A putrid performance

The Vikings' offense was downright sad against Green Bay

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GREEN BAY, Wisc. — I suppose it should have been predictable that if JJ McCarthy struggled mightily to operate the Minnesota Vikings offense against the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears at home, it wasn’t going to get any better versus a Green Bay Packers club with the likely defensive MVP. But there was at least some thought that the Vikings could keep the game close enough with their defense and a banged-up Packers offense that a grind-it-out approach could result in a win that would at least keep the season interesting down the stretch.

No such luck. Not even close. Not even remotely close.

Even with Kevin O’Connell restricting McCarthy to only screens and bootlegs, the Vikings offense was as sad as it has ever looked since… that time Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens combined for a 3-0 victory in Las Vegas? But this was actually worse by a mile. McCarthy finished 12-for-19 with 87 yards with two interceptions and 35 yards lost to sacks. You’d struggle to find a performance that bad in Vikings history.

We had already moved on from the idea that the Vikings were going to turn the season around and become a playoff contender but it didn’t seem like too much to ask that McCarthy show any sign of life in Green Bay. Instead, even with his entire offensive line in front of him and a run game that was working well, McCarthy looked shaken from the outset and never got into any type of rhythm, ending multiple drives with bad sacks.

He looked overwhelmed and lost. Confidence shot. When he was too aggressive, he turned it over in previous weeks. When he was ultra conservative, he only found checkdowns and took sacks.

There isn’t any clear answer for Kevin O’Connell and it showed. The “just run the ball!” people couldn’t even pound their fists on Sunday.

Once again, when the offense plays at a level you would expect in a blizzard, everyone else gets exposed. An 8-minute drive allowed by the defense seemed crushing. Another special teams gaffe that resulted in a Packers touchdown pretty much put the game on ice. There was no way they were coming back from — checks notes — 11 points in two quarters.

It is unfathomable that nearly the same group of people — only with better guards, center and running back — went off against the Packers last year and won 14 games and produced a top-10 offense. It says so much about how far McCarthy is away from being able to handle this.

At 4-7, the only thing to do is push forth. What Sunday made very clear is that there isn’t a button to push or a change to be made. They just have to keep playing McCarthy and hope that it turns around.

But if you’re counting at home, the sample size is growing and growing of disturbing performances. Not just poor or mediocre. Horrifying. It’s getting harder to envision a scenario where he turns it around to the point of being sold for next year. That’s all there is left to watch for though.

Credit to the Packers. Their endlessly-criticized quarterback made the plays he needed to play to win and they ran the ball effectively. They also have a really good defense that deserves praise as well.

The next time they see Green Bay, they will probably be fighting for a division crown and the Vikings will still be looking for signs of progress.

We’re way past bemoaning how far from the expectation this season has turned out but… my goodness, nobody expected this.

Here’s how it went down…