MINNEAPOLIS -- Observed and heard in the locker room following the Minnesota Vikings' 41-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday:
Read-option coming? Jerick McKinnon, who gained 135 yards on 18 carries, lined up next to Teddy Bridgewater for several shotgun handoffs. Several of those plays, McKinnon said, were read-option looks on which Bridgewater had the chance to keep the ball himself. "A couple of them were read options with Teddy," McKinnon said. "Some of them he gave, and he kept one. It was good for us today." With Bridgewater having injured his ankle Sunday, it remains to be seen how mobile he'll be if he plays Thursday in Green Bay, but read-option looks could find their way into the Vikings' offense.
First-half review: The Vikings lost 10 seconds because of a mandatory runoff after officials overturned Jerick McKinnon's touchdown run just before halftime, and they snapped the ball with 13 seconds left in the half after officials ruled McKinnon down on the 1-yard line. They could have taken their final timeout at that point, but Zimmer said the Vikings initially had planned to run the ball on second down, which meant they would have needed their final timeout in case they didn't score. Instead, the Vikings ran a play-action pass that consumed eight seconds and stopped the clock when Rhett Ellison couldn't get both feet in bounds, and they kicked a field goal with their final timeout still intact.
