Colts. Second-year defensive back Anthony Harris got another start in his absence and had a rough outing. While it can be dangerous to pin blame on a player without knowing the play calls, I'm fairly certain it's not a good thing when a safety charges forward, watches a guy run right past him and then does a U turn. That happened to Harris a few times yesterday. He also got lost on Luck's 50-yard touchdown to wide receiver Phillip Dorsett on the first play of the fourth quarter, the last indignity against Zimmer's listless defense. In a blowout loss, Smith obviously wouldn't have turned the tide yesterday. But it was reminder that even though Smith is having a down year by the standard he established last season, the tough, versatile safety is an irreplaceable member of this defense.
3. The Colts exploited the Vikings' base defense with their multiple-TE sets. Three Colts tight ends played at least 26 snaps yesterday as they often had two and sometimes three tight ends on the field. That meant the Vikings on those plays had to pull Munnerlyn, their slot specialist, and trot out Greenway, who at the end of his career is a liability in coverage. The Colts took advantage of Greenway in the second quarter, when they ran four verticals out of a three-TE look and got tight end Erik Swoope isolated on Greenway on a go route. Greenway could not keep up with Swoope, who is nine years younger than him, and Luck lofted a 27-yard touchdown pass over his head to blow the game wide open. The Packers love going three-wide, as do many other NFL teams, but perhaps they will use more 21 or 12 personnel to try to attack the Vikings' base defense, too.
TWO QUESTIONS FOR ZIMMER TODAY
1. Why did you opt to kick a field goal early in the fourth quarter when down by 31 points? The deficit remained four scores after that kick.