Vikings were put at a severe disadvantage on the final drive vs. Steelers, and it cost Carson Wentz dearly
It was a brutal way for the game to end
The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday morning, 24-21, and it was well deserved. They made multiple mistakes to put themselves down 24-6, including two interceptions from Carson Wentz, landing them in even worse positions.
With all that said, the Vikings still had a chance to win the game. They got the ball back with 1:01 left after Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin inexplicably decided to punt on a fourth-and-inches that would have ended the game. They had already converted one of those earlier in the game, and deciding to punt could have been costly.
Instead, the Vikings got the ball back and failed to score on the final drive, but the stadium crew let them down.
Carson Wentz wasn’t given a play clock
The Vikings struggled massively on the final drive. Wentz nearly threw a game-ending interception on the first play, and he took a brutal intentional grounding penalty. They got the ball within striking distance of a first down with a pass to T.J. Hockenson to get it to third and 12. Wentz then spiked the ball, and they had one play to get the first down with 14 seconds left.
The Vikings then took an inexplicable delay of game penalty that was just the icing on the cake. Unfortunately for Wentz, there wasn’t a stadium clock in his vision, so he didn’t have a reference point.
This certainly isn’t the reason why the Vikings lost the game, but it is a contributing factor to making the final play that much more difficult. Now, was that something known by the teams beforehand? Was there something in place for Wentz to know the play clock, so he could get the Vikings set up in time? It turns out there was. Head coach Kevin O’Connell was told a few minutes before kickoff about the lack of play clock.
No matter the reason, it was a devastating penalty that could have saved the Vikings in this game, as a 12-yard gain is much easier than 17.
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Vikings loss vs. Steelers highlighted major flaws that must be addressed immediately to make any kind of playoff run
The first-ever game in Dublin, Ireland, was quite the barnburner between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers. It got interesting at the end, but the Steelers left with the 24-21 win. The game exposed major flaws with the Vikings team, some of which can be addressed, while others are problems that won’t go away anytime […]
