Vikings @ Packers: Deciphering The Mess

Aloha Skoloholics! I don’t really want to talk about the Vikings @ Packers game any more than I have to, but I figured this would give everyone a place to vent and focus on that abysmal pile of fecal matter that the Vikings deposited on Lambeau Field on Sunday. Here’s our post-game wrap-up, in case you want torture yourself and revisit.

Offense

Sigh. Yeah, the offense sucked. The game plan was horrible, unless you think that running behind a 3rd-string center who has never taken an NFL snap at center, and running directly into a 9-man box, are good ideas. This is mainly what we saw from the offense on Sunday. Once the coaching staff saw that this horrendous game plan was not going to work, they did the same with Alexander Mattison. Shockingly, that was also ineffective.

Kirk Cousins was off most of the game. Kirk Cousins was also under a great deal of pressure, so it isn’t all on him. The Packers seemed to be focused on taking JJ out of the game, which the Vikings allowed them to do. Seriously? They didn’t see that coming? Again….sigh. The passing game was laughable, until toward the end when the Packers were in full prevent, and Mullens came in and helped Jalen Nailor accumulate the most receiving yards of any player on the field on Sunday. Kirk Cousins finished the day with 3 interceptions, but I’ll only really pin the 3rd INT totally on Kirk, as the other two were tipped or batted balls. Add a fumble to those 3 interceptions, and you have FOUR turnovers on the day for the Vikings. If you want to look at one glaring statistic to point to as a root cause for what we saw on Sunday, that’s the one statistic.

Defense

If you’d have told us before the game that the defense was going to hold Rodgers to 159 yards, we’d have been ecstatic. Yeah, well, we’re not ecstatic right now. The Packers did manage to ring up 162 rushing yards on the day, though. That being said, 322 total yards is actually an accomplishment for the Vikings defense this year. The Packers O-line did their job in protecting Rodgers and creating huge running lanes for Jones and Co. All in all, the defense wasn’t nearly as bad as the score would make them appear. This is an odd reality, as we automatically assume going into every game that the Vikings defense will be atrocious. Well, they weren’t on Sunday. The Vikings actually out-produced the Packers in passing yards and total yards. Points? Notsomuch.

Special Teams

Hey, the blocked punt was cool! Too bad they couldn’t get it that final yard into the end zone, because the offense was unable to, and had to settle for 3. After that, the special teams was especially horrendous. The Vikings allowed two special teams touchdowns, and the special teams was an overall train wreck (my apologies if I’ve offended any train wrecks out there).

Summary

This is the second major blowout the Vikings have been on the wrong side of this season, the other being the Cowboys game. Is it cause for alarm? Well, sure. You never want to see the team look as bad as they did on Sunday. Injuries are no excuse, so the coaching staff and front office is going to have to figure out a way to patch this offensive line together in time for the playoffs, because they’re approaching quickly.

The Vikings also have the season finale in Chicago against the Bears on Sunday. What does the team do? Rest starters completely? Partially? If they’re going to bring in an offensive lineman from outside the current roster, they should do so soon so that they can get him some reps in a meaningless game prior to throwing him into a playoff game. Let’s hope they figure this out quickly, because I’m going to be at the playoff game in 2 weeks, and the drive back to Bismarck is far too long after a loss. So, Coach O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, you two get your shit together & fix this pronto.