Vikings get spanked by the winless Falcons in embarrassing fashion
By Adam Patrick
The Minnesota Vikings gave the Atlanta Falcons their first win of the season on Sunday.
From the very first play that the Minnesota Vikings ran on Sunday, their afternoon went just about as poorly as it possibly could.
Against a winless Atlanta Falcons team, the Vikings delivered a terrible performance and it resulted in a 40-23 loss. Minnesota is now 1-5 for the first time since 2013 when they finished with a 5-10-1 record.
The Vikings have had a few bad performances this year, but what they put out on the field against the Falcons on Sunday was just flat-out embarrassing.
What’s next for the Minnesota Vikings after losing to the Atlanta Falcons?
Heading into this week’s matchup with Atlanta, there was still a small amount of hope that Minnesota could turn their season around and sneak into the playoffs. But after Sunday’s disappointing loss, that hope for the Vikings can be thrown out the window.
A lot of the blame for this week’s result falls on the shoulders of Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins. He threw an interception on the game’s very first play and he actually ended up throwing a total of three picks in the first half.
Cousins has now thrown 10 interceptions this season. During his first two years with the Vikings, he threw a combined 16 picks.
The Vikings clearly missed Dalvin Cook out on the field this week as they finished with a pitiful 32 rushing yards. Alexander Mattison ended Sunday with just 26 yards on 10 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball for Minnesota, the NFL’s supposed best defense on third-down struggled to get the Falcons off the field all afternoon long. Atlanta was able to gain a first-down on nine of their 17 third-down attempts on Sunday and all three of their fourth-down attempts as well.
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The Vikings will now have a week off before they take on the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers in Week 8. Minnesota and head coach Mike Zimmer have to figure something out during their time off to at least get this team back to being competitive this year.