My goodness, where do we begin with this one?
The Vikings just lost at home, to a Buffalo Bills team that just one week ago was called the worst team in the NFL. Furthermore, Buffalo entered the game today -16.5 underdogs and walked away with a 21-point victory.
Nothing went right for the Minnesota Vikings, not a stinking thing. So who's to blame here? Is it that simple or do the Minnesota Vikings have a bigger problem here?
Let's start with the special teams...
Seriously, there is something broken with the Vikings special teams units across the board. There were no missed field goals today, but that's because there weren't any attempts. Bailey didn't even get a go at an extra point today. But man does Matt Wile stink. Don't forget, he was cut by the Steelers already this season and maybe we can see why. After punts of 31 yards and 39 yards, Wile got lucky as the Bills let his kick go and it bounced and rolled for a fake 70-yard field goal that fluffed up his stats. Then he kicked the next one into the endzone for a net 38-yard punt.
Then there's the returners. I know that Marcus Sherels was out, but someone needs to teach these guys when they should field a punt, when the should run it and when they should fair catch. In a game where the offense isn't moving the ball very well, you need every advantage you can get and the special teams has been riddled with dumb decisions and dumb penalties that have directly impacted the Vikings success.
How about the offense...
Are we seeing now what Redskins fans had warned us about with Kirk Cousins? Don't ask them on Twitter, they'll NEVER let you hear the end of it...like, never ever, trust me.
I digress.
Last week was great, for about one quarter. Outside of that, it's been a bit of a rocky road for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins as they feel this thing out on offense. It's still so early too that we're not sure if it's Kirk or if it's John DeFilippo's play calling. He was touted when they brought him into the fold for being creative, innovative and aggressive. We haven't seen much of that yet and we've barely seen any of the RPO stuff.
Then there's the offensive line, woof. Is it going to get any better? Today, even your "best" offensive lineman Riley Reiff was getting worked. There's no white knight coming in to save the day for this offensive line, you're stuck with what you've got find a different way around it.
Then there's the defense...
Remember last year when we were comparing this Vikings defense to some of the greatest defenses in the history of the NFL and for the most part they were actually in the conversation? What happened to that team?
Spanning back to the second half of the Saints game in the playoffs last year, running through the entirety of the Eagles game and now the first three games of this season, the vaunted Vikings defense has been toothless. It's seemingly stupid mistakes, miscommunications and general breakdowns that are leading to broken plays, wide open receivers and elongated drives that are ending in points. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but man have they lost the edge that they used to bring to the table on a weekly basis.
********
I don't have all the answers, but here's what I do know...the Vikings needed this wakeup call. They also need to figure out some of the stuff that's been mentioned above. It's a bummer that it had to happen on a short week when they face a good Rams team but it needed to happen and maybe it's better that they can get right back on the field and not dwell on this loss.