Insane stat reveals Vikings 2021 struggles were historic

No team in recent memory has struggled more in the final minutes of each half than the Minnesota Vikings during the 2021 season.

Everyone is fully aware of how much the Minnesota Vikings struggled during the final minutes of each half in the majority of their matchups last season.

But a stat was recently brought to light that shows the Vikings‘ end-of-half struggles were not only the worst in the NFL during the 2021 campaign, but they were also among the worst that the league has seen in the last two decades.

Thanks to Warren Sharp of NBC Sports and The Ringer, we now know that Minnesota’s difficulties to prevent their opponents from finding the end zone at the end of the second and fourth quarters last season were officially the worst in the NFL since 2000.

Why were the Minnesota Vikings so bad at the end of each half last season?

While this stat reveals the struggles of the Vikings’ defense at the end of games last season, the offense shouldn’t get a pass in these situations either.

In the final four minutes of the second and fourth quarters in 2021, Minnesota’s offense only scored a touchdown on five percent of their drives. This was the third-worst touchdown percentage in these situations in the NFL last season.

So the Vikings not only had a hard time at keeping their opponents out the end zone at the end of each half in 2021, but their offense rarely found the end zone in these end-of-half situations as well.

It’s hard to blame all of this on anything specific as it’s just a mixture of a bunch of things. Bad coaching, bad execution by the players on the field, lack of talent on the roster, and inexperience, among other things.

For the 2022 season, Minnesota is hoping that new head coach Kevin O’Connell can avoid some of the end-of-half struggles the team experienced in 2021. Will O’Connell’s arrival make a big enough impact in these situations or will we find out that these difficulties are more player-related?