3 winners, 3 losers, and 1 TBD from Minnesota Vikings ugly 23-16 win vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers that raises multiple questions
The Minnesota Vikings are 3-0, but Sunday’s 23-16 victory over Tampa Bay raised serious questions about multiple areas of the team.
The Minnesota Vikings found a way to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-16 on Sunday afternoon, improving to 3-0 on the season. It hasn’t looked pretty over the course of the first three games, but the Vikings keep winning. Sunday’s victory came at a cost, though, as wide receiver Justin Jefferson went down with an ankle injury early in the first quarter and did not return. After that, the Vikings struggled to do much of anything on offense.
The good news is the defense and special teams stepped up in a major way, and they are a huge reason Minnesota heads into Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins undefeated. Who were the biggest winners and losers from the day? Let’s break it down.
Winner: Defensive coordinator Brian Flores
Simply put, this defense has been fantastic. They’re attacking quarterbacks in a multitude of different ways and continue to thrive across the board. On the day, the Vikings forced Baker Mayfield into six sacks, and per the initial Pro Football Focus data, they generated 32 pressures. That’s an insane number, and they continue to do it organically.
What’s impressive about how the Vikings have gone about it is that the pressure hasn’t come from one source. Minnesota now has 14 sacks through three games, including six on Mayfield on Sunday. The defense also held Tampa Bay to just 57 rush yards. Flores has this unit playing at an elite level.
Loser: Coach Kevin O’Connell
When your star player goes out, it’s never a good thing. However, just because your best player goes down doesn’t mean the game is over. You still need to find a way to thrive, and the Vikings didn’t do that offensively on Sunday.
There were nowhere near enough adjustments. The Vikings should have been much better at getting the ball out quickly and utilizing their tight ends against a paltry group of linebackers. Minnesota’s tight ends combined for just two receptions and 11 yards. That’s unacceptable. O’Connell needs to figure this out and show improvement in these areas if the Vikings really want to be impactful long-term.
Winner: Wide receiver Jordan Addison
As much as losing Jefferson hurt, Jordan Addison stepped up in a major way. He caught five passes for 90 yards and a touchdown while also nearly hauling in a contested 50-50 ball late in the second quarter that would have given him a third reception over 20 yards. He continues to attack vertically with post routes and it’s been effective since his first game.
Addison is one of the better players the Vikings have, and he is more than ready for an expanded role on offense. With Jefferson potentially missing multiple games, Addison’s opportunity could come to fruition quickly.
Loser: Safety Theo Jackson
Right now, Harrison Smith appears to be in a ramp-up period, which aligns with what happened last year when Smith dealt with an illness during training camp, missed a couple of games, and slowly ramped up after the buy week. Smith played 31 snaps on Sunday, but Jackson was on the field for 49 and appeared to be the one who busted the coverage on the deep touchdown pass to Ted Hurst. That can’t happen.
Jackson has been prone to making these kinds of mistakes and taking bad angles, and it’s something that just has not gone away. When you see issues like that consistently, it’s frustrating, and it’s something you have to take into real consideration.
Winner: The offensive line
There have been conversations about what Will Fries has looked like and whether he should be on the team long-term. He had a bad holding penalty where he got bulldozed forward. However, the initial Pro Football Focus data had the Vikings allowing just four pressures on the day, with only eight pressures coming from blockers total. Kyler Murray had time to throw. The fastest sack recorded per NextGenStats was 5.3 seconds by Alex Anzalone. The offensive line is starting to figure things out, and it’s nice to see.
Loser: Wide receiver Jauan Jennings
When the Vikings signed Jennings in May, it was a huge addition. They needed an upgrade at wide receiver, and Jennings gave them something they didn’t have as a power forward-type slot player. However, he was signed to be the No. 3 receiver, and elevating him to No. 2 takes away what makes him effective.
There are real concerns about what he can do as a true outside receiver, which was where he was at his weakest with the San Francisco 49ers. Jennings finished with one catch for one yard on two targets. If Jefferson misses significant time, the Vikings have Tai Felton and Myles Price behind him, and neither is ready for prime time.
To be determined: Quarterback Kyler Murray
The conversation about Murray’s performance is going to boil down to whether or not you believed in him heading into the season. Nobody knows right now who is truly at fault for what happened on Sunday until we see the all-22. We don’t know how many receivers were open. We don’t know how good the route concepts were. We can’t point the finger at Murray until we see the back end of the film.
Once we do, we can have a real conversation, but until then, calling for him to be benched is mainly a preconceived notion looking for confirmation bias. We don’t have enough information yet, and it’s okay to say that.
