Another Sunday goes by, and another Minnesota Vikings game ends end in a one-score difference. Is anyone surprised at this point?
This time, it was a crushing overtime loss on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. To use an overused quote, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” All of us that bleed purple feel like we are going a little insane watching this team.
Repeated mistakes are costing this team dearly. As usual, the offense started hot and even went down the field on the second drive to score a second touchdown. After that came the typical stuttering, none more evident when the Vikings offense got the ball on the Ravens 20 yard line. Following a first career interception in his first start from rookie safety Camryn Bynum – the rookie was at least one positive from this game, stepping in for Harrison Smith in impressive fashion. In prime position to stretch their 14-3 lead, what happened next sums up this team’s problems. Three plays later and Greg Joseph was setting up to kick a field goal.
The Ravens started the game poorly, and Minnesota found themselves well on top. With a chance to take a commanding 18 point lead, once again, the Vikings could not take firm control of a game — something evident in the previous three games against the Lions, Panthers, and Cowboys. The first two times, they got out of jail after letting the Lions and Panthers back in. Against superior opposition (even with Cooper Rush at QB) the last two weeks, the Vikings have been punished.
Mismanagement of End of Half
Once again, the end of the first half was the catalyst for defeat.
After Joseph’s field goal was confirmed, the Ravens had one minute and 29 seconds to respond. They only needed one minute and six seconds. As the Ravens started their drive, almost unanimously, every Vikings fan I know voiced the expectation of a Ravens touchdown coming. We weren’t proven wrong.
In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, the Vikings gave up a momentum-changing score in no time at all. A potential 18-point halftime lead was cut to just seven.
To concede 45 points in the last two minutes of the first half, over the first eight games — is, quite frankly, shocking. That’s an average of 5.6 points per game, so basically a touchdown at the end of every half. They haven’t been the results of long drives that happen to finish in that time period either. It’s consistently the opposition getting the ball late in the half and scoring without much difficulty.
Despite rookie Kene Nwangwu taking a 98-yard kick-off return to the house to start the second half, the Vikings still weren’t able to build on that momentum.
Same thing again in overtime when Anthony Barr batted a Lamar Jackson pass into the air and came down with the interception — another great play that they failed to build on as the Vikings went three and out. Giving the ball back to Lamar Jackson in overtime was only going to end one way. Defeat.
Other Problems
It’s not just the final couple of minutes of the half that are the problem. There is consistency in the things that are going wrong. The offense loses steam after a hot start, to the point of being bogged down and unable to produce anything in the second half — week after week. Whether you blame it on the head coach, the offensive coordinator, the quarterback, or the offensive line, the truth is, at times, everyone’s been at fault, and the team just hasn’t been good enough to win games. We have heard plenty of talk about being more aggressive and taking shots down the field. Very little evidence, other than a play here and there, back it up.
Penalties have been a consistent issue. The Vikings have 550 penalty yards through eight games — seventh-most in the league, including 26 holding and false start penalties. No team in the league has more. The offensive line has looked okay at times and awful at others. Mason Cole had a solid enough game at center. It will be interesting to see if he gets another chance.
Same story with the defense. They make great plays and then follow up by giving up huge chunk plays — often sloppily.
There is something not quite right about this team, and eyes are rightly looking towards the coaching staff. The problems the team is having can be fixed through good coaching and better execution on the field. We are eight games in, and improvement hasn’t been forthcoming. An offense full of explosive talent looks limp for at least half the time it is on the field. The defense that was bolstered with almost all of the Vikings free agency war chest has been okay, and that’s not good enough when such an effort was made to get the defensive head coach the defense he wants.
Answers?
What are the answers to this team’s problems? Does the current coaching staff have the ability to find them? I have to admit to losing complete faith. It’s hard to imagine anything other than another nailbiting game in Los Angeles this week. Who knows? Maybe it will be another game we stumble to victory. The Chargers come into the game with a winning record, and we’ve lost every game to a team with a winning record this season.
So it isn’t easy to be optimistic.
