4 Quick Takeaways from the Vikings’ Week 2 Disaster
Well, the unbeaten 2025 Vikings were fun while they lasted. It was a six-day stretch with a 1-0 record, until the nosedive performance versus the Atlanta Falcons in a dreadful home opener, with the final result being 22-6.
4 Quick Takeaways from the Vikings’ Week 2 Disaster
Some takeaways include that the throwback uniforms deserved better, the fans deserved better, and the entire national audience deserved a better primetime experience. On a serious note, though, here’s what we’ve learned.
1. Concerning Run Defense
In the offseason, the Vikings revamped their entire defensive line, moving on from starters Harrison Phillips, Jerry Tillery, and Jonathan Bullard. Sure, that helped in the passing game, as Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave demonstrated in the Vikings debuts last week, but it surely didn’t on the ground.
Last year, Brian Flores’ unit was an elite team at stopping the run, but they couldn’t stop them on Sunday. The two Falcons running backs, Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, combined for 219 rushing yards on 38 carries, resulting in an average of 5.8 yards per carry. And all of that was despite knowing that they would run the ball for many of those attempts.
Atlanta barely attempted a real dropback game because they didn’t have to. The overhauled line is undersized, and that looks to be a concern in this case. Perhaps calling up Taki Taimani from the practice squad could help. If they can’t figure it out, the Phillips trade might turn out to be a colossal blunder.
2. Offensive Line Struggles
But the other side of the line was an issue, too. The offensive line was still missing left tackle Christian Darrisaw, and center Ryan Kelly also left the game in the first half. Even backup tackle Justin Skule ended up sidelined.
However, even the starters didn’t have a good day. From the first drive on, there was no push in the ground game, and J.J. McCarthy was under constant pressure.
NFL Next Gen Stats noted on social media, “The Falcons defense pressured J.J. McCarthy 16 times, including 6 sacks. They generated pressure on 53.3% of dropbacks, the highest rate by Atlanta in a game since Week 15 of 2018. Six different pass rushers recorded at least 3 pressures.”
Getting healthy can fix some issues, but some operational items, like false starts or botched handoffs, cannot happen. The line looked like an elite unit in Week 1, but like the same-old Vikings in Week 2.
3. Injuries Keep Piling Up
Entering the game, the Vikings missed safety Harrison Smith, who is still working back from his personal health matter. The aforementioned Darrisaw had to sit out another contest; he’s in the final days or weeks of his ACL recovery. Pro Bowl defender Andrew Van Ginkel and corner Jeff Okudah are in concussion protocol, while defensive play-caller Blake Cashman is on IR with a hamstring and will miss at least three more games. Depth runner Ty Chandler is on IR, too.
Well, that list got longer. Kelly and Skule were both evaluated for concussions, which is especially alarming for Kelly, who has an extensive concussion history.
Sophomore defender Gabe Murphy suffered a knee injury and was quickly ruled out. Aaron Jones missed the final sequences due to a hamstring injury. The Vikings have one week to get as many of those guys back as possible.
4. J.J. McCarthy’s Learning Experience
Of course, one takeaway is McCarthy’s game that doesn’t leave much wiggle room. It was a bad game for the second-year quarterback in his second-ever start.
He was once again late coming out of huddles, his dropback depth wasn’t as precise as it should’ve been, he missed passes, had a couple of fumbles, and many others were close to slipping out of his hands, and ultimately, he threw a couple of picks, although the first one was probably not his fault.
There was so much wrong in Minnesota’s offensive operation that we can’t even speak about usual quarterback stuff like the accuracy of decision-making, because the basics have to be fixed first.
McCarthy was always going through some rookie struggles as a first-year starter, but the Vikings can’t have too many of those if they want to be a playoff team. Kevin O’Connell and his young passer have to go back to the drawing board for the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Editor’s Note: Information from ESPN, PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.