The Vikings' offense did nothing to silence doubters in a much-needed win
The Minnesota Vikings kept their playoff hopes alive Sunday by ending their four-game losing skid. In doing so, they moved to 6-4 on the year and remained in a tie for first place in the NFC North.
They beat an underwhelming Arizona Cardinals team that with the loss, further hurting that team's chances of making the postseason. It was a much-needed win for the Vikings, but the victory did little to quell concerns about the offense that have dogged the team all season.
Though the Vikings weren’t atrocious on that side of the ball Sunday, they were far from good.
They mustered just 16 first downs compared to 24 by the Cardinals. First downs don’t win football games, but consider that five of the 16 came via penalties. That means the Vikings converted and moved the sticks only 11 times. Minnesota had the ball 12 times on offense and had 11 first downs – in other words, fewer than one per possession.
Sure, they were playing against a good Cardinals defense that absolutely locked down Stefon Diggs, Minnesota’s best playmaker. However, their lack of production offensively is a testament to how few weapons they have. If Diggs is blanketed, or simply shut down in one-on-one coverage by a guy like Patrick Peterson, quarterback Sam Bradford doesn’t have many other options.
Adam Thielen is a nice story, but he’s far from a go-to receiver. He’s not someone who’s going to regularly beat single coverage. Teams are able to blanket Diggs and remain confident that Minnesota’s other receivers won’t beat them.
That showed on Sunday as six of Bradford’s 20 completions went to Diggs for just 37 yards. Big plays were eliminated from the offense, particularly for Diggs. And as a result, Bradford averaged just 6.0 yards per attempt despite going 20-for-28.
It’s not as though the Vikings didn’t have the ball on offense, either. They held it plenty, nearly splitting time of possession with the Cardinals (31:02 to 28:58). They just weren’t effective. Minnesota managed just 217 total yards, 72 of which game on the ground. Once again, the Vikings couldn’t produce anything in the run game. It’s the sixth game in a row they failed to reach 100 yards rushing as a team as they have just one game over the century mark this season (104 in Week 4).
Their lack of a ground game is especially concerning with the way Minnesota’s offense is built. Under new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the Vikings rely on short, quick passes. Defenses are able to sit back on those types of plays when Minnesota is no threat on the ground. Linebackers can remain in their designated zones rather than creeping up on play action. Safeties don’t need to bite on fake handoffs, and cornerbacks are rarely concerned with helping against the run.
Yes, it was a huge win for the Vikings, but it was one that the defense carried them to. Minnesota got two touchdowns from its defense and special teams, which contributed 14 of the Vikings’ 30 points. Of course, it’s great when all the points don't have to come from the offense, but that can’t be counted on every week.
If the Vikings want to make it to the playoffs and actually have any chance at winning a Super Bowl, they need to improve on offense. They need to average more than 3.0 yards per carry as they did Sunday, which was actually above their season mark of 2.7.
Even the best defenses in league history had an offense that was capable of putting up more than 217 yards and 16 first downs. Eight times this season the Vikings have failed to reach 20 first downs on offense and have put up fewer than 300 yards five times.
Neither of those numbers is good by any means, and that's the reason the Vikings have struggled so much this season. They were fortunate to run into an undisciplined Cardinals team that handed them five first downs via penalty, but they won't be so lucky every week.
