‘Door gets kicked down soon’ — Kyler Murray is confident the Vikings will get things rolling on offense
Simply put: the Minnesota Vikings need more on offense, and Kyler Murray believes they will be getting there.
Over the last three games on offense, the Minnesota Vikings have scored just one touchdown. That came last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Kyler Murray connected on a deep-ball touchdown to Jordan Addison.
The really difficult part about the Vikings’ offensive struggles, where they rank 27th in EPA/play (-0.089) and last in success rate (34.4%) is how many flashes there have been of Murray hitting receivers in tight windows and attacking defenses vertically. Even so, the lack of consistency is getting to be a problem.
Kyler Murray believes the Vikings’ offense is very close
Needless to say, the Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell need to figure out a way to get some consistency. If they don’t they may be squandering the No. 1 defense and special teams units in the league. Murray believes they are very close to making that happen.
“Practices are great. I’ve been a part of this for a long time now. As far as being in league, you know that door gets kicked down soon. You keep stacking great days, great weeks, there’s no loss of confidence in that room or in that locker room. You know we understand who we are,” said Murray after Sunday’s game.
We can look at those quotes in a couple of different ways. First, what else is Murray supposed to say? He’s not going to come out and say “hey, we suck!” Even with Murray giving the good PR line, there is a level of truth in what he’s saying.
Just looking at the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Murray completed 13-of-14 passes for 120 yards. He also finished fourth in EPA/play (0.580) and 12th in success rate (46.2%) among quarterbacks with five or more snaps. He was attacking down the field, finding tight end T.J. Hockenson on a seam route and fitting a tight window to wide receiver Jordan Addison on an in-breaking RPO.
Let’s boil it down to the most basic of terms: the Vikings still have a lot to prove. We’ve seen the flashes of brilliance and explosive plays with Murray under center, but there is no level of consistency. The Vikings haven’t been able to link plays together at all, and kicking five field goals is a big deal. They have to be better in the red zone, where they don’t have a touchdown over the last three games.
The good news for the Vikings is that Murray has only been the quarterback for a two games and 11 plays. Things are likely to get better, and the fourth quarter is a shining example of that.
Will it come to fruition? Right now, we can only hope, but it’s a good thing to have.
