It might be time for the Minnesota Vikings to start panicking.
The Minnesota Vikings did not exactly come into the 2020 season with lowly ambitions, which makes their start to the season even more bemusing.
Despite parting ways with some prominent veterans this offseason, the Vikings still had a competitive roster that appeared more than capable of challenging for the NFC North title. However, two disastrous defeats to the Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts have completely changed expectations for Mike Zimmer’s men after just a fortnight of competitive action.
This isn’t the first time that the Vikings have begun the campaign poorly under Zimmer’s tenure. It’s easy to forget the slump they got themselves into in 2019 before going on a memorable run that eventually ended with a divisional-round playoff loss at the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.
That was last year. This time around might be different.
It’s not just the losses that cause concern, it is the manner of how they’ve gone down with barely a whimper. This is not something one normally associates with a Zimmer team, but it’s hard to argue that everything seems to be going against them right now.
Things won’t get any easier this Sunday at home to a strong Tennessee Titans team and another loss would give them the biggest of mountains to climb for the remainder of the season.
The Vikings have turned situations like this around before, and they can do it again. However, there are plenty of reasons to panic if Minnesota’s two inept performances are any indication.
Minnesota is woeful on offense
There is no sugar-coating this one. The Vikings look absolutely woeful on offense so far.
Kirk Cousins will get the blame, as he often does. He is the proverbial punching bag who critics cannot wait to get on the signal-caller following a bad game. But there is more to these struggles than simply pinning it all on the quarterback.
Losing offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski is a blow that is already being felt. The current Cleveland Browns head coach got the very most out of the weapons available in Minnesota last season, which is something that cannot be said for Gary Kubiak at the present time.
Everything just seems so out of sync. Kubiak was around the organization in an advisory role in 2019, so unfamiliarity with his scheme is a moot point. There doesn’t seem to be the right balance and if Cousins cannot get Thielen wide open, then he doesn’t appear confident that anyone else can come up with a big play.
Stefon Diggs’ departure is another factor that shouldn’t be overlooked. His petulant attitude aside, the wideout is a sensational deep playmaker and the Vikings lost this which has impacted their ability to gain substantial yards on play-action so far.
How Kubiak is using Dalvin Cook is another major talking point. The running back should be the focal point from this point on and if he cannot set the tempo in the coming weeks, then things could turn stormy real quick.
Minnesota is giving up 6.1 yards-per-play
It’s not just the offense that is failing to produce the goods for the Minnesota Vikings. Their defense has also not met targets so far and there is plenty to suggest things might get worse before they get better.
This has been a real area of strength for the Vikings under Mike Zimmer. But there have been some substantial changes across the board that has altered the landscape of this unit, at least in the short-term.
They are also without the services of stud pass-rusher Danielle Hunter, which has only highlighted just how important he is to Minnesota’s success. The Vikings’ defense has just two sacks on the year, with one of those coming from cornerback Holton Hill.
That is a damning verdict on the defensive line’s production over the last fortnight. Minnesota is giving up an average of 6.1 yards-per-play over two games and you aren’t going to win many games with this sort of statistic.
Zimmer prides himself on defensive toughness, so he will be hurting more than most regarding their current level of performance. It isn’t good enough and the players are all-too-aware of that. But turning it around in a short space of time might be easier said than done.
Minnesota’s interior protection is a mess
Anyone that said they weren’t concerned about the interior protection of the Minnesota Vikings before the campaign was either an eternal optimist or flat out lying.
To say this area of the field has underachieved so far even by their low standards would be something of an understatement. They have been porous in pass protection and failed to give Dalvin Cook the holes needed to successfully gain yards between the tackles.
Going into the season with this patchwork group was far from ideal. The Vikings have left themselves in a real predicament that wasn’t aided by Pat Elflein going on reserve/injured, which might have been a blessing in disguise despite their obvious lack of depth.
Make no mistake, this is something that opposing defenses will be attacking prominently in the coming weeks. Garrett Bradbury, Dru Samia, and Dakota Dozier are rotational players on a contending team, let’s tell it like it is, and if Kirk Cousins doesn’t get more time to go through his reads then the Vikings will continue to turn their season around.
It might not be long before rookie Ezra Cleveland is thrust into the limelight. But his lack of involvement so far might indicate he isn’t ready for a prominent starting role.
The fact of the matter is that Minnesota might not have any other choice if things continue as they are. Hopes were low for this group coming in, but the bar might actually be lower than it’s been for some time.
Minnesota is giving up a 73.9 percent completion rate
Letting Trae Waynes, Xavier Rhodes, and Mackensie Alexander leave in free agency was a bold move by the Minnesota Vikings. It left them with a young group who are relatively devoid of NFL starting experience and this has really come across over the last two weeks.
This problematic area is something that opposing offenses have exploited with success. Aaron Rodgers was surgical in his demolition of the Vikings’ secondary in Week 1 and Philip Rivers did the same, albeit to a lesser extent, for the Colts last weekend.
First-round pick Jeff Gladney is getting a crash course in covering elite wideouts at the next level. Having no preseason games to acclimatize has clearly had a detrimental impact on this group and things need to start trending on an upward curve at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Vikings are giving up a 73.91 percent completion percentage over the first two weeks of the campaign. One cannot put this on the cornerbacks alone, with a distinct lack of pressure from the defensive line enabling Rodgers and Rivers to pick apart a secondary who need their pass-rushers firing on all cylinders.
Alexander’s presence from the slot has been sorely missed. Allowing Waynes and Rhodes walk was the right call, but there may be some regret that Minnesota didn’t do more to keep their nickel corner around.