Daily Norseman
The Minnesota Vikings got curb stomped by an otherwise unremarkable Los Angeles Chargers team in prime time, a game in which the Vikings looked entirely unprepared and appeared to have checked out early. It was a complete embarrassment for the franchise and the type of performance that casts a shadow over the future of the regime. Yes, it’s only one game and every team has bad games, but this seems more like a culmination of a season of unpreparedness and poor performance than a one-off anomaly.
It’s certainly true that the Vikings have been hit relatively hard by injuries so far this season, but most teams have to deal with that at some point during the season, and the Vikings haven’t dealt with it well. At quarterback, the Vikings got it wrong with Sam Howell in the offseason and so picked up Carson Wentz off the couch in late August to fill the void, rather than maybe giving Max Brosmer- who exceeded all expectations- a shot. Wentz has started five games and has generally gotten worse in every game. Moreover, he compounds the offensive line injury problems by holding the ball too long consistently while having increasing accuracy issues that have proven costly.
But even more to the point this season, the Vikings don’t appear motivated and have gotten off to a poor start in six of seven games. In every game except the Bengals game the Vikings have been unable to execute early and have dug a hole they spend the rest of the game trying to dig out from. That’s not winning football and that’s not having a superior game plan. The first fifteen or so plays are scripted and are the ones the team has practiced the most. And yet many times the Vikings are unable to get off to a good start. A day in practice each week is devoted to third downs and redzone, and yet the Vikings are unable to execute consistently in either area all season. The Vikings are near the bottom of the league in third down conversions and have increasingly struggled in the redzone. The Vikings have plenty of talent on offense but can’t do anything with it.
Defensively, it’s been a similar story. Brian Flores has done a better job overall and isn’t down a quarterback, but too many times he’s been exposed either against the run with heavy formations or giving up explosives in the pass game or allowing too many third-and-long conversions or redzone touchdowns. It’s true the defense has been asked to carry the team at times as the offense has struggled, and it has in each of the Vikings’ wins, but the inconsistency and giving up some big plays has been brutal at times as well, particularly in the Vikings’ four losses.
Overall, this is a Vikings team that has underperformed its talent level and a coaching staff that has been outcoached too many times already this season.
