5 Plays: Why the Vikings Lost to the Bills

Image Courtesy of Vikings.com

Let’s get into the five plays that were the reason for the Vikings demise. Or let’s not. Because every single play contributed to their loss to the Bills. What an absolute embarrassment of a game by a Super Bowl ‘contender.’

For the sake of the article, let’s pick one play. We could say the Linval Joseph roughing the passer call on the first drive set the tone for the day. I could spin zone this to say that this would have given the Vikings the ball back, the offense could have driven down the field and someone could have scored to get out to a 7-0 lead. This would have put pressure on Josh Allen, rather than allow him to play with confidence throughout the day.

There may be a fraction of truth to that, a small fraction, but still a fraction. However, this would suggest that the team had any capability to put together a positive play, so let’s scrap it. Here’s three facts from today that highlight how historically terrible the Vikings played today.

The Vikings were favored by 16.5 points:

  1. In the past 10 years, there have been 38 teams favored by at least 14 points. The favored team is 36-2 in those games (via Chad Graff).
  2. The Vikings became the first 16-plus point favorite since 1995 to lose (via Action Network). The Cowboys lost to the Redskins by 7 in that game, not 21.
  3. According to ESPN’s FPI rankings, the Bills had a 9.2% chance of winning, making this the largest upset since Week 16 of 2009 (via ESPN). The Saints lost this game by 3 points, not by 21.

If the Vikings had lost this game by 1 point, it would have been a major upset. The fact that it was 21 points highlights the historically awful performance by this team. This is the type of game that can wake a team up, or have the season spiral out of control. It is early, but when it comes down it to it, this will likely be a game the Vikes would have needed to win to make playoffs or win the division. If the team wants to take itself seriously as a Super Bowl contender, these games can’t happen. Right now, they don’t deserve any respect amongst the league. Hopefully we don’t have to wait long to get back the hype train. It’s time for redemption on the road against arguably the best team in the NFL.

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