Minnesota Vikings football is officially back. It didn't end the way Vikings fans hoped on Sunday, but luckily there is a short turnaround this week. The team must get ready to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football. 

Every Monday this season I will be doing a recap of Sunday's game. We will be going over the good, the bad, and the ugly of the performance. 

In the season opener, there were a lot more bad and ugly moments than good. 

The Good

The receivers were fantastic on Sunday. Justin Jefferson finished with nine catches for 150 yards. Rookie Jordan Addison had four catches for 61 yards and scored his first NFL TD. KJ Osborn contributed three catches for 31 yards. 

Going forward, there's much to be excited about with this passing attack. After Addison was listed as a backup on the unofficial depth chart, it seemed like he may take a backseat to Osborn initially. That was not the case, however, and Addison proved that he will contribute from the jump. 

If the running game is going to be as inefficient as it was this week, there will be plenty of targets to go around for the receivers and tight ends. 

The Bad

The running game was atrocious against Tampa Bay. Alexander Mattison had 11 carries for just 34 yards. If you had Mattison in your fantasy lineup, you still did okay thanks to Mattison’s receiving TD. However, this was a disappointing performance by any metric. 

It's not all on Mattison, either. The offensive line got no push on the Tampa defensive front. Ed Ingram was especially bad, and the loss of Garrett Bradbury did no favors. 

This game is a perfect example of how the passing game alone won't be enough to win if the running game is non-existent. KOC and staff will have to figure out some creative ways to improve the ground game going forward. The Eagles are the next opponent, and they won't be any easier to run against. 

The Ugly

The two ugliest things from this game were the offensive line play and the costly turnovers from Kirk Cousins. Cousins lost two fumbles and threw an interception in the red zone. That just can’t happen in the NFL if you expect to win games. 

The offensive line looked much like the 2022 edition on Sunday. Cousins was hit nine times and sacked twice. That doesn't even tell the full story either, because Cousins was constantly under pressure. The unit was also unable to get any kind of push in the run game. 

To make matters even worse, center Garrett Bradbury was ruled out for the rest of the game after suffering a back injury in the first half. The center also dealt with a back injury in 2022, so this is not an encouraging sign. This unit was already struggling, so being forced to roll with a backup at any position only complicates matters. 

Be sure to tune in each and every Monday for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly from the most recent Vikings performance!

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Featured image via © Brad Rempel | 2023 Sep 10