Injuries and Growing Pains Doom Vikings on SNF
I’ve said J.J. McCarthy is going to become a top NFL quarterback. I’ve also said the 22-year-old with two NFL career starts will have growing pains like almost all young NFL QBs. That was on full display before an enthusiastic crowd at the home opener and a prime time audience in Sunday night’s disappointing 22-6 loss to Atlanta.
Injuries and growing pains doomed the Vikings on Sunday Night. Here’s how setbacks and struggles shaped Minnesota’s primetime loss.
It obviously didn’t help that the Vikings were still without star left tackle Christian Darrisaw and lost starting center Ryan Kelly to a concussion during the game. There were too few quick passes for McCarthy to get the ball out before the Falcons’ pass rushers were on him, and a few missed assignments, such as the unblocked Zach Harrison sacking McCarthy and forcing a critical fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Jeff Diamond Breaks Down Vikings-Falcons
The reality is, it’s hard for any team to win in the NFL when they’re missing eight starters either before or during the game.
That was the case for the Vikings who on offense were without Darrisaw (and his backup Justin Skule left with a concussion in the third quarter so the Vikings were down to a third left tackle —Walter Rouse — who had a key holding penalty on his first snap), Ryan Kelly (who was out in the second half with a concussion, replaced by Michael Jurgens) and Jordan Addison (one more game on his suspension). Starting back Aaron Jones also left in the second half with a hamstring injury.
On defense, four starters were out — Pro Bowler Andrew Van Ginkel, leading tackler Blake Cashman, safety Harrison Smith, and third corner (so virtually a starter) Jeff Okudah.
A championship team must have quality depth players ready to step in, but it’s extra tough when so many starters are missing.
Darrisaw and Kelly are crucial for the run game, which was limited to 78 yards against Atlanta, and for protecting McCarthy, who was sacked six times and pressured 16 times (53.5% of his dropbacks).
And the news broke on Monday that McCarthy has a sprained ankle to the extent that Kevin O’Connell said he” anticipates not having him for Sunday and doesn’t likely see this being a short-term IR thing.” If he indeed can’t play, Carson Wentz will step in, and he’s only been with the team for a couple of weeks.
Here are my other reactions to the Vikings’ 22-6 loss on Sunday night:
1. Atlanta has clearly improved their pass rush from last year’s team that had 31 sacks to rank 31st. First-round pass rushers Jalon Walker (one sack) and James Pearce (half-sack, three pressures) have made a difference. The Falcons capitalized on the undermanned Vikings O-line and McCarthy not getting the ball out quickly enough at times.
I thought O’Connell could’ve helped McCarthy by calling for more quick passes and screens with more three-step drops. I also thought the Vikings could’ve kept excellent blocking tight end Josh Oliver in the game more to help Skule and Rouse at left tackle on pass protection, especially with the Falcons utilizing so many five-man fronts.
Oliver has been dealing with an ankle injury and only played 14 snaps on offense. He’s an $8 million per year player who needs to play more if healthy enough to be active for a game.
2. There’s no excuse for the Vikings allowing two sacks to unblocked players. Atlanta’s top pass rusher, Leonard Floyd, was unblocked on a second-quarter sack. On probably the biggest play of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter, Harrison zoomed in untouched as the Vikings’ excellent RT Brian O’Neill double-teamed an inside rusher with Will Fries, and McCarthy had the critical lost fumble on that sack.
At the time, the Vikings trailed 12-6 and had good field position at their own 48 after a defensive stop. That set up Parker Romo’s fifth field goal for a nine-point lead.
3. You have to score a touchdown with first-and-goal from the 2-yard line. With Atlanta leading 6-0 early in the second quarter, the Vikings had a chance to seize the lead and momentum in the series. What a fiasco ensued. McCarthy fumbled and threw an incomplete pass on first down.
Then, an official stood over the ball as the play clock wound down, causing a delay of game on second down (O’Connell or McCarthy should have called timeout). McCarthy was sacked on the ensuing second-down play as Skule was beaten badly by Walker. And on third down, McCarthy held the ball and was sacked, forcing a disheartening field goal.
4. McCarthy simply has to complete the deep pass he overthrew to an open Jalen Nailor on 3rd-and-1 with 9:52 left. It was a sure TD with an accurate throw and would’ve made it a two-point game with plenty of time left.
