3 problems the Vikings need to fix before their Week 5 game vs. the Jets

Though the scoreboard showed a much closer ending this past Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings played an impressive game against the Green Bay Packers. While Vikings fans were surely holding their breath as the Packers made an effort to execute a comeback, Minnesota came away with the victory and is now 1-0 in the division.

Minnesota will head to London, England, for their next matchup, where the 2-2 New York Jets are their next opponent. It's looking to be an incredible defensive matchup, as Minnesota ranks fourth in the NFL in points allowed per game, and New York ranks fifth. While the Vikings have been able to put things together on both sides of the ball, ranking fourth in points scored per contest, the Jets sit at 21st in the category, highlighting their offensive struggles.

The Vikings will be up against a familiar face leading New York's offense, as long-time former Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the starting signal-caller for the Jets. Rodgers has shown many times in the past the ability to tear apart a Minnesota defense, and even as he is older, the team shouldn't expect any less from the future Hall of Famer. In order to leave London with a victory, what are some pieces of their game that the Vikings can fix before the matchup?

Problems the Minnesota Vikings need to fix before facing the New York Jets

1. Ball Security

Once again, Minnesota struggled with holding onto the ball in Week 4. Luckily, the Packers struggled even more with turnovers, but we can't just brush the turnover issue under the rug.

More than anything, it's about playing with a better football IQ, as all of Minnesota's turnovers could have been easily avoided.

The worst turnover of the day was easily Jalen Nailor's muffed punt, setting up the Packers with prime field position. Even though Nailor isn't the usual punt returner, that does not give any excuse for the terrible decision-making he had that led to the muffed punt.

No matter who goes out there to return punts, they need to know that attempting to catch the ball when it's already over your head is a boneheaded mistake.

Sam Darnold's interception was just a poor decision on his part, though, in reality, that interception should not have counted after it was reviewed, but it was still a poor play regardless. Darnold's fumble was just a failure by the Vikings' blocking scheme, as he was blindsided and subsequently let the ball loose.

Maybe it's an awareness thing for Darnold or a lack of execution by other parts of the offense, but those two turnovers were costly in a game where Green Bay made a push toward the end.

2. Playing with a lead

In the end, Minnesota came away with the win in Green Bay, so no harm, no foul, but it should have never been that close at the end.

Minnesota's second half was the polar opposite of their first half, in which they dominated the Packers in facet. Minnesota's second-half play-calling was lackluster on both sides, and it just seemed like the team was coasting rather than keeping their foot on the gas.

Minnesota squandered a 28-point lead in the blink of an eye, as it appeared that the team took their foot off the gas and expected the Packers to do the same.

This is not calling for Minnesota to run up the score on their opponents, but rather be smarter with how they handle their leads moving forward.

Minnesota won't always have that large of a cushion, and there is no time to go soft in the NFL, especially in such a heated rivalry game like Minnesota vs Green Bay.

3. Defensive line consistency

This is being nitpicky, as the Vikings' defensive line has been great to start the season, but they fell back down to Earth against Green Bay in what was their worst outing of the season.

Their inconsistent ability to sack Jordan Love let him have some very easy passes on Sunday, and they had some struggles stopping the run after being stout all season.

Minnesota's defensive line just wasn't bullying the opposing offensive line like they had been the previous three weeks. But the Packers were also the best overall offensive line that the Vikings had faced this season.

Even then, Minnesota still needs to find a way to generate more sacks and disrupt running lanes against good offensive lines. The Jets' offensive line isn't great, so maybe this will be a game for the Vikings to get that spark back on the defensive line and play bully ball like they did before Week 4.

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