The Vikings suffered their first loss of the season to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The offense's inability to stay on the field was a huge factor, as the Lions leaned into heavier personnel and the run game in the second half to neutralize Brian Flores' blitzing madness. But a bigger issue was Kyler Murray's performance.
Murray made some nice throws and finished the day completing 17-of-29 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but the misses and failure to find open receivers overshadowed his stats. Still, the "we're close" tune sung for weeks about the Vikings' offense continued after the loss.
“I don’t necessarily believe it’s going to be one tell-all thing", Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said regarding getting Murray comfortable in the offense. "I think it’s how we continue to put together the plan of where he’s most comfortable in his alignment, then marrying the offense from there. I think we’ve done a good job of that.”
How can O'Connell think he and his staff have done a good job marrying the offense with Murray's comfort level and strengths? Yes, it's possible to have a good process and not get the desired results all the time, but we should be seeing better signs that things are coming together.
Missing at least one key piece of the offense for a big chunk of every game before the last two is quickly becoming an old excuse. But the excuses are being made because the Vikings may have no choice but to ride Murray out.
Kevin O’Connell created the Minnesota Vikings QB mess
As the Minnesota Vikings entered the 2026 offseason, the quarterback they added would say how they felt about J.J. McCarthy. The stars aligned, allowing them to sign Murray to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum, and McCarthy's replacement was all but officially in place.
Still, head coach Kevin O'Connell sought to maintain the appearance of an equal competition for the starting job. During OTAs, Murray made it clear he wanted more work as he learned a new offense. It was easy for some to read his words as a complaint, but if he was going to be the starter, the more first-team reps he could get, the better.
Even in that casual, non-contact setting, Murray could start building important rapport with Justin Jefferson and the rest of the Vikings’ offense. Instead, O'Connell had to make sure McCarthy didn't completely check out after he had already revealed how he'd handle being the backup.
The Vikings held on to McCarthy into the regular season after making him their No. 3 quarterback, then traded him to the New York Giants in late September. Time will tell what McCarthy's NFL future holds, but his time in Minnesota was at an irretrievable end and keeping him was untenable.
Perhaps the top priority in OTAs and training camp should have been getting Murray more comfortable and building an offense around what he does best. Instead, O'Connell had to maintain a facade that McCarthy saw any future as a Viking, when anyone who could put any thought to it knew better.
Vikings have no choice but to ride out Kyler Murray's struggles
Now the best alternative to Murray, shy of a shocking trade for a new quarterback, is Carson Wentz. Wentz also experienced a dose of O'Connell's miscalculations last season, when he was allowed to basically break his entire non-throwing shoulder while McCarthy's return from an ankle injury was slow-played.
It's fair to say the Vikings didn't feel they needed a top-notch backup plan behind Murray, and they weren't wrong. But then it should've been an all-in effort from the very beginning to set him up for success; not a slow-played, months-long, faux competition that eventually yielded the result everyone knew was coming back in March.
O'Connell can't blame anyone but himself for the offense's current mess. He chose Murray to replace McCarthy, then failed to do what it took to get his new starter ready to go when on-field work began. So the Vikings are left to ride out Murray's struggles and hope things change as a tough stretch of schedule rolls on.
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