Murphy: No silver linings from Dublin loss
The Vikings came out of their loss to the Steelers battered and with questions abound
By Brian Murphy
Four weeks seems premature for foregone conclusions, but as the shadows grow longer, the dysfunction has only deepened for the Vikings, whose crumbling foundations are being spackled on the fly.
No amount of valiant-effort-never-quit lipstick can smear the ugly off this swine of a 24-21 loss Sunday to the Steelers on the Emerald Isle. It’s mirror-staring time for coach Kevin O’Connell and his traveling lieutenants.
Their franchise quarterback is broken.
Their pass protection is shattered.
Their play-calling is mangled.
And their defense is collapsed under the rubble.
Hard to feel good about being 2-2 against the creeping dread that it is only going to get worse.
Forget next week in London. If the Vikings lose to the Browns on the back end of their European Inquisition, their passports should be seized. It’s the daunting schedule that looms after their Week 6 bye.
Confidence is dwindling with every new injury that piles up along the offensive line and the rapidly spreading dry rot that has consumed their once-dynamic passing attack. Improvised resilience has been a hallmark of O’Connell’s tenure, but his options are dwindling to preserve Carson Wentz and feather the nest for J.J. McCarthy’s (alleged) return.
Pittsburgh sacked Wentz six times in the Irish capital. The Vikings have yielded 18 sacks already while deploying four different offensive-line combinations. It’s not even October.
Too many defenders have been unblocked and had clean shots at McCarthy or Wentz, who completed 30 of 46 passes for 350 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of tipped interceptions against the Steelers.
Under no circumstances should this 32-year-old, recently unemployed quarterback drop back 46 times and attempt to gun sling the Vikings to victory. They had no choice but to chuck and duck after falling behind two touchdowns, turning a 21-6 fourth-quarter deficit into a frenetic but unfulfilling finish we’ve seen one too many times.
We already know what is necessary for this supposedly star-studded roster to succeed. The blueprint was scripted during last week’s 48-10 blowout of Cincinnati.
Wentz protected the ball and calmly steered the offense. The running game kept the chains moving and the salivating wolves at bay. Brian Flores’ defense rattled Jake Browning and dropped the hammer on the Bengals to leverage five turnovers into 14 points.
Pittsburgh running back Kenneth Gainwell is no Bijon Robinson, but he sliced and diced Minnesota’s run defense like the Falcons’ speedy playmaker, pacing a 131-yard rushing attack that included his two scores. Ample production for old foe Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ stodgy offense to humble the Vikings.
Rodgers did not beat the Vikings nor did he torment them like so many bygone NFC North clashes while he was in Green Bay. The smartest guy in any room (just ask him) barely was a factor, connecting with DK Metcalf early in the second quarter for an 80-yard touchdown that left purple defenders flailing like matadors.
The Steelers’ inability to snuff out Minnesota kept the gamblers engaged and the Guinness flowing longer at Croke Park. It also ended the Vikings’ dominance in one-score games, although their fate was sealed when chaos ensued in the first half.
Right tackle Brian O’Neill (knee) and center Ryan Kelly (concussion) were sidelined on a day when rookie guard Donovan Jackson was already sidelined after wrist surgery and left tackle Christian Darrisaw reacclimates from ACL surgery a year ago.
If there’s a solution in TCO Performance Center they must be squirreled away in a hidden room because this smacks of Teddy Bridgewater on ice and wonky-kneed Sam Bradford hobbling for his life in 2016 behind Mike Zimmer’s papier mâché line.
“It’s difficult,” said wide receiver Justin Jefferson. “We’re still figuring it out, just dealing with different circumstances, people having to step up in different spots. This game of football isn’t really predictable and a lot of stuff can jump out at you when you’re really not expecting.”
You expect to convert third-and-short in the NFL. Too many times, however, the Vikings have mounted viable drives only for those manageable conversions to become third-and-long nightmares because of undisciplined pre-snap penalties that are inexcusable but inevitable with the depth chart evaporating.
“Penalties continue to be a critical issue,” O’Connell acknowledged. “It’s something I’ve got to get fixed.”
Which brings us back to the spackling. There is only so much in-season triage that can be performed with rosters baked-in, assets already committed and too much winging it underway. The Vikings are incapable of making explosive plays because there is scant time for them to develop.
“The weighty downs tend to be the hard ones and most magnified when you’re down some guys,” O’Connell said, “because it requires some individual one-on-one blocks or at least contain the very familiar names on the other side that can affect the passer.
“There’s a path moving forward which is to improve on those third downs. It’s as much those plays and the plays that proceed them.”
There is only so much Wentz can do considering he has been on site for only a month. Getting McCarthy and his sprained ankle healthy enough to practice is one thing. Lining him up behind this tattered unit seems a recipe for further disaster for a second-year quarterback stuck in neutral.
This is the bed of nails Minnesota built when they jettisoned experienced starters Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones for McCarthy and used the contract savings to invest in experienced but aging veterans along the offensive and defensive lines.
Seventeen game seasons are a battle of attrition. Right now the Vikings’ overflowing infirmary looks like it’s mid-December.
“It’s not really the other team outplaying us or out-coaching us,” Jefferson insists. “We’ve got to look in the mirror and figure out how we’re going to stop that from happening, how we’re going to come out fast and swinging and carrying out that consistency.”
Change starts within. Not a bad option with this seasoned group. It’s the only option.