The Minnesota Vikings have had a lot of issues offensively through two games, and seven of eight quarters thus far have been especially awful. A lack of third-down efficiency (30.4 percent; 29th in the league) has led to not getting to 50 offensive plays in either game thus far.
In Week 1, the Chicago Bears sacked J.J. McCarthy twice, but otherwise the Vikings' signal caller was kept fairly clean (five total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus). In Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons, that changed dramatically.
McCarthy was sacked five times in the first half on Sunday night, and according to Next Gen Stats, he was pressured on nine of his first 14 drop-backs (a 64 percent pressure rate).
Things "changed" in the second half, with McCarthy being sacked just once. But that one sack yielded a lost fumble early in the fourth quarter when Minnesota seemingly could have seized momentum, and the Falcons took complete control from there.
The Vikings also ran just 18 offensive plays in the second half. Atlanta had 25 plays on their two scoring drives in the half.
Overall, for the game, according to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons pressured McCarthy 16 times (53.3 percent of his dropbacks), and six players had at least three pressures.
Apparently, he suffered an ankle injury in the loss to Atlanta, and on Monday, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell told reporters that McCarthy is unlikely to play Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Christian Darrisaw's return to the Minnesota Vikings cannot come soon enough
For a time this offseason, it seemed possible Vikings' left tackle Christian Darrisaw would be available for the season opener as he recovered from the torn ACL he suffered last October.
A dose of reality said that was a little too optimistic, but Darrisaw would surely be available fairly soon after Week 1, now 11 months out from his injury.
Last week's practice reports showed Darrisaw trending the wrong way, from being estimated as a full participant on Wednesday, to being limited on Thursday, to being declared out for Sunday night's game on Friday. The cautious approach is understandable, though, with an eye on the long haul.
In theory, Justin Skule felt like a capable veteran fill-in at left tackle for however many games Darrisaw would have to miss. But he was overmatched at times in Week 1, allowing four of the five pressures the Vikings allowed in the game. Then he was notably worse against the Falcons.
Pro Football Focus data is actually a bit kinder to Skule than it seemed it would be in the moment, with three pressures, two hurries, and one sack allowed, but a dismal 35.1 pass blocking grade sums things up perfectly.
Falcons' defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich clearly knew who the weak link in the Vikings' offensive line was and targeted it.
Skule offered no discernible resistance to Atlanta pass rushers who were lined up across from him, and a particular run play could have been a loss of yardage after Skule failed to get his hands on any Falcons' defenders who seemed to be within his range.
To be fair to Skule, he left Sunday night's game in the third quarter with a concussion, and it's unclear when he might've been initially impacted by the injury.
Then his replacement, Walter Rouse, picked up a holding penalty on his first play. On nine pass blocking snaps, according to PFF, Rouse allowed one pressure of McCarthy.
No team can easily navigate being without its starting left tackle. But Darrisaw's value to the Vikings is being reinforced with each game he misses, and his return to action can't come soon enough.
With three of the top pass rushers in the league (Trey Hendrickson, T.J. Watt, and Myles Garrett) coming in the next three games, Darrisaw being available to protect whoever is under center has become critically important.