In the first game back, I anticipated a bit of rust from Jordan Love after his injury. We most certainly got that. And, while he seemed to feel more comfortable as the game went on, it started shaky on a few different levels. There wasn’t nearly as much zip on the ball as we’ve become accustomed to seeing, which led to some scattershot accuracy, and some balls that hung up a little longer than normal. He also didn’t seem comfortable moving around outside the pocket until the second half. Even then, LaFleur didn’t dial up a single bootleg play in this game, so there was likely some concern about how mobile he would be coming in.
There was also just a general feeling of uncertainty in some of his decision-making, like he didn’t quite trust his eyes at times. Some of that may have been rust and some of that may have been the result of going up against a Brian Flores defense.
In the 1st half, Love was 12/23 (52.2%) for 114 yards (5.0 YPA), 1 TD and 2 INTs (44.5 QB Rating). In the 2nd half, he was 20/29 (69.0%) for 271 yards (9.3 YPA), 3 TDs and 1 INT (118.6 QB Rating). And before I hear any cries of “the Vikings were in prevent defense,” I can assure you that they were not. Brian Flores does not know what that is…