Bills at Vikings Game Wrap: Buffaloed by the Bills

Wow. What the heck was that? The Vikings coughed up their most winnable game of the season by losing at home to the Buffalo Bills by an incredibly lopsided score of 27-6. Everybody and their brother was claiming all week that this would be a “trap game.” Well, this was a big trap, a bear trap, a Buffalo trap(?) game. The Vikings showed absolutely nothing in the first half, and the Bills took advantage of it by jumping out to a 27-0 lead.

The Vikings had breakdowns all over the field, but it started with how they came out of the locker room. According to the broadcast team, offensive coordinator John DeFilippo was worried about his team’s mindset coming into this game. His worries were well founded, as the Vikings appeared to be in a funky hangover from last week’s tie and a too quick look forward to Thursday’s game in Los Angeles. It is an excuse, but it can also be a reason that the Vikings showed so poorly.

So where do the Vikings go from here? The good news is that they lost no ground in the NFC North to the Packers, who lost on Sunday in Washington (but they don’t deserve any good news today). The Vikings must turn things rather quickly tomorrow since they travel to L.A. to play the Rams on Thursday. Suddenly, there are all kinds of questions surrounding this 1-1-1 team, and only a win on Thursday is going to cure that. As of this afternoon, that appears to be a very tall order.

Trending

Last week against the Green Bay Packers, Kirk Cousins had his best game as a pro (so said some); this week against the Buffalo Bills. Cousins had several overthrows in the first quarter, plus two fumbles inside his own red zone (three fumbles overall on the day). He later threw a pick that resembled the one that bounced off Laquon Treadwell last week. In addition, Cousins didn’t always make the right decisions. He appeared to take too long to warm up. You can throw this one away as soon as possible (you have to this week), but such a performance can linger. Here’s hoping it was an aberration.

The offensive line did no favors for Cousins or anyone trying to move the ball for the Vikings. When you put up 46 yards total in the first half and 14 total rushing yards in the game, the breakdowns have to start with the offensive line. Left tackle Riley Reiff had a bad game, getting blown past more than once and allowing the Bills defense to collapse the pocket. On a day when center Pat Elflein returned to the lineup and was supposedly going to improve the unit, it took a step backwards. Cousins was constantly looking for more time and usually was throwing under duress (he sustained four sacks and five QB hits). This is not a line that take the Vikings to the NFC title game unless they change things up in a hurry.

The Vikings defense as a whole was confused, slow to the punch, committing bad penalties and woefully outplayed. They had the Bills stopped on a third down play and unfortunately kept the drive going thanks to a couple of bad penalties (see below). The Vikings defense gave up 27 points in the first half of this game. They got some help from the turnovers of the Vikings offense, but the D offered no resistance and the game was over before intermission. Missed tackles, lackluster play, and all kinds of poor play. Time to get back to work.

Worth Defending

 A 70-yard punt by Matt Wire happened. Seriously. Thanks to a great bounce on a punt shortly before halftime, the punt travelled that long. That was the top Vikings highlight of the first half. It is worth point, but that’s about it.

Mike Hughes had to come in and play for the injured Trae Waynes again and it didn’t go so well this week. Hughes looked more like the rookie that we had seen in his first two games, in which he had a pick six. Hughes, like much of the Vikings defense, was caught out of position, late to defend passes and even tacked on a muffed punt (that he recovered). Back to the drawing board for the talented rookie.

Laquon Treadwell set a career high in receptions with three, and new kicker Dan Bailey had a great onside kick after Kyle Rudolph’s touchdown reception to prevent the shutout (which would have been the first one at home since 1962. (Of course, the Vikings hands team knock the ball out of bounds and Rudy couldn’t pull in the extra point reception, so the Vikings second half highlights were short lived.) But there really is much worth defending in this game so we will just move along.

Should Be Ending

Bad opening drives. The Bills have been outscored 54-6 in the first half this season and 28-0 in the first quarter so far. So what happens on the opening drive once they come to U.S. Bank Stadium? Two bad penalties (a needless lowering of the helmet penalty on Linval Joseph and a face mask by Anthony Barr) extended a drive that allowed the Bills to score. For every person who talked about a trap (and I pooh-poohed it—the Bills were too bad for it to be a trap game, so I thought), I stand corrected. The Vikings were undisciplined and these penalties started them down a bad road for the game where they played uninspired.

Turnovers. The Vikings offense followed up that opening drive with another bad one of their own. Cousins scrambled and fumbled in the Vikings red zone and it resulted in a Bills field goal. A 10-0 deficit was the last thing anyone anticipated and it was no way to handle a team such as the Bills, who were down and nearly out coming into the game. Especially when Cousins coughed it up three plays later—for a 17-point lead. A devastating start to this game for the Vikings.

Team records: The 17 points given up in the first quarter, ties record for the most points the Vikings have ever given up in a first quarter at home. Thank goodness the quarter ended or else it would have gotten worse. Just a bad day all the way around for the Vikings on this day. Thursday is going to come quickly, so it is time to move on from this one. It is for me.

 

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