He also fumbled three times (once to blow a 4th-and-1 play on the first drive and the later fumbles that also were costly). On his two interceptions, Jalen Nailor fell on the first one (but McCarthy threw into tight coverage), and Justin Jefferson was held on the second pick that was a desperation play late in the game.
5. Have to target Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson more: six targets for Jefferson (three catches for 81 yards) and three targets for Hockenson (one catch for 12 yards). That’s far too few for Pro Bowl players. More quick passes to both of them will ease the pressure on McCarthy or Wentz. It’s very odd in Hockenson’s case for him to have only four receptions for 27 yards over the first two games after he was targeted often in training camp and appeared destined for a big season.
6. Despite a lousy game in run defense (allowing 218 yards, the most since Week 2 of 2023 against the Eagles), the Vikings D kept the team in the game with excellent red zone play as they held the Falcons to five field goals before the late TD when they purposely allowed Atlanta to score in order to save time.
Bijan Robinson had a 143-yard rushing night as he showed why he is one of the league’s best backs, and his backup, Tyler Allgeier, added 76 yards. Missing Cashman, Van Ginkel, and Smith obviously hurt the defense. Ivan Pace had eight tackles, but he had a couple of missed tackles that resulted in big gains for Robinson, including on his 25-yard run on the first offensive play of the game.
7. Jalen Redmond is a rising star at DT. Still, he had an inexcusable offsides on 4th-and-1 from the Minnesota 11 with 4:08 left that basically sealed the win as the Falcons were allowed to score. Then McCarthy threw his desperation interception with 2:41 remaining.
8. Michael Penix Jr. didn’t do much damage in the passing game, with only 135 yards, and the Vikings sacked him three times. But he didn’t turn it over and got the ball out fast.
9. The Vikings were outplayed on special teams, with the Falcons’ kickoff and punt cover units shutting down Myles Price (22.5 kickoff return average and 2.0 punt return average with a late muffed punt recovered by Atlanta). Romo kicked great (5 for 5, including the 54-yarder that boosted Atlanta’s lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter). Reichard also kicked well with 33 and 51-yard field goals.
10. Penalties were a problem for the Vikings (eight for 50 yards), with the Falcons having five penalties for 29 yards, including four false starts due to the tremendous crowd noise.
Around the NFL Observations from Week 2
1. The Vikings host the 2-0 Bengals on Sunday after Cincy rallied late to beat Jacksonville 31-27 on ex-Vikings QB Jake Browning’s QB sneak with 19 seconds left. Browning passed for 241 yards with two TD passes, but he threw three interceptions as he replaced Pro Bowler Joe Burrow, who left with a serious toe injury that likely will sideline him for three months. Al-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase had 14 catches for 165 yards and one TD.
Browning will start on Sunday in Minnesota. With Burrow out in 2023, he led the Bengals to a 27-24 overtime win over the Vikings in Cincinnati. In that game, he passed for 324 yards with two TDs and one interception. Overall, he’s 6-8 as the Bengals starter when replacing Burrow (a great QB but gets hurt too often).
2. In the NFC North, Green Bay played another solid game in beating Washington 27-16 to lead the division at 2-0. Detroit rebounded from its opening loss in Green Bay with a resounding 52-21 home win over Chicago. After a shaky performance at Lambeau, Jared Goff threw five TD passes, three to Amon-Ra St. Brown.
3. The Cowboys and Giants played a wild game won by Dallas 40-37 in overtime. Cowboys Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey made two clutch field goals, a 64-yarder to send the game to OT and the 46-yard game-winner after Russell Wilson (who passed for 450 yards and three TDs) threw a terrible interception.
The Eagles followed up their Super Bowl win over the Chiefs with a 20-17 victory in K.C. It was a defensive battle with both Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts held under 200 yards passing.
4. The Vikings’ Week 4 opponent in Dublin, Ireland — the Steelers — lost their home opener to the Seahawks 31-17 to fall to 1-1. Ex-Vikings QB Sam Darnold threw for 295 yards (two TDs, two picks) to lead Seattle, while Aaron Rodgers was held to 203 passing yards with one TD and two interceptions.
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