The Minnesota Vikings were able to maintain the early lead they established with their first team offense and defense and sustained head coach Mike Zimmer’s unbeaten record in the preseason.

More an interesting piece of trivia than a determinative fact, the Vikings came away with much more important takeaways than something as meaningless as a preseason win.

Primarily, Minnesota will have to deal with the loss of its right tackle, a player who played better than any other offensive lineman in training camp and whose improvement over his 2009 and 2010 seasons made him a keystone figure on the offensive line. Phil Loadholt’s loss comes after a season where the Vikings were forced to start eight different players on the line, including where he played on the right side.

The rumor, until the Vikings report back to the media on his MRI, is that Loadholt will be out for the season, and the player who replaced him in-game (fourth-round pick T.J. Clemmings) will start for him for the rest of the year.

Aside from that quick changing of the guard (or rather, tackle) there were a lot of other important observations to make from the Vikings game.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater played well. Statistically, he played at an extremely high level—10.8 yards per attempt on eight attempts, with seven completions for a passer rating of 111.5. On the field, he didn’t live up to those lofty numbers but still played better than you could expect from most second-year quarterbacks.

Norv Turner’s scheme and the talent the Vikings have assembled were on display, and Minnesota saw a number of its skill players crack open against the coverage the Buccaneers presented. A number of times, Bridgewater had the opportunity to make an aggressive throw without risking too much and opted instead to take a safer open throw. Sometimes, it worked out—Jarius Wright’s 26-yard reception is a good example, where he could have taken Charles Johnson on a deep route he had won against Alterraun Verner.

At other times, it didn’t work out—as when he threw it to Jerick McKinnon for three yards on third and 8 despite Charles Johnson opening up on a more difficult throw on the corner route further downfield (and on the same half of the field).

Still, Teddy had a very good performance, and his only incompletion was once again with Mike Wallace. This time, the incompletion has more to do with Mike Wallace than Teddy Bridgewater (unlike against Pittsburgh, where the ball was too low). A perfectly placed pass on the outside to put the ball in a catchable position that was nevertheless nearly impossible to intercept is the kind of pass Vikings fans should be happy to see.

Seeing Teddy move through multiple reads and read the correct half of the field for the coverage he was presented with is a fantastic sign for a quarterback this young both in absolute age and NFL experience.

Over the course of two games, Charles Johnson has had one catch for one yard. This last game did not include that catch. That’s unfortunate only in that I’d like to see more of him working the catch point than anything else. In these last two games, and especially this game, he’s been able to get open against a variety of coverages and different kinds of cornerbacks. Whether it’s speed or route-running that’s the reason, it’s working for him.

Charles Johnson has been the go-to receiver when the Vikings only have one receiver on the field. That is as strong a signal as any that they’d prefer him over others when the season starts.

The issue he needed to work on going into this season, if indeed it is a workable issue, was his physicality at the catch point. While this is an issue he’s seemingly taken great strides with at camp, he’ll need to prove it in a game situation before he can be considered improved as a receiver. Still, he’s getting open, and that’s the best he can do.

Jarius Wright, of course, looked good. He was on the field a little less than Wallace (who was on the field less than Johnson), but made a bigger impact. His ability to get open wasn’t as consistent as other receivers, but he certainly made the most of it. Twice he adjusted his routes to increase space or account for coverage and both times he made big plays. In two other instances, he did not and could not help make plays. These things happen, but Wright’s speed and improved route-running are certainly worth notice.

Mike Wallace was largely used to clear out space underneath and was not a primary option on many plays. In some instances, he was asked to run a man-beater while the other side of the formation ran zone-beaters and he simply didn’t have his day in terms of the coverage the defense ran.

He didn’t do a spectacular job getting open, but neither was he disappointing. Comeback routes are difficult against Alterraun Verner, who is a savvy player, but Wallace found himself open on those on either side of the field and did a good job with the clear-out routes he ran for underneath players like McKinnon, Wright and Line. Here, a post route against Cover-3 gives Wright space.

