The Minnesota Vikings suffered their first loss of the season Sunday afternoon, falling 19-15 to the Detroit Lions. The Week 8 matchup was frustrating for Vikings fans to watch as the defense played well enough to win the game, but the offense couldn’t put up enough points to keep their unbeaten streak alive.
The good news is that at 6-1, the Vikings are in a good spot to contend in a wide-open NFC despite Sunday’s loss. But there are several takeaways coming off their first taste of defeat.
The Vikings need more from their offense
The Vikings have been confident that their offense would break out at some point. But against the Lions, they may have reached a breaking point.
Kyler Murray was erratic, completing 17-of-29 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Through it all, Murray sailed passes and seemed to overthink, much like J.J. McCarthy did before his trade to the New York Giants.
This also happened against a Lions defense that entered Sunday allowing 5.5 yards per play and lost five players throughout the course of the game, including D.J. Wonnum, Brian Branch, Jack Campbell and Jimmy Rolder. Lions top corner D.J. Reed also exited at one point, but the Vikings couldn’t come up with enough explosive plays to take advantage of a leaky, banged-up defense..
There’s sure to be more lip service about how the Vikings offense is just about to break through. They can also point to Murray’s late touchdown to T.J. Hockenson as a moment where they answered the bell. But they didn’t do it enough on Sunday afternoon and it’s time to start asking questions as to why it’s happening.
The Vikings' defense has a weakness against the run
A lot of flowers have been thrown at Brian Flores for his work with the Vikings’ defense. Those should continue as they overwhelmed Jared Goff and forced him into his first interception on Sunday afternoon. But while it remains a championship-caliber unit, it’s starting to show leaks against the run.
The Lions ran 39 times for 230 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, but the biggest moment came after Murray’s go-ahead score to Hockenson in the fourth quarter. Detroit marched 69 yards on seven plays and ended the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Goff to Jameson Williams. But the drive was fueled on the ground, with Jahmyr Gibbs and Sione Viaki running five times for 57 yards to set up the game-winning score.
This follows last weekend’s performance, when the Vikings allowed Jonathan Taylor to run for 95 yards on 18 carries, including a 37-yard touchdown run. It also comes as Minnesota enters a gauntlet of top running backs, with James Cook, Josh Jacobs, Christian McCaffrey and Bijan Robinson facing the Vikings in their next four games.
If teams can run the ball, it would counter most of the positives in Flores’s blitz-heavy defense, giving the Vikings an ultimatum to fix the problem.
The worst thing the Vikings can do at the trade deadline is nothing
The Vikings entered Sunday’s game as the NFL's last unbeaten team. But anybody who has watched this team knows they were surviving by the skin of their teeth. The defense has been great. The special teams, which saw a rare miss by Will Reichard in the first quarter, have also been strong. But several flaws could crater Minnesota in the playoffs.
We just got done talking about the Vikings’ issues against the run. But Minnesota could use a running back after Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason combined for 42 yards on 13 carries (3.2 yards per attempt) on Sunday.
The Vikings could also use depth along the offensive line and at tight end. But those moves feel necessary after several NFC contenders, including the Chicago Bears, got better with trades last week.
Going all-in is a tricky situation because of the ripple effect it has on the future. But the Vikings just failed a litmus test and are still in a good position with a 6-1 record. If Minnesota wants to push forward, they’ll need something to get them by and Sunday’s loss should be a wake-up call to general manager Nolan Teasley to get something done.
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