For the second week in a row, the Vikings played their opponent close, only to suffer a gut-punch of a defeat in the final moments of the game.
In Week 2, Arizona was the beneficiary of Minnesota’s slip-up. The Vikings kicker, Greg Joseph, missed what would have been a game-winning, 37-yard field goal as time expired.
The Vikings’ loss was devastating, but it didn’t lead to any major changes in Touchdown Wire’s NFL power rankings. Minnesota dropped from 20th to 21st in Nick Wojton’s list. Wojton wrote:
“Another week, another heartbreaking finale for the Vikings, missing the game-winning kick in the end. But, you know, you’d still get some credit in a tight loss if you didn’t allow the opposing quarterback to put up 431 all-purpose yards.”
Yep, Kyler Murray torched the Vikings’ retooled defense. It’s easy to look at the missed field and goal and think “Minnesota got unlucky,” but the team hasn’t been good enough to avoid bad luck at the end of games. Ultimately, the defense has to improve in order to lead to any significant turnaround.
