Another week, another frustrating loss for the Minnesota Vikings. On the plus side, there was a lot more offense this week than in the 3-0 win over the Raiders last week.
On the not-so-positive side, the Vikings have lost three very winnable games in the past four weeks and could – and arguably should – be sitting at 10-4 right now instead of 7-7. Minnesota has dropped those three games by a total of six points and had ample opportunity to win each one.
It’s clear at this point that even if the Vikings are able to limp into the playoffs, they’re not going to be dangerous when they get there – as much because they can’t get out of their own way as for any other reason. Saturday was yet another game where the miscues, both offensive and defensive, were simply too much to overcome.
An otherwise good game was spoiled by turnovers and defensive breakdowns yet again.
Despite the loss, the Vikings are still in good position to make the playoffs, and are still in contention for the NFC North crown, with nothing but divisional matchup on the schedule from here on out with two games against Detroit and one against Green Bay. Before we look ahead to those matchups, let’s reflect on the good, bad and ugly from this week’s loss to the Bengals.
The good: Ty Chandler
It’s been a long time since Vikings fans have seen the team field an effective run game. We’ve seen glimpses of it this season, but nothing that has been consistently effective for four quarters.
Both Alexander Mattison and Cam Akers have had their moments where you may have thought “Okay, now is where they get it going. Minnesota has finally figured this run game thing out”, only to fizzle out. Enter Ty Chandler.
I’ve been stumping for Chandler to take over the starting role for awhile now, and he finally got his chance Saturday against the Bengals. To say he made the most of it would be an understatement.
Not only did Chandler outperform anything that Mattison or Akers have done this season, he put up numbers not seen in a Vikings uniform since Dalvin Cook in the middle of last year.
Chandler became the first Vikings running back to top the 100-yard mark in a game since Cook did so against the Buffalo Bills back in week 10 of the 2022 season. It was an impressive display from Chandler, showing the burst and explosiveness this Vikings offense has been so clearly lacking all year.
In a game where the majority of the focus is going to be on what went wrong, this is one of the few elements that went very, very right. If this doesn’t convince Vikings’ brass that Chandler deserves to be the primary running back for the remainder of the season, nothing will.
The bad: Nick Mullens
At the end of the day, quarterback issues are going to be what sinks this Vikings team. In retrospect, that shouldn’t be a surprise after losing starting quarterback Kirk Cousins for the season. Not many teams can lose their starting quarterback and still be a good team, let alone a playoff team.
And yet, that’s what it looked like the Vikings were going to be able to pull off. In spite of losing Cousins, and in spite of the bevy of turnovers, it really looked like Minnesota was going to be able to overcome it all and make the playoffs. And they still might. But with what we’ve seen from the team the last four weeks, I’m not sure how much of a good thing that really is.
Josh Dobbs was not playing well, and a change needed to be made at the position. But if Saturday’s performance is any indication of what they’re going to get from Nick Mullens moving forward, it might be time to make another change at the position and turn to the rookie Jaren Hall – whom they were originally going to rely on after the Cousins injury in the first place.
It may sound a little harsh to be so critical of Mullens in his first start for the team, and his first start in the NFL in several seasons. But the product on the field was ugly to say the least. Mullens was struggling with ball placement all game. Even on the passes he was completing, they weren’t in great spots for the receivers.
And on the one’s he wasn’t completing…it was a disaster. Mullens threw two interceptions on the day, and he easily could have thrown two or three more. One of the interceptions was honestly one of the ugliest throws I’ve seen any quarterback pull off.
As Mullens was going to the ground, he did what any quarterback does and attempted to flick the ball out to avoid the loss of yardage. Unfortunately, he did so while being spun around and dragged down by the defender, and did so in such a way that the ball hit the defender, B.J. Hill, in the facemask and wound up in his lap while he laid on the ground. It was truly baffling to watch unfold. If that throw wasn’t enough, Mullens followed it up with perhaps the ugliest throw for a touchdown I’ve ever seen.
following this up with the worst touchdown anybody has thrown is peak https://t.co/g8ebcSAb8z
— Arif Hasan, but NFL 🏈 (@ArifHasanNFL) December 16, 2023
I don’t even know what to say about those two throws in relatively quick succession. One of them wound up being a touchdown, so it’s tough to be too critical of it, but that throw only works 1 out of 100 times. That was the one.
The ugly: Vikings fourth quarter defense
As bad as the play from Nick Mullens was on Saturday, the Vikings had ample opportunity to win the game. They had held the Bengals to just three points through the first three quarters of the game.
As per usual, the Vikings’ defense was holding up their end of the bargain and keeping the opponent locked down. And, unlike the previous week, the Vikings’ offense was holding up their end of the bargain, coming into the fourth quarter with a two-touchdown lead.
And then it all fell apart.
For whatever reason, the Vikings defense took their foot off the collective throat of the Bengals. Worse than that, they allowed the Bengals to get up off the mat and punch them in the mouth repeatedly. Where the defense had kept the Bengals and Jake Browning in check for the previous three quarters, they let them run roughshod in the fourth.
Three touchdowns later, and the Vikings were suddenly behind and needed a touchdown of their own just to force overtime. It was a really surprising about-face for a unit that, to this point in the season, has been the overwhelming strength for the Vikings.
Browning and company were able to do basically whatever they wanted in the fourth quarter – and overtime – and it’s not an exaggeration to say the Vikings defense cost them the game this week.
A truly ugly performance from a squad that has been one of the league’s best all season, and the last few weeks in particular.
The uglier: The “tush push” fiasco
Despite the poor play from quarterback Mullens, despite the fourth-quarter collapse from the defense and despite everything that had transpired, the Vikings somehow still went into overtime with an opportunity to win the game. The defense managed to bow up and do their part, stopping the Cincinnati offense after they won the toss and received to start the overtime period.
All Minnesota had to do was kick a field goal and they would escape with a win. It was third and 1. Convert and you should be able to get the field goal you need. In theory, you have two chances to get the yardage. What do you do? In today’s NFL, the answer seems to be the tried-and-true “tush push” form of quarterback sneak.
That is exactly what the Vikings did. They ran their version of Philadelphia’s “Brotherly Shove” with Mullens at the helm and with wide receiver Brandon Powell charged with providing the push from behind. Powell may not seem like the obvious choice, but the play is unstoppable, right?
Well, that really only applies if you have one of the best offensive lines in the league and a quarterback who can squat a Cadillac. Unfortunately for the Vikings, while they have a good offensive line, Garrett Bradbury is no Jason Kelce. And Nick Mullens is certainly no Jalen Hurts.
Combine that with attempting to get a push from a wide receiver who weighs all of 180 pounds soaking wet, and you have what happened Saturday: not one, but two failed attempts.
That was the death knell for the Vikings in this one, and it may wind up being it for the season as a whole. We’ll see if the Vikings can recover from their recent struggles, but it’s not looking promising after today.
