10 Immediate Takeaways from Vikings at Rams
Suddenly, the Minnesota Vikings are 5-2. The good news is that after a strong start to the season, the team is still in a good spot despite dropping back-to-back games. Still, it is a costly loss, as the competition in the excellent NFC North is rolling. Kevin O’Connell and his crew need to make adjustments in the team’s mini-bye week.
10 Immediate Takeaways from Vikings at Rams
Here are some reactions after the matchups with the Rams.
1. The Pass Rush Is Dead
Early in the year, Brian Flores’ defense was harassing quarterbacks in the backfield, forcing them to run for their lives. This time, however, the pass rushers couldn’t get close to Matthew Stafford, allowing the veteran to tear the secondary apart.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert noted on X: “Vikings pressured Matthew Stafford on only 3 of his 34 dropbacks. That 9% pressure rate was their lowest in a game since 2020, per ESPN Research.”
Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Patrick Jones all entered Week 8 with five sacks, but they also exited the week with that number. The Vikings failed to record a single sack on Thursday, and frankly, they only came close once, and Stafford wiggled out of it before throwing a touchdown. To make matters worse, the Rams have a patchwork offensive line with multiple backups and rookies starting, so the Vikings should’ve had more success there.
2. The Running Game Disappeared
After a disastrous rushing attack in 2023, the franchise made some changes, including the addition of ex-rival Aaron Jones. It has made a huge difference throughout the season, but in Week 8, it didn’t.
Jones recorded only 59 yards on 19 rushes, while his backups, Ty Chandler and Cam Akers, didn’t get any touches. Sam Darnold added three rushes for six yards. Ultimately, it is hard to win football games when the offense has 64 rushing yards and under three yards per carry.
3. Christian Darrisaw Is Hurt
Star left tackle Christian Darrisaw injured his knee on a standard running play late in the first half and was quickly ruled out. It didn’t look good initially, and the replays didn’t help calm down the concerns.
O’Connell didn’t have an update after the game, but he said he would keep his fingers crossed. The fact that he didn’t mention something like “it doesn’t look good” could be promising, although it surely could mean absolutely nothing, too.
His backup, David Quessenberry, is a reliable veteran, and there are worse reserves in the league, but he can’t replace Darrisaw’s All-Pro talent. Losing the 25-year-old would be devastating.
4. The Turnover Statistic Is Broken
O’Connell famously won the first 22 games in charge of the Minnesota Vikings when his team at least tied the turnover battle.
In the last four days, however, the Vikings lost two of those games, and his record dropped to 22-2. The only turnover in the game was an overthrown pass from Stafford that landed in the arms of cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. Not giving the ball away is one of the few positives.
5. Justin Jefferson Is Great
This is not a creative point, but Justin Jefferson is an elite football player ‒ perhaps the best in the league. Earlier in the week, the wideout claimed that he was sick of having 80 or 90-yard games, which is a crazy statement, but his standard is much higher than for anyone else.
On Thursday, he reminded folks early of his skills, and Darnold targeted him numerous times. Ultimately, Jefferson finished the game with eight catches for 115 yards, including a couple of impressive highlight grabs. The Rams did a better job covering him in the second half, badly hurting Minnesota’s offense.
6. The Coverage Needs Some Work
In the first few matchups of the season, cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin, and Byron Murphy looked like a group of elite players; recently, they have been struggling mightily.
Of course, it is hard to cover Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, two of the league’s best wideouts, and if healthy, possibly the best duo in the NFL. Still, the amount of room those guys had and the amount of plays the cornerbacks were out of position was alarming. Coverage and pass-rush work hand-in-hand, and neither unit had a good day.
7. There Was a Blown Call
The Vikings didn’t play a good game, so it is hard to put much blame on the officials. However, them missing a blatant facemask penalty on a crucial game-clinching play resulted in a safety, and that is unacceptable. There were some other questionable calls, but those usually go in both directions.
It was still an unlikely scenario to navigate the game into overtime, with under two minutes to go, no timeouts, needing a touchdown and a two-point conversion after marching down the entire field, but the Vikings were robbed of a chance.
8. Will Reichard Is Still Perfect
Rookie kicker Will Reichard hit both of his extra points and a pair of field goals. His field goal record is now 14/14, and he’s 20/20 on extra points.
His longest kick of the day was a 35-yarder, so nothing too spectacular, but folks can slowly start to feel confident about their kicker for the first time in a while.
9. T.J. Hockenson Didn’t Play
Once again, the Vikings played without one of their top weapons, tight end T.J. Hockenson. The big target suffered his knee injury in December of last year, and he hasn’t been back since.
He has been close to returning in either loss, but according to virtually every report, he should be expected to be on the field in Week 9 when the Vikings host the Colts on Sunday Night Football.
His presence will give the Vikings another dynamic passing option. The tight end is a huge difference-maker, especially on third-down (the Vikings went only 2/7 on third downs versus the Rams).
10. It Was a Sloppy Game
The Vikings were called for nine penalties for 50 yards. Putting the offense in tough positions by committing pre-snap penalties is unacceptable, and the defense gifted the Rams various first downs via flag.
On offense, Jalen Nailor’s drop deserves a mention here. Darnold found him on a third-down play in the opposing red zone, and he could have scored after catching the pass. Instead, he dropped the ball, and the Vikings settled for a field goal.
Defensively, missed tackles were frustrating, and it just added to the frustration caused by the inability to get to Stafford and the flawed coverage.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt