What did we learn about the Minnesota Vikings during their Week 3 loss?
If Sunday’s game was two minutes shorter, the Minnesota Vikings would have walked out of U.S. Bank Stadium with an impressive win over the undefeated Tennessee Titans.
But unfortunately for the Vikings, they were required to play the full 60 minutes of their Week 3 matchup with the Titans. So instead of defeating Tennessee, Minnesota ended up adding another loss to their 2020 record when the final whistle blew on Sunday.
Following their losing effort against the Titans, the Vikings now have an 0-3 record for the first time since 2013, the year before Mike Zimmer became the team’s head coach. The 2013 Minnesota team went on to finish 5-10-1 and this season’s squad is hoping to avoid a final record anywhere close to that.
This week’s game was different for the Vikings compared to their first two matchups of the year since they actually put up a fight and they were in control of the contest for most of the day.
The Titans proved to be the better team in the end though and the Vikings will continue on into next week in search of their first win of the season. But before then, let’s go over some of the biggest takeaways from Minnesota’s performance in Week 3.
Jefferson should’ve started 2020 as the No. 2 receiver
In his first game as a starter on Sunday, rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson proved exactly why the Vikings used their top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to add him to their roster.
Jefferson was a big reason why Minnesota’s offense was able to average 7.5 yards per play against the Titans. It was a huge improvement compared to the 3.7 yards per play the Vikings averaged during their Week 2 loss fo the Indianapolis Colts.
Against Tennessee, Jefferson finished with seven catches for 175 yards and a touchdown. Three of his receptions resulted in gains of over 30 yards, including his 71-yard trip to the end zone. Before Sunday, Minnesota only had a total of two pass plays that resulted in a gain of at least 30 yards this season.
Jefferson’s performance against the Titans is something that could’ve potentially happened during the Vikings’ first two games if he was the No. 2 receiver on the team’s depth chart instead of Bisi Johnson. Minnesota might have been able to actually move the ball on offense if Jefferson had been on the field more in Week 1 and Week 2.
But after his day against Tennessee, it doesn’t seem like the rookie will be giving up his new spot on the depth chart any time soon.
Minnesota’s pass defense is bad, like real bad
It’s been a long time since the Vikings pass defense has performed as poorly as they have during their first three games this season.
So far this year, Minnesota has given up the third-most passing yards in the NFL and they’ve allowed four pass plays of 40 yards or more, the second-highest amount in the league right now. During the entire 2019 season, the Vikings only gave up a total of seven pass plays of 40 yards or more.
Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill enjoyed his time against Minnesota’s pass defense on Sunday. During Tennessee’s win over the Vikings, Tannehill racked up a total of 321 passing yards, the most he’s had in a game since Week 14 of 2019.
There are a few things that can be attributed to this ugly start for Minnesota’s pass defense. The Vikings’ lack of experience at corner this season has turned out to be a bigger disaster than anyone ever thought it would be. Combine this with Minnesota’s lack of a pass rush so far this year and it’s resulted in opposing quarterbacks licking their chops when they take the field against the purple and gold.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a so-called cornerback guru, so most assumed he would be able to work around the inexperience of his corners and figure out a way for the team’s pass defense at least be average this season. At this point though, an average pass defense would be a dream for Minnesota.
So what can the Vikings do moving forward to fix this element of their defense? Do they look to free agency to maybe add a veteran corner to their roster or should they just roll with who they currently have on their roster? Whatever they end up doing, Zimmer has some serious work to do before things get even worse.
Minnesota can still hang with the best
No matter how close their games have been this season, the Titans have proven to come through during the necessary moments and it’s resulted in them beginning 2020 with a 3-0 record. Dating back to last year, Tennessee is 12-4 in their last 16 games.
It was a bit of a surprise when the Titans made it all the way to the AFC Championship last season. But so far this year, they’ve proven that their playoff run was no fluke.
Knowing all of this, it should be encouraging that the Vikings were extremely close to coming away with a win over Tennessee on Sunday. Minnesota actually led for the majority of their matchup with the Titans and for most of the afternoon, it felt like the guys in purple were going to leave the field with their first victory of the season.
Obviously, the Vikings didn’t get the win on Sunday. But if Minnesota continues to perform like they did against Tennessee, then they should at least have a fighting chance to get victories in most of the games they have left to play this year.
Don’t give up on the Vikings just yet
So now Minnesota is sitting with an 0-3 record and to some, this automatically means the playoffs are out of the picture. While losing three straight games to start a season isn’t ideal, there are still teams from recent NFL history who have turned things around and found themselves in the playoffs.
Since 1980, only six teams have started 0-3 and gone on to earn a spot in the postseason later that year. So the Vikings’ playoff chances would certainly appear to be lower after the result of their game against the Titans on Sunday.
Minnesota’s offensive turnaround against Tennessee should give the purple and gold some hope for the future though. If the Vikings can just figure something out to fix their defense then their chances at defying the odds to make the postseason this year would be much higher.
During the next three weeks, Minnesota will face two teams who also have an 0-3 record after their first three games of the season (Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons). The Vikings absolutely need to win both of those matchups if they want to stay in contention for one of the seven playoff spots in the NFC this year.
Minnesota’s bye will take place in Week 7 and if they still have less than two wins by then, declaring their 2020 season to be over would likely be a safe statement to make.