The Minnesota Vikings let one get away against a division rival. Minnesota fell 19-15 to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, and the biggest talking point from the game is what’s happening at quarterback with Kyler Murray.

The conversation around Murray needs more nuance than it’s getting, though. A Vikings run defense that got bullied in the second half deserves just as much attention.

Kyler Murray’s good moments are getting buried

For starters, Murray did some good things in this game, and they’ll likely get glossed over. He hit Jordan Addison on a beautiful deep ball, connected with T.J. Hockenson on seam throws, threw two touchdown passes, and converted a two-point try. His scrambles were smart decisions as well. He ran for 35 yards on four carries, including a 22-yard scamper.

The problem is consistency. This Vikings offense is built to be explosive, attacking vertically and on the ground. Instead, Minnesota only ran the ball 18 times for 81 yards. The Vikings also held the ball for just 24 minutes and 17 seconds, which is a huge reason they weren’t able to beat Detroit.

Multiple times, the Lions dropped eight into coverage, and Murray still couldn’t find anyone. He didn’t work through his outlets or get the ball out, and he took sacks. That can’t happen, as well as the offensive line struggling to protect.

In-breakers to Justin Jefferson were the most frustrating part. On one, Aidan Hutchinson stood straight up in the passing lane on a Jefferson slant. Throwing that one into the ground was fair. However, there were other times Jefferson popped wide open with a clear lane, and the ball never came. Those throws require anticipation, and Murray doesn’t have it right now. Either the Vikings figure out how to get him there, or they stop calling those plays.

Minnesota can cook on offense. We’ve seen it in flashes with Murray under center. It just isn’t happening with any consistency. The grace period for learning the system and getting comfortable is running thin when passes are getting skied and Jefferson is left open.

What’s the alternative, though? Carson Wentz isn’t the answer. Is Daniel Jones or Kirk Cousins on the trade market the answer? There isn’t a good response to that question, which is why quarterback is the worst possible spot for this team to have issues.

Jahmyr Gibbs gashed the Vikings’ defensive front

Detroit made a second-half decision that won’t get talked about enough: they took the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands. The Lions chose to ground and pound, and they were right.

Jahmyr Gibbs torched the Vikings. The Lions finished with 230 total yards and Gibbs ran for 153 rushing yards on 23 carries, including a 30-yard touchdown run. Detroit ran for 153 yards in the second half alone. The Lions gashed Minnesota with power runs, gashed them with zone runs, and broke tackles left and right. It came one week after counter runs gave the Vikings fits against the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings were attributed with 17 misses tackles per Pro Football Focus’ inital charting.

That exposes a weakness on the defensive line. It’s why I’ve been a proponent of trading for DeForest Buckner. An experienced veteran would ease the snaps on players like Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, a fifth-round pick last year who is starting but isn’t a great player yet. Caleb Banks isn’t quite ready, and neither is Domonique Orange. Jalen Redmond is great and Levi Drake Rodriguez is also playing well, but they can’t do it all. In fact, they need to be rotated out more often.

You need a strong rotation, and Minnesota doesn’t have one right now. Gibbs exploited that. The linebackers and defensive backs missed tackles, and he did a phenomenal job running through contact.

Brian Flores’ defense needs help from the offense

This wasn’t all bad for the Vikings’ defense. Brian Flores’ unit may have allowed 384 yards, but it held a great offense to 19 points. In the first half, it consistently crushed Goff, sacking him four times.

The context matters. The defense was on the field for more than 18 minutes in the first half and more than half of the second half. You can’t expect any unit to carry an entire team to a Super Bowl under those conditions. If Minnesota wins a Super Bowl this season, it will be because the defense is elite. Nobody questions that. The offense still has to give that group something.

With a lesser defense, this game probably turns into a 40-point blowout. Instead, Flores’ group kept the Vikings competitive, and the offense couldn’t match its energy. If the Vikings can’t control the clock, the defense is going to keep getting worn down, and players are going to get frustrated carrying everything.

I’m not worried about Flores’ unit overall. The run defense was not it, and that’s the biggest story coming out of this game for me. A lot of it comes down to how many snaps the starters are playing, and Minnesota may have to find ways to get other players on the field to ease the burden.

The Vikings were still in a position to win this game, which matters given how inconsistent the offense has been. With the Buffalo Bills up next on Monday Night Football, Minnesota needs answers at quarterback and up front. Can the Vikings find them in time? We’ll find out.