MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 19: Latavius Murray #25 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates after scoring a two yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Rams on November 19, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
Silly penalties. Illegal substitution, Illegal man downfield, facemasks and more kept the Vikings moving backward instead of forward. Last week, they were great at keeping away from mental mistakes…but that’s not the case this week.
Pass protection in general. Even though Keenum stayed upright through the game, there was a ton of pressure coming at him the entire game. This was expected this week, and Minnesota responded by rolling Keenum out to buy time and show off his mobility. While it might be unrealistic to expect a clean pocket, better protection to prevent stressed throws would have been nice.
Inability to get the run game going consistently. Neither Jerick McKinnon nor Latavius Murray was able to run the ball regularly against a Rams defense that had given up a lot of yardage on the ground in the past. This forced Minnesota to go to the passing game more often and make them more one-dimensional.
Two missed field goals. Kai Forbath is usually excellent on field goals, but two big misses looked like they would come back to haunt the Vikings during this game. Even though he was able to connect with his final field goal try, it was rough earlier on.
– not available – I usually do 5 of each, but there really weren’t enough bad things that I have already been nitpicking when it comes to the bad things. This was an excellent effort and I don’t feel like being more negative.
