The Vikings traveled to the West Coast for Thursday Night Football, and they’ve historically struggled with weekday games, especially in the Pacific time zone. Still, the Vikings were determined to move on quickly from Thursday’s loss to the Detroit Lions and get right before the 10-day mini-bye week. Despite a quick start by the offense, the defense allowed two consecutive touchdowns to keep the scores level going into the half in a game they ultimately lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 30-20.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the game.
1
For the first time this season, the Minnesota defense allowed a touchdown on the opening drive. Before this week, Minnesota’s defense was renowned for its strength in the opening quarter, paving the way for their offense to get off to fast starts.
But it was different this week. The Rams’ offense seamlessly worked the ball down the field in a drive that ended with Kyren Williams beating Ivan Pace on third-and-goal for a score. The Rams had done their homework in the film room as they looked to copy some of the concepts that had made the Lions successful.
One thing that stood out was how the Rams’ offense used max protection to counter a blitz and allowed Puka Nacua to get ample yardage after catching the ball on the screen. On the first two drives, Minnesota’s defense, which once looked immovable, looked just as mortal as it did in the middle period of the game against the Lions.
3
The Vikings continued to have penalty issues. They gifted the Rams three first downs through third-down flags. Before this game, head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke about the team’s need to reduce self-inflicted penalties.
The team didn’t get the memo early on, especially the defense. On the LA’s second drive, it looked like the defense finally got the stop they needed around midfield. Instead, the officials flagged Byron Murphy Jr. for holding on a ticky-tack call.
Later in the same drive, it looked like Minnesota’s defense had held strong deep in their own territory and would force the Rams to settle for just three. Instead, Stephon Gilmore was called for pass interference. That moved the chains again for the Rams, giving them another chance to get seven, and they capitalized.
On the next drive, when it looked like the defense had gotten another stop deep in Rams territory, an illegal hands-to-the-face call extended the drive again.
6
After a dominant first half in which the offense moved the ball at will, Minnesota got just six yards on eight plays against the Rams defense in the second quarter. While this was partially due to the penalties that pushed the offense further behind the sticks, the offense still struggled to gain momentum. To make things even worse, the Rams; defensive line started to get to Darnold.
It felt like the offense couldn’t get out of its own way on the early downs, putting themselves well behind the chains and forcing themselves into obvious passing situations. The offense seemed rushed, and for the first time, they were feeling the pressure of the scoreboard and the clock.
In some ways, it felt like they had abandoned what had made them so successful in the first quarter, getting positive runs on first down and putting them in second-and-manageable situations where they could do so much more.
0
The Vikings defense that was so good at rushing the passer recorded zero sacks on the night. Before the game, given just how beat up the Rams’ line was, most people expected Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel to feast on an inexperienced and under-talented line. Instead, the Rams’ offensive line gave Matthew Stafford ample time all night as he dissected the Vikings’ secondary.
Flores’ defense has seemingly lost its identity after such a solid start, and now quarterbacks appear to have ample time to beat them. To add insult to injury, Dallas Turner, Minnesota’s first-round edge rusher, had two costly penalties. Meanwhile, Jared Verse, the guy they could have drafted instead, tallied two impactful sacks.
15
The Vikings again let pre-snap penalties hurt them, giving 15 yards in pre-snap procedural flags. The offense continued to show that it cannot play behind the sticks and struggled in obvious passing situations. O’Connell stressed prior to the game that the offense would need to cut down on the pre-snap flags, and yet again, they couldn’t do it.
In some cases, it felt like the offense lost this game through the pre-snap flags and procedural penalties.
