5 biggest takeaways from the Vikings loss to the Ravens in Week 9
By Adam Carlson
A depleted defense outplayed the offense
Yes, the Vikings gave up 500 yards of offense to the Ravens. Despite that, the defense did everything they could to keep the team in the game and gave the offense opportunities to make things happen.
The Vikings forced two interceptions on the day despite chasing Lamar Jackson around the field for nearly three quarters worth of football. Jackson may have racked up 120 rushing yards on the day, but there are some excuses for Mike Zimmer to use.
A Minnesota defense without Danielle Hunter, Michael Pierce, Patrick Peterson, and Harrison Smith isn’t a very sexy unit. There were a lot of backups in the game and they played at a fairly high level.
Take a look at these backups who had solid games:
- Camryn Bynum, safety: 12 tackles and an interception
- Kenny Willekes, DL: five tackles, half a sack, and two quarterback hits
- Sheldon Richardson, DL: four tackles and 1.5 sacks
- Armon Watts, DT: three tackles and a sack
Those are only a handful of players who stepped up when their numbers were called on defense. But, as a whole, the unit had two interceptions, three sacks, and eight quarterback hits while working with bad field position and terrible time of possession.
While the defense isn’t completely off the hook, they aren’t the biggest reason the Minnesota Vikings lost this game.
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What was your biggest takeaway from the Week 9 meeting between the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens? And what else did you learn during this game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.