Vikings Make the Bad Kind of History to Start Season

In a season that is rapidly feeling similar to the 2021 campaign, the Minnesota Vikings are under the gun at 0-2, with a desperation game nine days away versus the Los Angeles Chargers.

Minnesota lost back-to-back games out of the gate to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home and the Philadelphia Eagles on the road.

Vikings Make the Bad Kind of History to Start Season

Along the way, the team is committing freaky follies like seven turnovers in two games, virtually no rushing impact, and a severely upside-down time of possession war.

Per wins and losses and the recent brand of losing, the club is in dire straits if it plans to eventually reach the postseason. The turnaround must begin now.

For perspective, here are several mind-boggling examples of how the Vikings are making the wrong kind of history through two games.

• The Vikings are the first team in NFL history to throw 6+ passing touchdowns while rushing for less than 75 total yards as a team through the first two games of a season.

Kirk Cousins is doing his part, and the coaching staff, running backs, and offensive line are providing no aid. None at all.

• The 2023 Minnesota squad is the first team in 20 years to start the first two games of a season with 6 or more fumbles lost. The last team was the 2003 St. Louis Rams. For curious minds, those Rams later finished 12-4.

Fumbles are utterly ravaging the start of the purple team’s season, and it isn’t debatable.

• The Vikings 69 rushing yards through 2 games is the lowest total in franchise history to start a season. The 69 rushing yards are the 8th-lowest for a team in 2 games to start a season in the Super Bowl era or the last 57 years.

There is no support on the ground, as the Vikings passing game hits on all cylinders.

• The 2023 Vikings are the first team in almost 30 years to start a season with 7+ turnovers and 6+ passing TDs through 2 games. The last team was the 1994 New England Patriots, a team that later finished 10-6 and reached the postseason.

Passing touchdowns = good; turnovers = bad.

• Minnesota is the fifth team in NFL history to start the season with a 0-2 record but throw for 6+ passing TDs. These are the others:

• 1989 Commanders (10-6)
• 1994 Patriots (10-6)
• 2008 Chargers (8-8)
• 2020 Falcons (4-12)
• 2023 Vikings (0-2)

The scoring acumen is there, but turnovers are canceling any chance of winning.

• On Thursday night, Kirk Cousins became the first QB in Vikings history to throw for 700+ pass yards and 6+ pass TDs in the first two games of a season. And he’s the 11th QB in NFL history to achieve the marks. Only Drew Bledsoe (1994) and Matt Ryan (2020) were accompanied by 0-2 records.

Cousins now knows what it’s like to walk in the shoes of Bledsoe and Ryan.

• The 2023 Vikings have rushed the ball 26 times through 2 games. That’s the 3rd-fewest rushing attempts in NFL history through the first 2 games of a season.

It’s a passing league indeed, but simply not running the ball will nullify any team’s playoff hopes.

Perhaps the carnage will end in Week 3.

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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.