Vikings fail to capitalize, suffer tough loss to Patriots

The Minnesota Vikings didn’t make enough plays to come up with a road victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

It could have been a statement-making victory on Sunday for the Minnesota Vikings in their matchup with the New England Patriots. But instead, it was the Patriots who flexed their familiar muscles and handed the Vikings a disappointing 24-10 loss.

By falling to New England this week, Minnesota is now 6-5-1 this season and still a game and a half behind the Chicago Bears (who also lost this week) for first place in the NFC North.

The Vikings had a number of opportunities to pull away from the Patriots throughout Sunday’s matchup. However, Minnesota couldn’t capitalize on their chances and it resulted in their fifth loss of the year.

For just the second time this season, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins finished with less than 205 passing yards. Cousins ended his day with just 201 yards, one touchdown, and two interception.

Minnesota’s dynamic receiving duo of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs were not much of a factor against the Patriots. Diggs and Thielen combined for just 10 catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.

Despite averaging 7.3 yards per carry against New England, the Vikings only ran the ball 13 times on Sunday. Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook led the team with 84 rushing yards on nine carries.

The Vikings’ defense did the best that they they could with a depleted secondary against Tom Brady and the Patriots, but the task just proved to be too difficult. Minnesota already entered the game with a hobbled Xavier Rhodes, but fellow Vikings corner Trae Waynes was lost for most of the day after suffering a concussion.

With this being said, Minnesota had trouble containing Brady and New England’s offense on Sunday. The Patriots’ quarterback threw for 311 yards and New England finished with 471 yards of total offense against the Vikings.

With just four games remaining, Minnesota is running out of time to secure their spot in the 2018 playoffs. The Vikings will attempt to improve their record next week in another difficult road matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.