Vikings Get Salt Poured into the Wound During Week 2 Smackdown
The Vikings getting a bit of salt poured in the wound isn’t an altogether novel phenomenon, but it stings nevertheless.
With momentum aplenty following a dramatic comeback victory in Week 1, the Vikings crumbled in Week 2. The final score showed 22 points for Atlanta and 6 points for Minnesota. Clearly, Minnesota had a poor performance; the wild part of the score is merely that things could have been far, far worse.
Vikings Get a Bit of Salt Poured in the Wound
Pretty routinely, the Brian Flores defense found a way of bending without breaking.
The Falcons pushed their point total from 15 to 22 late in the 4th. Doing so was the result of the Flores defense intentionally letting Atlanta score in an effort to preserve time. No, the defense was far from flawless — giving up so much on the ground was bad — but Flores’ fellas kept the team in the game.
Atlanta had to rely on their kicker to get the vast majority of the points. The painful part? Just that Parker Romo, a former Viking, had the best game of his still young NFL career.
Mr. Romo put in work for Minnesota last year, doing so as an injury fill-in for starter Will Reichard.
All things considered, Romo gave the Vikings some excellent special teams play. He finished his four games having gone 11/12 on field goals, missing a kick from within the 40/49 range. He went 7/8 on his extra points, a less-than-desirable outcome but not a disaster. Basically any NFL team would sign up for those percentages — especially the 91.7% on field goals — from someone who is replacing the starting kicker midseason.
On Sunday Night Football, Parker Romo stepped into his former place of employment. He responded with a tremendous effort.
Romo drilled all 5 field goals. One went through the uprights from 55 yards out. He also nailed his single extra point, giving him a total of 16 points on the day. Not bad for someone who was signed earlier in the week for a meagre $234,000.
To be clear, the Vikings didn’t make the wrong decision when moving on from Mr. Romo in 2024.
Drafting Will Reichard in the 6th Round was always about seeing the young fella take over the K1 position. Romo offered a good offseason effort in Minnesota before then doing splendidly as an injury replacement. There was then a goodbye to Romo once Reichard returned.
All sensible enough, but one wonders if Kevin O’Connell, Matt Daniels, and the Vikings were doubly frustrated by allowing a talented former player put up such a great performance.
For whatever it’s worth, Will Reichard has been perfect in 2025.
Very reasonably, Parker Romo could step away from Week 2 with an award — specifically, the Special Teams Player of the Week honor. He may have even secured some long-term employment in the NFL.
The Vikings will look to bounce back in Week 3. Due to the injury to Joe Burrow, former Vikings quarterback Jake Browning is likely to start while being backed up by former Vikings quarterback Brett Rypien.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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