Vikings Doomed by Mistakes in Season-Opening Loss Against Buccaneers
In 2022, the Vikings played with fire all season and didn't get burned until the playoffs rolled around. On their way to an 11-0 record in one-score games, they constantly let teams hang around before somehow finding a way to emerge on top at the end.
In their 2023 opener, they did it again, letting a team hang around instead of pulling away. But this time, they paid for it with a brutal season-opening loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Chase McLaughlin's 57-yard field goal with five minutes to play was the difference in a 20-17 Buccaneers victory. The Vikings got the ball back with a chance for another fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive — they led the league in both categories last season — but went three and out instead. Then Tampa Bay sealed the game when Baker Mayfield hit Chris Godwin on 3rd and 10 on the first play after the two-minute warning.
Without any timeouts, the Vikings could only watch as the Buccaneers kneeled out the game.
One week into the 2023 season, all of the offseason narratives surrounding the Vikings came true. The endless talk about regression in one-score games proved prophetic. Concerns about Kirk Cousins and the running game and the offensive line and the defensive personnel all showed up, at least to some extent.
This was an awful, avoidable loss for the Vikings. Already one game behind the Lions in the NFC North, they're now staring down an ugly start to the season with three of their next four games coming against the Eagles (in just four days), Chargers, and Chiefs.
Kirk Cousins threw for 344 yards and found Jordan Addison and Alexander Mattison for touchdown passes. Justin Jefferson began his fourth season with a 150-yard performance. The Vikings' defense completely stifled the Buccaneers early in the game. And in the end, none of that mattered.
The first half was a bizarre one. The Vikings out-gained the Buccaneers 286 to 97, but found themselves in a tie game because of three first-half turnovers. Cousins fumbled twice — once when right guard Ed Ingram seemed to knock the ball out of his hands on an attempted handoff and once when Antoine Winfield Jr. got home as an unblocked blitzer before Cousins could react. He also threw an interception that was slightly behind K.J. Osborn at the goal line.
When the Vikings weren't shooting themselves in the foot, they were shredding the Buccaneers' defense through the air. In the first half alone, Cousins threw for 273 yards, 138 of which went to Jefferson. Addison's first career touchdown reception, a 39-yarder on third and long, got the Vikings their first lead in the second quarter.
But in a half where the Vikings seemingly should've led by multiple scores, they couldn't find consistency or avoid mistakes. They struggled to get anything efficient going in the running game, which was a focus coming into this season. Cousins, like last year, took all kinds of hits. And two trips into the red zone in the second quarter ended in a short field goal and an interception for 3 points out of a possible 14.
The Vikings' self-inflicted wounds continued in the second half. Rookie safety Jay Ward lined up in the neutral zone on a Buccaneers field goal attempt, extending the drive. Tampa Bay scored on Mayfield's second touchdown pass of the day a few plays later.
Minnesota was able to tie the game on Mattison's touchdown, but Tampa Bay was the better team in the second half. The Vikings had less than 100 yards of offense after halftime, possessing the ball just three times. Their final two drives ended in three-and-outs. Defensively, Brian Flores' unit couldn't get off the field in the second half after playing so well for most of the first.
The Buccaneers dominated time of possession after the break and found a way to win, something the Vikings were so good at doing last year.
As it turns out, when you let a team hang around, it's going to haunt you sometimes. The Vikings found that out the hard way on Sunday.
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