Minnesota Vikings: Offense shows some progress in second preseason game

MANKATO, Minn. -- Well, that was better.

For a while, at least.

In their excruciating, never-ending quest to maintain possession of the football while somehow nudging it down the field, the Minnesota Vikings looked like they had a legitimate offense at the start of Friday night's 20-13 preseason loss at Seattle.

"I think we did some good things offensively, especially early," head coach Mike Zimmer said Sunday. "I thought we had some creases for the back to run. I thought we protected well, got the ball out good. Had a couple of explosive plays.

"But," he added, "we've got to do a better job in the red zone. So that's what we worked on (Sunday)."

The Seahawks took the opening kickoff and pushed the Vikings' vaunted defense 77 yards down the field en route to a 7-0 lead. The Vikings responded by having their kickoff returner, Jerick McKinnon, dropped at his 12-yard line.

But then the offense trotted onto the field and actually looked good. They looked nothing like the unit that had averaged 1.8 yards on 13 snaps in the preseason opener at Buffalo.

Quarterback Sam Bradford started out 4 for 4 for 67 yards. Receiver Stefon Diggs had catches of 10, 5 and 39 yards. Running back Dalvin Cook was mixed in nicely to balance things out and help a patchwork offensive line that was missing left tackle Riley Reiff (back) and left guard Alex Boone (knee).

Then things started to look awful. And awfully familiar.

The 39-yard pass to Diggs gave the Vikings a first down at the Seattle 12-yard line. But that quickly became a third-and-20 situation.

First, tight end Kyle Rudolph was flagged for a false start. First-and-15.

"As a coach, you just keep talking to them and harping on the fact they're hurting the team with those pre-snap penalties in the red zone," said Zimmer, whose offense was flagged a league-high 19 times in the red zone a year ago. "We have to do better there. It has to be a point of emphasis."

After Rudolph's penalty, left guard Nick Easton was out of position on a screen pass that fell incomplete to Cook. Second-and-15.

Then the run blocking collapsed as Cook was stopped for no gain. Third-and-15.

Then, delay of game on Bradford. Third-and-20.

Then came the all-too-familiar white flag in the form of a checkdown pass to the running back. Cook gained 10 yards and the Vikings settled for a Marshall Koehn 29-yard field goal.

Yes, progress was made. In three possessions against the Bills, the Vikings' starting offense had one first down, two three-and-outs and no points. In three possessions against a better Seahawks defense, the Vikings' first unit had seven first downs - including four on the first possession - no three-and-outs, three points and averaged 5.9 yards per play.

But even with an outstanding defense, the Vikings are going nowhere as long as the offense keeps making sloppy red-zone miscues that turn first downs at the 12 into field goals.