Just when you thought that the Vikings couldn’t plummet any further into obscurity, they defy the odds and lay an egg against the division-rival Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. A once promising season is now on the brink of a total collapse as the Vikings have lost three consecutive games and will be back on the road next Sunday to take on the Washington Redskins. Here are some talking points from this past Sunday’s heartbreaker.
Walsh woes continue
The sympathy that I once had for Walsh has all but evaporated, enough is enough. Through all of the misses, we as fans knew that it was only a matter of time before one of the misses would cost us a game, and it finally did. Not only did Walsh miss a crucial extra point to tie the game at ten, he had his field goal attempt blocked which wouldn’t have mattered anyway because it was going wide left. Never before in my over 18 years of watching the NFL have I held my breath for a kicker lining up for an extra point attempt. With Walsh that has all changed.
Thankfully, the coaching staff has seemingly had enough with Walsh too as they have brought in four kickers to work out in hopes that one wows them enough that they can finally move on from Walsh. While two of the kickers are unknown, Kai Forbath and Randy Bullock have been confirmed to be vying for the spot. While these two haven’t exactly been automatic throughout their careers, either one will undoubtedly be an upgrade over “Mr. Wide Left.”
Offensive Line shows improvement
In a game with very few positives to glean, the improvement of the offensive line despite being shorthanded has to be one of them. An Alex Boone-less offensive line did a good, not great job of protecting Bradford and providing him with enough time in the pocket to find open receivers. Run-blocking was still fairly mediocre, but improvement was evident there too.
If the Vikings want to right this ship and get back on track to Super Bowl contention, the offensive line will need to continue to grow and improve as they are currently holding this team back from reaching its full potential.
Some changes evident with Pat Shurmur calling plays
In his first game in charge of play-calling duties for the Vikings, Shurmur put his West Coast style offensive philosophy to the test, with mixed results. Instead of the run of the mill handoff up the middle on first downs, Shurmur kept things fresh with bubble-screens and short passes that were much more effective. Other than on first downs, though, the play-calling was relatively similar to that of Turner’s.
In spite of the changes, the Vikings were only able to score 16 points against one of the league’s worst defenses. The new system was encouraging, but the Vikings offense still needs to be more effective in the red-zone as the missed opportunities have killed us over these last three games.
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