Sep 14, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) makes a catch over Minnesota Vikings safety Theo Jackson (25) during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports.
From a suggestion by a reader, we continue our “snap reactions” weekly piece this season detailing thoughts and analysis after a Minnesota Vikings game.
This will be off-the-cuff, a wee bit “random,” and hopefully insightful.
The Vikings lost 34-28 in Week 2 at the Philadelphia Eagles, a festival of mistakes destined to result in futility.
1 – The 2023 Minnesota Vikings are a fixed fumble problem away from becoming a reasonably good, not elite, football team.
2 – The moment Justin Jefferson fumbled out of the endzone, resulting in a touchback — and archaic rule in the sport — everything changed, and the Vikings merely had to send up prayers the wackiness would even out. It never did.
3 – Jake Elliott drilling the 61-yard field goal after Jefferson’s gaffe was the most obvious and predictable outcome of the evening. There was no way that badboy wasn’t finding a way through the uprights. Zilch.
4 – K.J. Osborn is a wonderful dude and a decent football player, but Jordan Addison is now the Vikings WR2, and hopefully the coaching staff realizes it.
5 – Minnesota has a star in Addison, and if it can eventually figure out its fumbling tomfoolery, the sky is the limit for the Vikings offense. The ground game will get going because it won’t play the Buccaneers and Eagles interior defensive lines every week. Addison is a stud, and don’t forget it.
6 – Minnesota’s defense is markedly improved from 2020, 2021, and 2022 — it tackles, it’s quick, and it’s generally more efficient — but needs to mature on the fly. Philadelphia figured out it could simply play Mike Zimmer ball via running the rock, and it won on Thursday Night Football accordingly.
7 – The Vikings time of possession was absolutely upside down, and you can typically set a watch to the team losing if the stat is that lopsided — 40 minutes to 20 minutes. Horrid.
8 – Danielle Hunter terrorized Jalen Hurts for most of the night; it’s just too bad it didn’t matter all that much when the game finished.
9 – The Vikings lost the rushing yards battle 259-28. That’s laughable.
10 – The Eagles 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 sneak play is indefensible, and it’s a no-brainer that they’ll pick up the first down or score at the goal line — every time. It’s like LeBron James on the fastbreak. Inevitable.
11 – The Vikings now have a mini-bye-week, 10 days to prepare for a season-saving desperation game at home versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
12 – The national experts and sportsbooks that predicted Minnesota to finish 8-9 or 9-8 are looking really, really smart late Thursday night.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.