Problems Are Starting To Pile Up For the Vikings
Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The injury to Minnesota Vikings’ offensive lineman Christian Darrisaw and recent losing streak have the team in a precarious spot. Now sitting at 5-2 and facing adversity, the team can either prove that they’re a real contender, or reveal their early-season success was just a blip for a team that’s destined to regress to the mean as an average squad.
Darrisaw, who signed a massive contract this offseason, is arguably the second-most important player on the Vikings roster. Receiver Justin Jefferson is irreplaceable, but other than him? The team has shown it can have some production with different running backs. Quarterback Sam Darnold has shown to be solid, but he’s not quite the reason the team has been scoring points.
There is a chance the Vikings can make up, by committee, for a bit of Darrisaw’s production on the line. After all, the unit has been effective so far. But even if they retool the group and move some people around, they won’t ever truly make up for what the star left tackle brought to the team.
“I know C.D. will be right back to where he was this year, which is one of the best left tackles in football, playing at a really high level,” coach Kevin O’Connell assured Vikings.com. “He’s got great folks around him, both teammates and our medical staff that will spearhead an effort to get C.D. back with us as soon as possible. But for right now I’m just really thinking about Christian – he really developed into one of our core leaders.”
Argue about the facemask non-call that sealed Thursday’s 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday in California all you want. Without Darrisaw, the Vikings weren’t likely to win on that drive, even with the first down.
Minnesota’s defense simply wasn’t good enough against the Rams, who seem to be surging at the moment. It helped LA, and subsequently hurt the Vikings, that Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp were both back in the lineup, and Minnesota didn’t have much of a chance to scout either this year after their respective injuries. Also, you have to give credit to Matthew Stafford for an excellent game.
Even with all that going for their opponent, the Vikings’ inability to truly slow the Rams down was concerning. Minnesota’s been able to keep itself in games for most of the year with its defensive efforts, even as their offense struggled. That arguably wasn’t the case in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions, and certainly wasn’t on Thursday. Minnesota, after being one of the better third-down and blitzing units, didn’t record a single sack against Stafford. And it wasn’t like the team was littered with injuries (though linebacker Blake Cashman was out again with a toe issue). It was just a lack of production, and perhaps even Sean McVay out-coaching Brian Flores’ supposed McVay-killing defense.
Part of that has been due to the Vikings’ inability to defend screens consistently.
“We’ve been dealing with teams that kind of hit us in those same areas, take advantage of that. We’re seeing more screens. We’re seeing more run attacks. They’re trying to get us to tackle, setting up plays so they can ditch-and-dump here and there,” Vikings cornerback Shaquill Griffin told the Associated Press. “I don’t think this will be the last time we’re going to see this, so there’s a lot we’ve got to fix.”
He added: “I think everybody’s still in high spirits… but no one likes this feeling.”
One can make the argument that a Thursday game was partially to blame. The short week gave them less time to prepare and get healthy after a physical battle with the division-leading Lions. And if anyone’s looking to panic, don’t. The Vikings have three winnable games coming up with a home contest against the Indianapolis Colts, then winnable road games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans.
Those are chances for the team, and especially the defense, to get right. But these opportunities can go sour if the Vikings don’t produce in the next few games. If they look shaky over these next few weeks, they’ll be flagged as the NFL’s paper tiger.
Getting to 8-2 or even 7-3 would be a pretty powerful statement. Something like 6-4 or 5-5 would be dreadful after the Vikings went the longest to start the season in the NFC without a loss.
It will take some scheming to get the offense back to its early-season production, and the defense will have to figure some things out to be more effective. But another streak before more division games and the late-stretch run of the season could strike confidence in the team and its supporters.
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