5 Quick Takeaways from the Vikings’ Week 12 Plane Crash
The Minnesota Vikings laid a massive egg on Sunday in a losing effort against the Green Bay Packers. Honestly, the phrase “losing effort” was the only effort the Vikings showed in the second half of what turned out to be an embarrassing outing against a division rival.
5 Quick Takeaways from the Vikings’ Week 12 Plane Crash
Here are five things that transpired.
1. J.J. McCarthy is broken
In the past offseason, the Vikings put all their trust in quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Through the first six games of his career, it’s time to admit that the decision hasn’t aged well at all. Sure, the sophomore could still develop, but the early results are as discouraging as they possibly could be.
Every dropback is shaky. He had a couple of nice completions to Justin Jefferson, but everything else was a day to forget for the 2024 tenth overall pick.
To put into context how poor a performance the passer had, consider Wide Left’s Arif Hasan, who posted on social media, “When eliminating dropbacks with quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), J.J. McCarthy’s performance against the Packers this week ranked 344th of 346 QB performances this year in EPA per dropback (-0.813) and 331st in success rate (26.7%).”
Think about his other games and how poor some of them were. Statistically, his first meeting with the Packers was the worst game of his career. And that’s saying something.
At this point, the Vikings aren’t really playing for playoff contention anyway, so they could just ride it out and see if McCarthy is developing at all in the final six games of his first season as a starter, but he is currently not ready to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
2. The running game is, meanwhile, not broken
It’s a deficient offense, though the running game isn’t to blame whatsoever. Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones rushed 17 times for 83 yards, resulting in an average of 4.9 yards per carry. And that’s coming after a decent performance against the Bears.
Unfortunately, Kevin O’Connell is historically unwilling to stick with the running game and ultimately has to trust the passing game when his team is getting down big on the scoreboard.
3. Record-breaker Will Reichard
This 2024 draftee is balling. Kicker Will Reichard drilled another 59-yarder versus Green Bay, which is the second-longest in Lambeau Field history. That stadium has seen a kicker or two over the years, and the weather conditions weren’t kicker-friendly at all.
According to the Vikings’ official PR account on X, he’s the first kicker in NFL history to nail four field goals of at least 59 yards in a single season. He already ranks fourth all-time with his four field goals of that distance.
4. Other special teams woes continue
Despite his kicker’s success, special teams coordinator Matt Daniels could be in trouble, as his unit continues to do a major disservice to the football team.
Just last week, the kickoff coverage unit allowed Chicago to set up a game-winning field goal with a big return on the final drive of the game. Against the Ravens a couple of weeks ago, returner Myles Price fumbled twice.
Rookie Price also (technically) fumbled in Green Bay (he touched a live ball on a punt), right when the Vikings got the ball back in the second half, only down four points. After that, they were never the same and completely fell apart.
5. Nobody should be safe
Daniels might be on the hot seat, but nobody else should be safe either. Head coach Kevin O’Connell is the top coach, and he has to take responsibility for his team not taking care of the ball, being prone to miscommunication, and the offense simply stinking. He’s also the guy in charge of McCarthy’s growth (or lack thereof). Perhaps QB coach Josh McCown should be under evaluation, too.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores continues to make strange decisions, and he can’t seem to decide which guys he can trust. Ivan Pace was benched for Eric Wilson earlier in the season, Theo Jackson was benched last week, and this time, Jackson played an every-down role, while Dallas Turner (who was fantastic last week) was benched for some reason. Wilson, a middle linebacker by nature, played on the edge over Turner. The result is a defense that doesn’t force turnovers and can’t stop backup running backs from running all over them.
Above all, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s draft record and the roster full of underperforming players put his future in jeopardy, too.
The Vikings’ ownership group usually doesn’t make in-season moves like that, but the loss was bad enough to consider a few things and pull the trigger either now or in January.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.