4 biggest disappointments from the Vikings loss to the Bucs in Week 1

Disappointment No. 2

Lack of big plays from the defense

For the most part, the Vikings defense looked much improved under Brian Flores. They shut down Baker Mayfield and the Bucs offense for the majority of the first half. Tampa's offense did get a little more going in the second half, but Minnesota ended up holding the Bucs to 242 total yards of offense.

With that kind of line and seeing Kirk Cousins throw for 344 yards, most would think the Vikings came out on top in this one. They didn't, and it was because Tampa Bay won the turnover battle three to zero. The fact that Minnesota's defense couldn't generate a single turnover was disappointing.

We heard all season about the exotic looks and formations that Flores was going to bring to this team, and with those looks, we expected plenty of big plays. Those big plays just never came.

Danielle Hunter had one sack, but other than that, it was a lot of almost plays. We saw plenty of Vikings defenders come in basically untouched, but they weren't able to hit home on Mayfield, or they opted to jump and attempt to swat the ball instead of taking a free shot on the quarterback.

Hopefully, those game-changing plays will come, but the defense not being able to force a journeyman quarterback like Mayfield into making a key mistake was a big disappointment.