Who Gets The Week 1 Game Ball For The Vikings?

With this being a new season, I want to bring back something that we’ve done in the past. It’s time to start handing out Game Balls to the players that had the best games in a given week for the Minnesota Vikings. We have a pretty decent number of candidates this week, so let’s go ahead and get to them, shall we?

Stefon Diggs, WR - The passing game didn’t have a lot of big moments on Sunday, but the ones that did materialize mostly included Diggs on the receiving end. Diggs picked up the third 100-yard game of his career yesterday, reeling in seven catches for 103 yards. He was Shaun Hill’s most reliable target by a good margin on Sunday afternoon, and Diggs is now to the point where we have to wonder just how bad this passing game would be without him.

Shaun Hill, QB - Laughable? Not really, I don’t think. Sure, Hill didn’t put up video game numbers or anything. . .he completed 18-of-33 passes for 236 yards and no scores. But, for the most part, Hill did exactly what he was supposed to do. He played smart football and, most importantly, didn’t turn the ball over. Given how quickly the game turned when Marcus Mariota started turning the ball over for Tennessee, and given how ineffective the run game was for the Vikings, Hill’s stat line doesn’t tell the whole story of his performance.

Danielle Hunter, DE - Yes, Brian Robison is still the starter, and he played well yesterday, but Hunter showed yesterday exactly why the Vikings are so high on him as a player. He had a fumble recovery that he took to the end zone for his first career touchdown, and also threw in a sack where he just planted Mariota at the Titans’ 5-yard line. He’s really developing into a very good player for the Vikings. . .and he doesn’t turn 22 years of age until November.

Eric Kendricks, LB - After missing the entire preseason, you would have thought that Kendricks needed to knock off the rust prior to the first game of the regular season. He knocked it off pretty quickly, and he made the play that truly turned the game around with his 77-yard pick-six early in the third quarter. He threw in five tackles as well, and played a big role in the Titans’ offense pretty much being non-existent in the second half of play.

So, ladies and gentlemen, who do you think deserves the game ball for this week? Is it someone that I didn’t list above? Let us know what you think!