There was quite a bit to learn about the Minnesota Vikings during their Week 4 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Entering Week 4, the Minnesota Vikings were in a bad place. They lost three consecutive close games to open the season and had to hit the road in the hopes of getting on track during the 2023 NFL season.
Thankfully, the Vikings were able to get the job done against the Carolina Panthers, winning a close game by the final score of 21-13. Carolina had an opportunity to cut into the lead near the end of the game but was denied by Minnesota's defense.
Now sitting with a 1-3 record, the Vikings have to look ahead to a schedule that includes some extremely tough games. That starts next week when the Kansas City Chiefs come to U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 5.
But before looking too far ahead, it is worth taking a closer look at what happened in the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers to evaluate how this team performed and what it could mean going forward.
Vikings takeaway No. 1
Kirk Cousins had a rough day.
The first three weeks of the 2023 NFL season were statistically huge for Minnesota Vikings passer Kirk Cousins. Heading into Week 4, he led the league in passing yards, passing touchdowns, and other quarterback-driven stats.
Big numbers were nowhere to be seen in Cousins' stat line on Sunday. He completed 12 of his 19 pass attempts for 139 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, struggling to make plays at times despite only being recorded taking four hits on the day.
To further accentuate these numbers, Justin Jefferson caught half of Cousins' completions and accounted for over 61 percent of his passing yards while catching both touchdowns, leaving scraps for the other players.
This game proved that Kirk Cousins doesn't have to put up huge numbers for the Minnesota Vikings to win a game and hopefully some of the pressure will come off his shoulders after this Week 4 victory.
Vikings takeaway No. 2
A defender makes an impression.
Entering Week 4, edge rusher Marcus Davenport hadn't recorded a statistic for the Minnesota Vikings this season. An inability to keep healthy sidelined him and made it look like the team wasted their investment in him.
Davenport earned some respect for his play during this game. The linebacker only had one recorded sack and four tackles on the day, but he was winning his one-on-one assignments and getting pressure on rookie quarterback Bryce Young.
He stayed fresh thanks to a rotation of edge rushers that included D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II. This strategy kept the defense able to keep the opposing offense guessing while wearing down their offensive linemen.
If Marcus Davenport can stay healthy and the Minnesota Vikings can continue to find ways to get an advantage in pass rush situations, the team will have a much better chance of disrupting opposing teams.
Vikings takeaway No. 3
Minnesota had an actual rushing attack.
Last week was the first time this season that the Minnesota Vikings looked like they had any kind of run game. They doubled down on that strategy against the Panthers, running the ball 23 times compared to 19 passes.
The Vikings mostly used a rushing attack of Alexander Mattison and recently acquired rusher Cam Akers and were able to move the ball well against Carolina. The duo carried the ball 22 times for 126 yards but didn't get in the end zone.
Mattison averaged 5.6 yards per carry on his 17 attempts while Akers averaged eight yards per attempt on his five tries. These two running backs helped to keep the defense honest and give the team some tempo.
At this time, it is unknown if the Minnesota Vikings can continue this success on the ground or if this was only two weeks of solid running. It will definitely be something for fans to watch during the weeks to come.
Vikings takeaway No. 4
A veteran proves he still has a lot in the tank.
Harrison Smith is 34 years old and toward the end of his career, but the veteran Minnesota Vikings safety had a huge day on Sunday that should have made even the most skeptical fans realize that he still plays at an exceptionally high level,
Smith led the team in tackles on the day, taking down 14 Panthers ball-carriers and eight of those were solo efforts. He also led the team in sacks, getting to Bryce Hall three times, showing how valuable he is to the defense.
He and Camryn Bynum combined for 26 of Minnesota's 91 total tackles. Normally, it's not a great thing if your safeties have so many tackles, but both Bynum and Smith were used in creative ways that put them all over the field.
It will be quite interesting to see what the Minnesota Vikings do with Harrison Smith after this season. Although he isn't scheduled to become a free agent until after the 2025 season, his big salary cap hits in those final two years make the reality of him playing out that contract highly questionable.
Vikings takeaway No. 5
There are still far too many mistakes and poorly executed plays.
Once again, the Minnesota Vikings lost the turnover battle. There was only one fumble by the purple and gold on Sunday and it was recovered by Kirk Cousins but the quarterback did throw two interceptions, with one of them near the goal line once again.
The Vikings also had seven penalties accepted against them, giving the Panthers 37 yards and two first downs. Although that's not a lot of yardage, any time you give an opponent a fresh set of downs is a bad time.
Minnesota also struggled on third and fourth down again, only converting two of their ten attempts. They also failed to cash in on a red zone opportunity, coming away empty handed due to the previously mentioned Cousins interception.
It's hard to know if the Minnesota Vikings could have overcome these deficiencies if they were playing a more efficient opponent. Thankfully, the Panthers had some struggles of their own, including a fumble returned for a touchdown by D.J. Wonnum.
Vikings takeaway No. 6
It's not too late to get hot.
The Minnesota Vikings will face a tough test when the Kansas City Chiefs come to Minneapolis in Week 5. That said, the Chiefs aren't an impossible foe. The purple and gold will need to clean up their act and get good football all around to be competitive.
Since all six division games are still to come, a lot of ground can be made up on that front. Detroit may be on top of the division at the moment, but the season is still early and there is no way of knowing how the rest of the games will shake out.
For fans who were embracing Minnesota's losses: I understand where you're coming from but it's far too early to be thinking about tanking for a draft pick, even if you're drooling over the idea of selecting a franchise quarterback.
Congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings on their first win of the season. Hopefully, this will be the first of many to come and the team can be competitive enough to keep things interesting throughout the 2023 NFL season.