Yeah, that was a football game.
After falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the season opener, the Minnesota Vikings traveled to the City of Brotherly Love to play against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Buy Vikings TicketsHowever, the Vikings didn’t feel much love, as they fell to the Eagles, 34-28.
Mistakes continued to plague the Vikings, like they did against the Buccaneers. The Vikings weren’t outmatched, but they looked unfocused and unprepared.
Here are the good, bad, and ugly moments from the Vikings’ loss.
Good: Jordan Addison
Jordan Addison is pretty good, huh?
After scoring his first touchdown in his NFL debut, Addison followed it by scoring a 62-yard touchdown in the second half. Addison ran a similar post route on this touchdown and created enough separation to beat the Eagles’ secondary.
Given Justin Jefferson’s success in the intermediate parts of the field, Addison finding ways to stretch defenses vertically is a promising sign as the season continues. However, finding a way to get the ball in his hands more often would be an even better development for the offense.
Bad: Offensive line injuries
Christian Darrisaw and Garrett Bradbury didn’t play in the game, with Austin Schlottman and Oli Udoh taking their place.
Udoh would later exit the game on the cart, ending his night and forcing the Vikings to play David Quessenberry for the rest of the game.
Although Quessenberry played admirably in relief, there’s no situation where playing a third-string left tackle is good news.
Darrisaw will likely return for the Vikings next game, but ankle injuries can be annoying and linger for a long time. Given the nature of Udoh’s departure, he may miss an extended amount of time, so keep an eye on the left tackle position as the days go by.
Ugly: Ball security
Ball security is job security.
Yes, this is peak coach speak, but it’s also true. Every offense in the NFL is only as good as their ability to protect the football and sustain drives.
The Vikings? They aren’t protecting the ball.
After fumbling twice against the Buccaneers, the Vikings decided to one-up themselves by fumbling the ball five times. One of the fumbles didn’t count (Alexander Mattison was stripped, but the Eagles were offsides), but it’s still a potential mistake.
The Vikings lost this game because of these fumbles, point blank.
Four lost fumbles in a professional football game can’t happen. It especially can’t happen against a team like the Eagles, who are well-equipped to pounce on these mistakes.
Something needs to change between now and next Sunday because six fumbles through two games is ugly football.
Good: Danielle Hunter
The Vikings defensive line struggled (more on that later), but Danielle Hunter was as impactful as ever.
Hunter finished the night with three sacks, including one that pushed the Eagles out of field goal range and forced a punt in the second half. This sack didn’t help the Vikings win the game, but it did keep them within striking distance.
If Hunter can continue to play at a high level, the Vikings can develop a formidable push rush, pending Marcus Davenport’s health.
Bad: Special teams luck
Heading into tonight’s game, opposing kickers made 23 of their 28 field goal attempts over 50 yards since 2020.
That list includes a 57-yard field goal by Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin last week, which proved to be the game-winning kick.
As Eagles kicker Jake Elliott lined up for a 61-yard attempt right before halftime, it felt like destiny that Elliott’s kick would split the uprights.
.@jake_elliott22 FROM 61 YARDS OUT!#MINvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/yUSATyKk4a
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 15, 2023
Well, it did.
Elliott now joins an exclusive list of four kickers to hit a 60-yard field against the Vikings since 2020.
There’s no breaking down why this happens. The Vikings are just unlucky.
60-yard field goals require a significant amount of luck, and the Vikings seem to be on the wrong end of that luck.
Ugly: Run defense
The Eagles are a strong running team that has long punished opponents. However, they’ve never really punished opponents quite like they did the Vikings.
The Vikings had zero answers for D’Andre Swift, who pierced through the defensive line for 175 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles finished the game with 259 rushing yards on 48 attempts, marking a per-run average of 5.4 yards.
That’s losing football.
The Vikings made minimal moves to their defensive line during the off-season, adding just Dean Lowry to the mix during free agency. Rookie Jaquelin Roy has been inactive for the first two games, meaning this group is the same as the one from last season. As a result, the Vikings have to live with these consequences.
The Vikings likely won’t have to face an offensive line and running back combo quite like the Eagles for the rest of this season, but a date against the Los Angeles Chargers awaits them in a week. They’ll also have to play some strong running backs in their division, including Green Bay’s Aaron Jones.
Time is running out. Improvement along the front seven needs to happen soon before this becomes an unfixable issue.
Bad: The running game
The Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver during the off-season to try and fix their run game issues.
Oliver had built a career as one of the best run-blocking tight ends in the NFL, and bringing him in meant the Vikings could choose to go heavier with him and T.J. Hockenson on the field together.
Through two games, it appears the Vikings haven’t been able to fix their issues running the football.
The game script meant that the Vikings had to ditch the running game early, but the Vikings didn’t find success when they chose to run the football. Alexander Mattison ran it eight times for 28 yards, while Ty Chandler gained zero yards on his one attempt.
The Vikings don’t need to be an incredibly successful team on the ground, but they need to find another dimension to their game. The Vikings appear to be closer to an Air Raid football team than they are to a complete offense, and that isn’t a recipe for winning football.
Ugly: The Middle 8
The “middle 8” is defined as the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
Coaches believe the middle 8 is a critical part of game management, and if their team can win this part of the game, they have a good chance of winning the game.
It’s not a guarantee that winning this part of the game helps to win the game, but losing it heavily doesn’t bode well for the rest of the game.
Tonight, the Vikings were outscored 17-0 in this part of the game and even turned the ball over twice.
In some ways, the middle 8 was a microcosm for the rest of the game. The Vikings remained in striking distance, but mistakes plagued their ability to pull ahead.
Last week, the Vikings lost the middle 8 by just seven points, but a red zone interception defined that section of the game. When the Buccaneers got the ball to start the second half, they burned about eight minutes off the clock before scoring again. That turn marked a 14-point swing that the Vikings couldn’t recover from.
