Another year, another kicker meltdown. Minnesota Vikings fans have seen the unraveling of Blair Walsh, Daniel Carlson and Kaare Vedvik in the last five years. Add Dan Bailey to the list, and perhaps send him all the way to the top. His four field-goal misses were the game’s main story as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took advantage of 10 points’ worth of missed kicks left on the field to win 26-14.
OBLIGATORY SPECIAL TEAMS REPORT
Just when it seems like the special teams can’t sink any lower, they find a way. Bailey missed an inexplicable four kicks, making it seven misses in two weeks for the Vikings’ veteran placekicker. Bailey missed an extra point after Minnesota’s opening touchdown, a 36-yard field goal, a 54-yard field goal late in the half and a 46-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Bailey has never missed more than three kicks in a two-week stretch. Seven misses in two weeks is unprecedented. After a strong first half of the season, Bailey has come unglued at the same time the Vikings switched long snappers. For a second consecutive game, they had to alter their play-calling and decision-making because of their lack of confidence in their kicker, highlighted by a 4th and 6 gamble from the Bucs’ 26 in the third quarter and a 2-point conversion try when trailing by 11.
It’s up in the air whether Bailey will survive the week as a member of the Vikings. He is under contract through 2022.
HOW’D THE OFFENSE DO?
It’s hard to complain too much with what the Vikings did early in the game. Minnesota attacked the league’s best rushing defense for 71 yards in the first quarter and capitalized on a 1-yard touchdown run by Dalvin Cook. They ended up with the most rushing yards against a Bucs defense this season, and Cousins was sharp and shifty on many occasions in the pocket. Kicking woes killed the Vikings’ bottom line on offense, but they were also forced to settle for kicks because of some foibles on third down. Cousins took a sack before Bailey’s first and third field goal misses, and he also took a sack on the team’s first drive of the game to knock them out of field goal range.
As the Vikings’ deficit mounted, Cousins’ dropbacks increased, and with it the Bucs’ pressure intensified. Cousins ended up taking 52 yards worth of sacks on the afternoon and found himself avoiding several others. The Vikings quarterback finished his day with 225 passing yards and a touchdown. He struggled to get it to his favorite targets Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson, instead hitting Tyler Conklin, C.J. Ham and Irv Smith Jr. a combined 12 times. Smith had a third-quarter touchdown that kept the Vikings afloat at the time.
At times, Minnesota seemed flustered on key downs, taking penalties and timeouts when they needed conversions.
HOW’D THE DEFENSE DO?
Ill-timed penalties and a handful of coverage lapses spoiled an otherwise decent performance against Tom Brady and Co. Through two possessions, Brady, 43, showed his age with three off-target throws downfield, but on the Bucs’ third possession he connected for a 48-yard touchdown with Scotty Miller to get the ball rolling.
Tampa rattled off 24 consecutive points from there on out, aided by some flags along the way. Harrison Smith was hit with yet another helmet-to-helmet penalty to nullify a third-down stop, and Jeff Gladney‘s interception in the end zone was nullified by a somewhat-questionable pass interference call, leading to a Ronald Jones 1-yard touchdown run. The icing on the cake came on the final timed play of the first half — a Brady Hail Mary to Rob Gronkowski that drew a rare pass interference call, the first in 11 years on a Hail Mary, where refs are usually lenient. Tampa Bay added a field goal on the untimed play to take a 17-6 lead into the second half.
The Buccaneers flexed their muscles to begin the third quarter with a 75-yard touchdown drive on nine plays where Minnesota couldn’t point any fingers at the officials. Gronkowski got free in the back of the end zone for his fifth touchdown catch of the year, extending the Bucs lead to 23-6. A nearly insurmountable deficit without a reliable kicker.
BIG PICTURE
Coupled with the Arizona Cardinals win over the New York Giants, the Vikings fell out of the playoff picture. Now they’ll almost surely have to beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 16 — and the two games surrounding it — to make the playoffs.
