Vikes at Panthers Game Wrap: Vikings Drop A Big Game in Carolina
Joe Oberle
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The Vikings had a lot of momentum going into Carolina for a game with the Panthers on Sunday. They had won eight games in a row and five road games, but both came to a halt, as the Panthers ran roughshod over the Purple and beat them 31-24 in the final minutes of the game.
“We didn’t play well enough to today,” head coach Mike Zimmer told KFAN radio. “We gave up plays on defense, turned the ball over three times, we had some dropped passes, we were late getting lined up at times defensively. We probably didn’t deserve to win.”
It was two long runs (60 and 62 yards) by the Panthers that were the eventual downfall of Minnesota, as the defense gave up a 100-yard rusher (Jonathan Stewart) for the first time this season. The Vikings scrambled back to tie the game in the fourth quarter, thanks to an interception by Andrew Sendejo, but a Cam Newton 62-yard run (in which Sendejo had a chance to stop) that set up the winning score.
The Panthers scored early and late, and the Vikings settled for field goals in the red zone, and both were the biggest stories of the game. The Vikings drop to 10-3 and still haven’t clinched the division, as both Detroit and Green Bay won their games and kept their division hopes alive for another week.
“It was just a game’ that’s all it was,” Xavier Rhodes told WCCO-TV after the game. “It wasn’t a playoff game. We’re not going home. Nobody’s going home right now. We’re going to go home and look at film and get ready for next week.”
The Vikings return home next Sunday for another chance to clinch the division when they host the Cincinnati Bengals (losers to the Chicago Bears 33-7 on Sunday) at U.S. Bank Stadium. They will need a better effort across the board than they had against the Panthers.
Trending
Case Keenum will want to forget this game as quickly as possible, as he missed receivers, missed reads and missed opportunities, leading to the Vikings’ struggles on offense. He wasn’t helped by his receivers, who dropped a few passes along the way (see below). Keenum finished with 27 completions on 44 passes for 280 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions (a 75.9 rating). He also had another attempted pass ruled a fumble that the Panthers recovered. It was a tough day for Keenum behind a makeshift offensive line, and it showed with the loss in a winnable game.
The Vikings defense was slow out of the gate in Carolina and Jonathan Stewart’s 60-yard run didn’t help with their stats (it was the longest play given up Minnesota this season, later in the game). They gave up another first quarter score before making some nice adjustments and forcing a few punts in the second quarter. But the opening drive of third quarter found the best third-down defense in the league giving up their third score of the game on a third down. With penalties, lack of turnovers and simply giving up yards (216 on the ground), the defense had one of their worst games of the season. That usually translates into a loss for this team, and it did on Sunday.
The offensive line took the field without right tackle Mike Remmers for a fifth straight game and center Pat Elflein (shoulder) joined him on the inactive list. Yet the unit held their own against a defense that brought pressure often. Eventually, Julius Peppers began to beat Rashod Hill on the right side and the defense began getting to Keenum (they sacked him six times). The short-handed unit lost left tackle Riley Reiff to an ankle injury, and it suddenly starting to look like last year’s line. On the day, the offensive line didn’t run block all that well either—running back Latavius Murray found little room to run inside, and Jerick McKinnon only found some open real estate when he bounced it outside. The line needs to get healthy soon for the stretch run—they have been the key to offensive success this season.
Worth Defending
Kyle Rudolph has been on fire. His touchdown in the first quarter was his fourth one in nine quarters. The pass was thrown into triple coverage by Keenum, which may say something about the confidence Keenum has in Rudolph, but it was a risky throw. Rudolph did drop one when he was wide open up the left seam (his first drop all season), and later left the game with an injured foot (but returned). Rudolph has become a favorite target of Keenum, especially on days when he can’t get something downfield, and we can expect that continue going forward.
Special teams had a big contribution in this game, and wasn’t always good. While Kai Forbath made three field goals, he missed one badly in the third quarter that could have gotten the team to within one score late. Vikings punt Ryan Quigley had a nice punt covered down at the two yard line, and Marcus Sherels had a nice 29-return to give the Vikings good field position, but he also fumbled one that almost went to the opposition. The special teams didn’t lose the game, but they didn’t do enough on a day when the rest of the team could have used some help.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen had one of his toughest games of the season, even though he got into the endzone late in the game and gave his team a chance. His drop at the goal line of a well-thrown ball bounced off his chest hurt the team early, and may have come back to bite them. His touchdown was a nice catch-and-run of 52 yards (he finished with six catches for 105 yards on 13 targets), but by that time the team was playing desperate catch-up ball, and it all was too late in a game that should have gotten to that point.
“We’ve got to play better at the start of the game, and I put a lot of that on me,” Thielen told WCCO. “I make a couple plays at the end of the half, it’s a totally different game. As a leader and a guy who wants it really bad, those are plays that you got to make and will change the whole concept of the game. I got to play better to help this team win games.”
Should be Ending
Facemask penalties. We saw three of them called in a very short time and two of them on the Vikings. They both came on the same drive for Minnesota, and one of them on third and sixteen, which basically kept Carolina’s drive alive for a second score. We need no further evidence on how adversely these penalties at 15-yards a pop can affect a drive (one came on third down of the 89-yard drive). The Vikings were a step behind all day, which is why they were grasping at facemasks.
Dropped passes—sometimes they can be epidemic. One by Rudolph in open space, another by Adam Thielen at the corner of the endzone—and you could even say Thielen had another one on the same drive for a second potential touchdown. Vikings got three out of it, but their red zone efficiency took a nose-dive in the first half (one of three). You might even be able to call the second pick off Stefon Diggs’ hands that turned into an interception a drop, but it was also a very high throw by Kennum. The Vikings had five drops in the first 12 games and had four in Carolina.
Turnovers. The Panthers came into the game with 17 turnovers and the Vikings had 10. The Minnesota defense was hungry to change those numbers, and they did, only it was the Panthers with two big turnovers of Keenum (pick and a fumble) that lead to 10 1st half points—and a third one in the fourth (another pick that Diggs assisted on). Can’t have turnovers on the road in this league and expect to win.