Jerick McKinnon got a bad rap by a few people I think. That's pretty unfair. Aside from the fact that those criticizing him are only looking at his running production (he ran good routes and caught the ball, which we have gathered will be his primary function this year).

It also so happens that his runs included an unfinished block by T.J. Clemmings, a terrible blown block by Zach Line and a blown block by Matt Kalil. And we probably shouldn't get upside for his backside cut on zone failing on the play that Phil Loadholt's achilles gave out. Check out his run at the three:

He chipped pass-rushers in protection (or, in one play, cut a DE on a screen), provided and outlet and made good decisions. His worst running decision was one he only takes partial blame on, the play I mentioned where Clemmings didn't finish—where he could have narrowed his running angle. Still, he's attacking Line's outside hip and that's difficult to change in half a step. Also, it was a phenomenal play by Alterraun Verner.

McKinnon didn't show off a ton of positive qualities as a runner, but neither did he show any negative ones, really.

Speaking of blockers, I'm less impressed with Zach Line's catching—which was fungible and relatively replaceable—and more concerned with his blocking, which needs to be fixed. His run into the end zone was nice, but it is difficult to believe that Asiata or McKinnon would not produce the same result with that blocking.

Blocking, incidentally, is something Vikings fans will pay a lot of attention to. So, Matt Kalil's plays:

No real assignment (zone blocking on play-action). Solid zone-running block on Jacqueis Smith—a neutrally graded play that could have benefited from maintaining a better helmet read for McKinnon. Chip help from Rudolph Contains Jacqueis Smith on third and long Screen assignment—Rudolph takes on the defensive end. Screen dies before he's relevant. Chip help from Rudolph Great run blocking against Smith Great run blocking against Gerald McCoy Second-level assignment (Teddy reads Smith on option). Doesn't need to engage. Contains Smith well in pass pro Contains McCoy really well in pass pro (Rudolph takes on Smith) Blows zone block against Larry English Demolishes McCoy on goal line run (drive block) Contains Smith in pass pro

PFF says he took 16 snaps, which is probably true, so I missed two snaps. Regardless, Kalil looked good, though he still has yet to put together a game against a top-tier talent that will make me feel confident in him for some time. That's not entirely his fault because his competition (a fourth-string outside linebacker and a mediocre, but starting, defensive end) is not something he can control, and he's looked good in those instances. Right now, he is playing as an average tackle. Thank the lord.

I think Brandon Fusco looked great (he blocked two people on that goal line run). He missed two blocks in the running game, neither of which had an impact nor were bad misses (a second-level block in that McKinnon run above, one which forced the linebacker to take a bad angle anyway). He was great in pass protection and his other run blocking was dominant.

John Sullivan was a little disappointing. He had a misstep in pass protection and his misses in run blocking didn't force bad angles, like Fusco's did—allowing the defender to take the best route to the running back and make the tackle.

In pass protection, Mike Harris made the most of his recovery and I don't think he gave up pressure. He was the most mistake-free of the offensive linemen and he was very good in run blocking. How weird is that? The dude we're most worried about was the most mistake-free.

Ignoring that Phil Loadholt had the thing happen, the right tackle position didn't bother me as much as I thought it would with T.J. Clemmings in. Still, he wasn't as good as Vikings twitter took him to be.

Some pressure on an inside move (not a ton) to former Vikings defensive end (not really) George Johnson. Chip help from McKinnon Screen pass. No big deal. Pushes Johnson upfield in pass pro. Fine run block on backside of run. Misstep in run block that causes McKinnon TFL. OK run block, but doesn't finish. Not a big deal. Chip help from McKinnon (depth issues on drop?) Good pass pro against Johnson. Cut block on backside of run. Good run block against Johnson. Issues in protection (two-point conversion attempt) that doesn't adjust to QB changing drop, leads to tackle. He should push upfield.

It wasn't great and led to some issues. He had more issues when he was with the second team than with the first team (some issues against both speed and power), and I think those are worth worrying about. Still, he's better than I thought he'd be. Is that good? I don't know, but I need to see more before I'm comfortable with what I saw.