Vikings loss vs. Lions boils down to one thing being historically bad because of course it was
There aren't many things to feel positive about the Minnesota Vikings' loss to the Detroit Lions. A 31-9 score looks worse than it was, especially since the game was 10-9 in the third quarter, but the defense got worn down, and the offense struggled to sustain drives. A significant amount of the blame is currently […]
There aren't many things to feel positive about the Minnesota Vikings' loss to the Detroit Lions. A 31-9 score looks worse than it was, especially since the game was 10-9 in the third quarter, but the defense got worn down, and the offense struggled to sustain drives.
A significant amount of the blame is currently going toward quarterback Sam Darnold. It was rough to watch him struggle for a myriad of reasons. Kudos to Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for having a tremendous gameplan to stop the Vikings' offense with one major area being the biggest deciding factor.
Red zone failures kill the Vikings
When you take a look at the Vikings' performance against the Lions, it was truly a game of inches. Unlike throughout the season, things didn't go their way. Whether it be a third-down missed catch or Andrew Van Ginkel nearly taking a third pick-six from a screen pass, they failed to make the plays that were available to them.
The biggest issue for the Vikings was very simple: they didn't convert in the red zone.
Over the last five regular seasons, there have been 1,328 games. The Vikings had the worst single-game success rate in the red zone during that time. One heck of a way to try and win the division.
It was brutal for the Vikings for a multitude of reasons. One of them based upon the Vikings doing a very poor job converting into touchdowns. There were multiple plays in which the Vikings had players open, but Darnold couldn't get the ball to them for whatever reason. Look at how open Jordan Addison gets here and Darnold doesn't throw it.
It doesn't stop there either. Darnold had Justin Jefferson wide open, yes the best wide receiver in the National Football League wide open, multiple times , including two in the red zone where Darnold throws the ball just a little bit too high and it costs the Vikings points.
If these aren't bad enough, we are just getting started. The Vikings were an average team in the red zone this year. Despite having the 12th-most attempts in the red zone this year, they were 19th in red zone percentage at 55.7%. That number dropped due to their 0-4 performance with two failed fourth downs in that number.
Of course, the Vikings set an NFL first over the last 30 years in doing so on this poor of a level.
As a Vikings fan, is there any good to take from this kind of poor performance? There is one thing: it's historically bad and completely unsustainable. The likelihood of the Vikings being this bad in the red zone against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night is a near impossibility.
It also wasn't like the Vikings were incredibly bad either. There were opportunities to convert, they just didn't. That's a big problem, but they will have time to work on correcting those things throughout the week.
Vikings lay a massive egg in the biggest regular season game in franchise history with plenty of blame to pass around
An absolutely gut-wrenching loss on Sunday night
