Thursday’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys was another painful reminder of what it means to be a Viking’s fan. A season that started perfectly through the first five weeks, only to be followed by a series of face-palm losses like the one on Thursday that brings us back to reality. It seems like when the hope and optimism begins to fill the hearts of Vikings faithful, the rug gets pulled out from under us time and time again.
Are the Vikings still in the playoff mix? Absolutely. But let’s be honest here, the same problems that have plagued this team over their abysmal latter half of the season would only be magnified against the quality teams that they would inevitably face.
Where do the Vikings go from here?
The only way that the Vikings have a shot at making the playoffs would be for them to win out the remainder of their schedule, and hope for the Detroit Lions to choke in their unfamiliar spot as top-dogs of the NFC North. Both seem unlikely at this point in time, but anything can happen in the NFL.
The Vikings schedule to close out the season isn’t exactly a “murderers row”of opponents with the volatile Green Bay Packers being their toughest remaining contest. Still, the way the Vikings are playing and with the injuries continuing to pile up, even their “softest” upcoming opponent in the Jacksonville Jaguars is not a gimme.
Build off successes from Thursday
While there were more than a few problems for the Vikings on all three phases, it’s important to note that there were some positives to glean from Thursday’s heartbreaker that can be utilized in the weeks to come. The most obvious being the pressure put on Dak Prescott by the defensive line.
The anchor of the Vikings defense is its wall-like defensive line through which nearly all turnovers have been generated. When the Vikings defense is able to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, sacks and mistakes accumulate and typically ends up being the difference in the Vikings formula for success. Unfortunately the defensive line was not rewarded in that way on Thursday only due to the absolute futility of the offense.
The loss on Thursday was a statistical outlier given the way the defensive line performed, and it would be hard to imagine a similar result in the weeks to come if the line continues to dominate as it did against the Cowboys stout offensive line.
Skill-positions have to start making plays
An ugly trend for the Vikings offense has been the failure of skill-position players like wide receiver Charles Johnson and tight-end Kyle Rudolph not making the big plays when the team desperately needs them to continue or establish momentum. Other players on the Vikings offense have had their fair share of mistakes in weeks past, but Rudolph and Johnson were the main culprits on Thursday as they both dropped crucial passes that could have put points on the board and sustained a crucial drive.
Unlike other offenses around the NFL where opportunities to make plays like the ones presented to Johnson and Rudolph are a dime a dozen, they are the difference between winning and losing for the Vikings due to how infrequently plays like that are available. If the Vikings are to win out, skill-players need to step up and make big time plays in big time situations.
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