Aug 24, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell speaks to the referee during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports.
On Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, the Minnesota Vikings almost immediately put themselves in a bad spot. After forcing a punt from the opposition, Sam Darnold and the offense took over. On their third play, the quarterback pitched the ball to running back Aaron Jones, and it hit the deck. It was ruled a Darnold issue, but really, it’s been a Vikings issue.
This season, Minnesota has turned the ball over 17 times. Quarterback Sam Darnold has thrown 10 interceptions to account for most of that. The rest have been fumbles and other issues. In each of those scenarios, the opposition is being given a gift.
A week prior, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Darnold threw multiple picks in plus territory and kept his team from scoring.
Despite all of that, the Vikings keep on winning.
It’s never a desirable outcome to put yourself in a poor situation. The Vikings don’t intend to give the ball away, and they definitely don’t look to set their opponents up for success. When that happens, however, they have done an incredible job of getting a response from the defense.
Plenty has been made about where Minnesota gives up yardage. The secondary has been soft at times, and Brian Flores has watched his unit show vulnerabilities. What they have also done at an extremely high level is buckle down. It’s a bend-but-don’t-break approach that has kept the offense in position to compete.
Although Darnold and the offense have sometimes given the ball away, Minnesota has rarely been in any deep hole because of how good the defense is. Darnold was always going to be a quarterback with warts, and that should be expected from any free-agent signal caller at just $10 million. Minnesota has found ways to elevate the team around him, though, and the results have followed.
If the Vikings can focus on limiting the self-inflicted issues the rest of the way, they will take another step forward. Limiting pre-snap penalties and avoiding costly turnovers are pretty straightforward goals. Now, it becomes a matter of execution.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes daily for Minnesota Sports Fan. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.