5 Takeaways from a Brutal Minnesota Vikings Loss to the Los Angeles Chargers
The Minnesota Vikings headed into Thursday night hoping to bounce back from their Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles as they had after every loss this season.
No such luck would happen though as the Vikings were punched in the face over and over again by the Los Angeles Chargers to the tune of a 37-10 loss. Here are the five biggest takeaways from this latest Vikings loss.
1. The Carson Wentz Experiment Needs to End
It’s time. Carson Wentz is clearly in over his cleats playing behind this duct-taped-together offensive line, and he is very clearly playing extremely hurt at this point.
Wentz was sacked five times, bringing the total to 19 over the five games he has started this season, and he threw for just 144 yards, a touchdown (that came after two big bailout penalties by the Chargers defense), and an interception while completing 15 of his 27 passes.
Credit to Wentz for playing with every ounce of heart he had, but it’s time for the experiment to end.
2. Brian Flores’ Defense is Falling Apart
The Vikings’ offense has some injury excuses at this point for poor showings, but this was a truly dreadful performance from a defense that, outside of Andrew Van Ginkel’s absence, is largely healthy at this point.
Granted, Justin Herbert is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, but the Chargers amassed 207 rushing yards in this game, and Kimani Vidal, a 2024 sixth-round pick, accounted for 117 of them. Even worse, the Chargers converted nine of 13 third downs. After a total collapse down the stretch of that Eagles game, this showing four days later did not give any further confidence.
3. Running Game Remains Nonexistent
Granted, part of this was due to the Vikings falling down by two scores almost immediately, but once again, the Vikings utterly failed to establish a running game on Thursday.
The team totaled just 11 caries for 31 yards, and 16 of those rushing yards came from two carries by Zavier Scott on the final garbage time drive of the game. Of the other nine carries, five of them resulted in two or fewer yards. That simply is not good enough to play winning football.
4. Penalties Remain Infuriating
Once again, penalties bit the Vikings in the butt this week. Minnesota was penalized eight time for 66 yards on Thursday night, including multiple penalties after big kick returns by Myles Price.
It marks the sixth time in the seven games that the Vikings have been penalized at least seven times, and as should be expected, the Vikings have lost four of those games. Heading into a Lions game where they may be down both offensive tackles, it seems like more penalties could be on the way.
5. A Season-Making or Season-Ending Stretch Ahead
Despite this brutal loss, the next four weeks will be what defines Minnesota’s season. The Vikings travel to Detroit after another long rest to take on the Lions, then they host the Ravens and Bears before heading to Green Bay to take on the Packers.
That’s three divisional games in the next four weeks and another game against a 1-5 Ravens team that has been an utter disappointment so far. Minnesota can make up a lot of ground over the next month, but they can also lose any chance of competing for the division title as well.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
You must be logged in to post a comment.