The Minnesota Vikings walked into Monday night with a game they should have been able to control, and instead left with a 23-6 loss that exposed just how badly the quarterback situation has gone sideways.
Carson Wentz was the center of it all. The veteran quarterback never settled in, never found a rhythm and, in the end, buried the Vikings with a night that was as ugly as it gets.
His adjusted completion percentage was 37%, and in the second half he completed more passes to Bills defenders than to Vikings receivers. For a team that needed even average play under center, that was fatal.
The frustrating part for Minnesota is that the defense did its job. The Vikings’ front seven turned in a strong showing against both the run and the pass, even while spending far too much time on the field.
Minnesota had the ball for only 17 minutes and 28 seconds, the shortest time of possession in franchise history, yet the defense still pressured Josh Allen on 50% of his dropbacks. Andrew Van Ginkel, Jalen Redmond, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Dallas Turner, Blake Cashman and Eric Wilson all stood out despite the workload.
Byron Murphy Jr. also made a huge play, dropping back after his man was out of the play to intercept the ball in the end zone and return it to near midfield.
Brian Flores’ defense was on display for most of the night, but the larger pattern has become hard to miss: the offense keeps putting the unit in impossible spots. Over the last two games, Minnesota has struggled to stay on the field or put up points, and that eventually opens the door for opposing offenses to wear the defense down late.
When the Vikings were winning, the offense at least held up its end enough to keep the defense playing with a lead. On Monday, an average offense would have been up 20 points by the end of the first half.
There were a few small-cap bright spots on defense and in the supporting cast. Ivan Pace Jr. made the most of his limited reps, coming through with a sack and strong run defense when he got extra work with Cashman out part of the game.
Jake Golday logged a dozen defensive snaps, recorded a stop and held up well overall. Elijah Williams, activated for Monday night instead of Caleb Banks, did solid work against the run and finished with four stops on five tackles in 32 snaps.
Ben Yurosek played just ten snaps but continued to look like a useful blocking tight end who can also help as a receiver in a pinch.
The biggest negative beyond Wentz came from Josh Metellus, who had another coverage lapse that cost Minnesota. On the Bills’ first touchdown, he was on Latu but drifted off to look back at Josh Allen, who then found Latu for the score. The refs missed an illegal lineman down field on the play, but that still didn’t excuse the breakdown.
Kevin O’Connell also took a hit in the aftermath. Wentz’s misses were on Wentz, but the offense still hasn’t clicked with any quarterback since Sam Darnold two years ago now.
O’Connell said after the game that the team hasn’t been able to transfer what he sees in practice to the stadium, which he also said last year with J.J. McCarthy.
Wentz had not been this bad in earlier appearances this season or last year, but the broader issue now is hard to ignore. Quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips share in the blame, yet the responsibility ultimately lands on O’Connell to fix it.
The source of the problem may even require new blood on the offensive staff, since there hasn’t been much for either Phillips or McCown to point to over the last couple of years.
And looming over everything is the deadline on Tuesday. Without a new quarterback, the Vikings’ chances of making any kind of playoff run - or even getting into the playoffs at all - look shaky at best.
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