Three Culprits Behind the Vikings’ Loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Minnesota Vikings went into Sunday hoping to move to 3-1 and have an opportunity to lead the NFC North by themselves when the day ended, depending on what else happened in the division.
No such thing would happen though as the Vikings fell down early to the Pittsburgh Steelers and spent the rest of the day trying to scratch and claw their way back into the game.
In the end, the Vikings lost 24-21, falling to 2-2 on the season as they look ahead to a Week 5 matchup with the Cleveland Browns in London. Here are three culprits behind the brutal loss.
1. Brutal Offensive Line Injuries Strike Again
The Minnesota Vikings have dealt with offensive line injuries throughout the start of this season, but now, they may have seen the worst injury yet in Week 4. Brian O’Neill went down early in the game with a knee injury and was quickly ruled out, and then, Ryan Kelly left the game and was ruled out with a concussion.
For Kelly, it is the fifth concussion of his NFL career and second in the past three games. As for O’Neill, fans will have to wait to hear what the condition of the star right tackle’s knee is. Making matters worse, Kelly’s replacement at center, Michael Jurgens, also left with an injury, forcing Blake Brandel to come in at center.
With the injuries, Minnesota had trouble establishing any sort of presence in the running game, totaling just 70 yards on the team’s 20 carries. Carson Wentz was also under duress for the entirety of the game, being sacked six times. The Steelers also hit Wentz a ridiculous 14 times. It’s hard to put together any sort of passing game while facing that type of pressure, but the Vikings were forced to try due to being behind by multiple scores for much of the game.
2. Too Many Penalties
While injuries were certainly a factor in the loss, the Vikings did not make things easy on themselves with a few really brutal penalties.
In total, Minnesota was penalized eight times for a total of 82 yards. A few of those penalties were gut punches as the Vikings tried to mount their comeback. Will Fries was called on an ineligible man downfield penalty on what would have been a Justin Jefferson first down at Pittsburgh’s six yard line. Instead of setting up for a potential touchdown near the goal line, the Vikings were pushed back and forced to kick a field goal.
Then, an illegal block by Jay Ward on a fair caught punt pushed the Vikings to their own 10 yard line on a drive that ended in an interception, and a holding call on Tavierre Thomas later ruined a 54-yard kick return by Myles Price that would have set Minnesota up at Pittsburgh’s 37.
Finally, a mindboggling delay of game penalty on 4th and 13 on Minnesota’s final possession made the play an even harder 4th and 18 before Wentz threw an incompletion to officially end the game.
3. Run Defense Gets Dominated
It’s hard to mount a comeback when you can’t establish your own running game or protect your quarterback, but it’s even harder when you can’t contain the opponent’s running game, either.
The Steelers came into Sunday with one of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL totaling just 189 yards and a single rushing touchdown through their first three games. The Steelers nearly equaled that three-game effort against the Vikings with 29 carries for 131 yards.
Kenneth Gainwell was the leader of that rushing attack with 19 carries for 99 yards along with a pair of rushing touchdowns. He had just 55 rushing yards on the entire season entering the game.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via ESPN and Pro Football Reference.
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