When a team loses two games in a row, everyone becomes Sherlock Holmes when it comes to looking for problems. The difficult part is figuring out which issues are actually troublesome going forward and which are nitpicky overreaction.
Let’s dive into some of the things that went sideways and how they might approach fixing what ailed them against Detroit and Los Angeles…The Lions and Rams deployed similar strategies to get receivers open and the ball out of their quarterbacks’ hands vs. a Vikings defense that led the league in pressure percentage through the first five weeks of the season.
The Vikings also won’t face play callers as good as Ben Johnson and Sean McVay every week or QBs who have been to the Super Bowl like Goff and Stafford or receivers as good as St. Brown, Kupp and Nacua or running backs as good as Gibbs and Williams or offensive lines as good as the Lions. Passing on first down is something the Vikings can lean into more. Darnold is completing 74% of his passes on first down and averaging 9.3 yards per pass attempt but he’s only thrown 62 first-down passes to 116 runs. When the score is only separated by one score, they have still been run first .
In terms of rotations, Brian Flores has called upon situational pass rushers often with Pat Jones playing 254 snaps and Jihad Ward getting 160 reps but the secondary has rarely changed. Backup defensive backs Theo Jackson, Jay Ward, Bobby McCain and Akayleb Evans and Fabian Moreau have combined for 41 snaps all year.That has to start with the offense staying on the field longer. If they can’t, then there is only one obvious answer: A trade.
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