Another blown lead by the Minnesota Vikings resulted in an overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
You’ve probably heard this already this season, but the Minnesota Vikings looked impressive during the first half on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, and at one point they even held a 17-3 lead.
Once again, however, it turned out to be too good to be true for the Vikings. The Ravens were able to come back from being down 14 points in the matchup, and they left the field with a 34-31 win over Minnesota in overtime.
What were some of the quick takeaways from everything we saw from the, now, 3-5 Vikings this week?
Quick thoughts on the Vikings loss to the Ravens
Bynum fills in nicely for Harry – In place of Harrison Smith (who was placed on Minnesota’s Reserve/COVID-19 list before Sunday’s game), the Vikings were forced to start rookie Camryn Bynum at safety against the Ravens.
Bynum did well to not make any major rookie mistakes and he even came up with a great play in the second quarter when he snagged a Lamar Jackson pass out of the air for his first-career interception.
Speaking of rookies – Along with Bynum, rookie running back Kene Nwangwu was able to make a big impact for Minnesota on Sunday.
Not only did Nwangwu take a kickoff and return it 98 yards for a touchdown to open the second half, but he also helped the Vikings convert a 4th-down attempt when he carried the ball nine yards on a fake punt.
More quick thoughts from Minnesota’s loss to Baltimore
3rd down must be Jefferson and Thielen territory – Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has been known to spread the ball around during his NFL career, but when it comes to 3rd down, his eyes need to be on Minnesota’s top two receivers.
Near the end of the second quarter on Sunday, the Vikings were facing a 3rd-and-6 from their own 46-yard line. Despite both Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen being on the field, Cousins elected to throw a pass in the direction of Minnesota receiver Dede Westbrook, and, unsurprisingly, it wound up incomplete.
In crucial situations like 3rd down, Cousins needs to rely more on his top receivers, and worry less about throwing off the defense by tossing it to someone who hardly gets the ball.
Opening touchdown was beautiful – What happens when Cousins actually targets his top pass-catchers? Good things are what typically happen.
As was the case when the Vikings quarterback connected with Jefferson 50 yards down the field for the first touchdown of the game.
Minnesota struggles to cover… a fullback – When looking at film of Baltimore’s offensive weapons this past week, the Vikings probably didn’t do extensive work on Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard. Apparently, they should have though.
Ricard caught three passes for 35 yards on a Baltimore offensive drive in the third quarter that ended with him catching a one-yard touchdown. Before Sunday, Ricard had a total of three catches during the entire 2021 season.
Barr proves his value – Over the years, Minnesota’s coaching staff has gone out of their way to make sure everyone knows all of the things that Anthony Barr does that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
Well, on Sunday he made a big play that actually showed up on the stat sheet. Barr came up with a big interception during the Ravens’ first offensive possession of overtime. Unfortunately, the Vikings’ offense wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunity that their Pro Bowl linebacker gave them.
Even more quick thoughts from Minnesota’s loss to Baltimore
Vikings can’t hold a lead, again – Following Kene Nwangwu’s 98-yard kick return for a touchdown to open the third quarter, Minnesota had a 24-10 lead over the Ravens. However, Baltimore went on to score 21 straight points and take a seven-point lead near the end of the fourth quarter.
Blowing leads isn’t something new for Minnesota this season, but one would like to think they would figure out a way to prevent it from happening as many times as it has this year.
Conklin becoming a favorite target – Even though Kirk Cousins would be better off targeting Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen more often, it’s nice to see Tyler Conklin continue to emerge as a reliable tight end for the Vikings this season.
Against the Ravens, Conklin hauled in five passes for 45 yards on seven targets. Minnesota would love to have Irv Smith Jr. out there this year, but Conklin has done well to help decrease the impact of Smith not being able to play.
Mobile QBs and the Vikings are never a good mix – Throughout their history, Minnesota has struggled when it’s come to stopping opposing quarterbacks that can run the ball well (see Michael Vick, Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III)
This continued on Sunday when Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson rushed for 120 yards. Everyone knew the Vikings were going to have their hands full with Jackson this week and he proved them right.
Smith might be out next week too – As we mentioned earlier, Vikings safety Harrison Smith was placed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list just prior to Sunday’s game.
Smith has been following the protocols of someone who appears to be unvaccinated this season. So if he is unvaccinated and his placement on the list is due to a positive test, then he will have to be away from the team for a minimum of 10 days.
If this is the case, then Smith will also not be on the field in Week 10 when the Vikings travel to take on the Los Angeles Chargers.