Another Vikings loss where the devil's in the details
Vikings' offense scored against the Saints but costly decisions and sacks ruined chances to score enough
Defensively, the Minnesota Vikings’ Christmas day game against the incredibly talented New Orleans Saints offense went exactly how you might expect with most of the Vikings’ best players injured. They gave up 52 points and almost 600 yards of total offense.
The Vikings did, however, have enough offensive prowess against one of the NFL’s best defenses to keep up and make the game interesting but they let a lot of little things get in the way and checked off all the boxes for a classic 2020 Vikings loss.
The Vikings opened up Sunday’s game by kicking off to the Saints. Before you could even get settled into the couch with your Christmas Day hot cocoa, New Orleans was up 7-0 on an Alvin Kamara 40-yard touchdown run.
For whatever reason the Vikings’ 2020 offense has often been inspired by being down in the game. They answered right back in an eyeblink. Adam Thielen caught a 16-yard pass and then Justin Jefferson picked up 11 yards on a quick slant — yes, he is allowed to run short patterns. And then Dalvin Cook took care of the rest with two 15-yard runs, including a touchdown.
On the next drive, all the Vikings saw was a white and gold truck running them over. It took just 3:35 to travel 66 yards — with a large portion of it coming on the ground — for the Saints to be back up by a touchdown.
This is where the details come into the picture. On their second possession, the Vikings picked up a first down on an Ameer Abdullah run and then found themselves in a third-and-3 situation. For whatever reason, Cousins took a shot downfield to Jefferson that fell incomplete.
It would have been a fine play if the plan was to go for it on fourth down at the Minnesota 45. Instead the Vikings punted even though it mattered not where the Saints started their drives.
So New Orleans cruised down the field 84 yards before stalling out and doing the Vikings a favor by kicking a field goal. They would do the Vikings many more favors before it was over.
The Vikings answered with another touchdown drive, which was fueled by Jefferson snatching the ball out of the air for a 25-yard gain and finished by Mike Boone finding the pylon.
Turned out the only person who was going to stop the Saints was Drew Brees. After moving the ball 55 yards and setting up the Saints in field goal position, Brees threw a floating pass that looked like something you might see during a Mountain West Bowl game. Rookie Harrison Hand undercut Jared Cook’s route for his first career interception.
But after the Vikings got an 8-yard completion after the pick, they ran on second-and-2 because the Football Gods compel the Vikings to always run on second-and-short. They were stopped and then the Saints sacked Cousins to force a punt.
Missed opportunities weren’t going to be covered up on this day. The only way to keep the Saints from scoring was going to be converting third downs and keeping New Orleans’s offense off the field. The Saints made it 24-14 less than three minutes later.
The Vikings got the ball back with 0:38 left in the half, enough for a big play or two to set up a field goal. Instead they completed a 13-yard pass, ran 19 seconds off the clock and the half came to an end.
Star Tribune reporter Andrew Krammer laid out the Vikings’ recent woes at the ends of halves:
The Saints, however, absolutely insisted in keeping the Vikings in the game. Coming out of the half, Cousins was sacked on third down, an event which has become darn near tradition over the last four or five weeks but Brees threw another interception to give the Vikings the ball right back.
They wouldn’t fail to take advantage of a drive that started at the 18-yard line. Cook rushed to the goal line and Cousins found a wide open Irv Smith Jr. on a clever play design for a touchdown.
Naturally, the Vikings missed the extra point. Ten plays later, the Saints made it an 11-point game.
The defense certainly doesn’t get let off the hook here. They didn’t even begin to put up a fight on the ground. Injuries played a massive role in their struggles but the team neglecting to address depth last offseason and paid for it all year. Alvin Kamara had five touchdowns before midway through the fourth quarter. He would score a sixth before it was all over, tying the NFL record.
But with Cook rolling, the receivers getting open and things falling their way, the Vikings had every chance to stay in the game and make things really interesting. They only sort of accomplished that, like many of their losses this year.
The Vikings scored a touchdown on the following drive thanks to two key Saints penalties and then surprisingly elected not to go for two. Maybe there’s a case for kicking the extra point if Dan Bailey had been money lately but he — uhhh — hasn’t been.
It’s also a trend of the Vikings being behind and not making in-game management decisions like they’re ever going to give up points again. Last week they kicked field goals twice from the goal line and paid for it in a six-point loss to the Bears.
Anyway, the Saints scored another touchdown to make it 38-27 and solidify that it would take another miracle for the Vikings to win.
But they weren’t dead — that is until another third down sack on third-and-manageable.
CJ on Twitter summed it up nicely.
The Saints got the ball back and paraded into the end zone again, this time with Taysom Hill on a QB draw up the middle.
By the way — the Vikings’ starting defensive tackles were playing on Sunday.
And so ended any remaining chance of an entertaining end. Instead the Vikings tacked on a garbage time touchdown and the Saints responded by making sure Kamara got his record. By then, I imagine most Vikings fans were playing their PS5s rather than watch.
The ending to the game and death of any remaining tiny percentages of playoff odds, though, were appropriate because A) This Vikings team always had the offensive talent to be more competitive than they were. B) They never had the defense to be a true contender. C) They never fully seemed to realize A and B.
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Dear Ziggy and Mark Wilf,
Somebody has to answer for that performance today. The Vikings were pathetic tackling, pathetic scheming on defense (and offense) and it was as nonprofessional performance as I’ve seen from the Vikings since the forgettable season of Les Steckel.
I know you have extended your general manager and head coach. I know they have two or three years left on their contracts. I know, and Vikings fans know, and you both know that the Vikings have been pretty much mediocre during the Rick and Mike Show. A playoff appearance here, another one two seasons later and a third one last year. They’ve had almost seven years, and after six years and 15 games, they laid down on national television and allowed a team to score 52 points on them, the most against the Vikings since 1963.
I’ve been a Vikings fan since Brett Fevre came over from Green Bay. Granted, there are Vikings fans who have suffered far longer than me. But it’s not the length of the suffering that matters, it’s the in the moment suffering. Mike Zimmer’s teams know they can’t beat good teams, teams with winning records. Who wants to digest this oatmeal enterprise again next year? Are you really going to ask fans to buy into the eighth season of the Rick and Mike Show?
The depth of the defensive and offensive lines is nonexistent. Rick Speilman is responsible for putting together a quality roster. There is quality in spots, but it is riddled with average to below average backups that cannot start. Yes, the Vikings have had injuries. What team hasn’t?
Firing Speilman and Zimmer the day after the Detroit game next week won’t count against the cap or anything else. You’ll have to eat their salaries, but nobody put guns to your heads telling you to extend Speilman and Zimmer. That mistake is on the Wilf family. The Wilfs are ultimately responsible for the entertainment on the field, and after seven years, the Vikings are predictably boring and they cannot beat teams with winning records. How much more do you have to see? How much more do fans have to watch?
Do the right thing. Clean house. Mike Zimmer is about my age. He’s a relic. So is Kubiak. The game has passed them by. Find a hungry GM who is intelligent and creative, and let’s take the first steps toward winning a Super Bowl.
Send a message after the season ends. Give fans new leadership, and a general manager who knows its smart to draft a quarterback every year.
Just listened to the podcast with you and Paul. Completely agree with Paul’s take on how this is the way Zimmer constructed this team and defense with all the roster moves. He needs to be held responsible for this. Kinda funny how he never accepts blame and just says this is a “bad” defense and all the good players are hurt. Not a good way to send a message to the fans or the players on the team for years to come. I would feel a little better if he explained the struggles and maintained a positive attitude about this defense having issues.