Missed Opportunities, Run Defense Doom Vikings in Killer 30-23 Loss to Rams
It's the story of the Vikings' season: missed opportunities that come back to haunt in a close, winnable defeat. Three of the Vikings' five trips inside the Rams' red zone on Sunday ended in either a field goal or a turnover, and that made the difference in a 30-23 loss that puts Minnesota's playoff hopes on life support.
With the Eagles beating the Giants, the Vikings (7-8) drop out of the postseason field for the time being. They're headed to Green Bay next week to take on the Packers — owners of the NFL's best record at 12-3 — in what amounts to a must-win game to stay alive in the wild card race.
It wasn't just the offensive possessions that came up short that hurt the Vikings in this loss. They also missed some opportunities on defense, failing to come up with a couple catchable interceptions that turned into 10 Rams points. The defense was gashed by Sony Michel and the LA running game, giving up a total of 159 rushing yards. And in an unfortunate turn of events, the Vikings' normally-reliable special teams gave up a 61-yard punt return touchdown that swung the tide of the game early in the second half.
But it's hard to pin most of the blame for this game on the Vikings' defense, which came up with three interceptions of Matthew Stafford and held him under 200 yards passing on the game.
This loss falls more on the offense. It was a bad omen when the Vikings' second possession of the game — they were trailing 7-0 after a Cameron Dantzler dropped pick helped the Rams score first — ended in disaster. The Vikings had driven 84 yards and faced first-and-goal at the LA 8. Following two Alexander Mattison runs that went nowhere, Kirk Cousins' pass was dropped by K.J. Osborn and wound up in the hands of a Rams defender for an end zone interception.
Not much later, with the Vikings down 10-0, Anthony Barr recorded his first of two interceptions on the game. He couldn't quite get up and run it back for a pick-six, but the Vikings were set up with a first down at the LA 11. Then a sack on the ensuing play ruined that drive and forced the Vikings to settle for a field goal.
The Vikings eventually capitalized on two interceptions from Stafford early in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 13-10 and getting the ball back. But a Brian O'Neill false start on third down ended up leading to a punt, which the Rams returned for a touchdown. That was a killer sequence.
One last missed opportunity by the Vikings' offense all but doomed them. Trailing 20-10, they had a second-and-goal from the LA 4. Then Aaron Donald — who was his usual dominant self all afternoon — blew up a running play for a loss of two yards. One play later, Cousins threw a pointless checkdown that had a better chance of resulting in a touchdown for the Rams than the Vikings.
The Rams then pushed the lead out to 27-13. The Vikings put up a fight by cutting it to a one-score game again, but couldn't complete the comeback.
A late field goal by Greg Joseph made it so the games was decided by eight points or fewer for the 14th time in 15 Vikings games this season. That ties an NFL record for games decided by eight or fewer, and Minnesota still has two left to play. They're 6-8 in those contests and all eight of those losses were winnable.
Again, that's the story of the Vikings' season. They've been good enough to hang around in every single game, but not good enough to pick up victories consistently. Missed opportunities and moments of poor execution have doomed a talented team that has flashes where it looks like a legitimate contender.
Justin Jefferson finished with eight catches for 116 yards and Osborn bounced back from the early drop with 68 yards and a score. Adam Thielen had three catches in his return from an ankle injury but was in and out of the lineup after appearing to aggravate his ankle.
Mattison wasn't able to get much going in Dalvin Cook's absence, running for 41 yards on 13 carries.
And although the Vikings' defense came up with three big interceptions, they were mostly beaten in the trenches by a Rams offensive line playing multiple backups. Michel had a big day on the ground and the Vikings failed to record a single sack for the first time all season.
Now Minnesota absolutely needs an upset victory over the Packers next week to keep its season alive. It's seeming more and more likely that these last two games of the 2021-22 season will be Mike Zimmer's final two games as the Vikings' head coach.
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