Vikings Ten Takeaways from Vikings vs. Giants’ Super Wildcard Weekend And A Look Into The Future
Recap
It was pretty disappointing and unexpected to see Kirk Cousins and Dalvin Cook perform so poorly against a Giants defense that they had just played a couple of weeks earlier.
Things started well enough with an opening drive touchdown for the Vikings but the Giants were able to respond with a touchdown. The next two drives for the Vikings ended in punts while the next two drives for the Giants resulted in a touchdown and a field goal, respectively.
The Vikings did come up with another touchdown before halftime to make it a 17-14 game in favor of the Giants.
Both of the teams got touchdowns on their opening drives of the second half. Then the Vikings forced the first Giant’s punt of the game with 4:21 left in the third quarter.
The Vikings were on a roll heading into the fourth quarter before the usually reliable Christian Darrisaw had a false start penalty on fourth and one. This made it long enough of a conversion that the Vikings chose to kick a field goal instead of attempting to move the ball further down the field.
The Giants responded with a touchdown of their own which was a two-yard Saquon Barkley rushing TD. This gave the Giants a 31-24 lead, even though the Vikings had two more offensive drives, they could not score any more points.
Their second to last drive was a three and out and the most productive play was only a three-yard completion to T.J. Hockenson.
Their last drive sputtered out on a fourth and eight conversion attempt, ending with another three-yard completion to Hockenson.
At that point, the game was over and Daniel Jones only needed to kneel the ball three times to run out the clock.
Table of Contents
3. A Trick Play In The First Quarter Killed The Vikings’ Momentum And They Never Totally Recovered
4. Special Teams Returners Were A Non-Factor/Weakness In This Game
5. TJ Hockenson Has Another Productive Game But Falls Short In The End
1. Vikings Need To Overhaul The Majority Of Their Defense And Defensive Players
2. Vikings Will Restructure Or Release Longtime Vikings Offensive Players
3. Vikings Will Trade Into The First Round In This Year’s Draft
4. Vikings Will Get Brian Flores For Their Defensive Coordinator Position
Five Takeaways
1. This Year’s Defense Was Epically Terrible And Bailed Out By Turnovers The Majority Of The Season But Not Against The Giants
It was disheartening to see the defense perform so badly at such a crucial time for the Vikings. After seeing the Giants’ offense get destroyed by the Philadelphia Eagles, it was even more obvious how bad of a defense the Vikings put on the field this season.
They finished the season ranked 28th in points allowed, and 31st in both yards allowed and passing yards allowed. They averaged giving up 25.1 points a game, 388.7 yards per game, and 265.6 passing yards.
They gave up 301 yards passing and two TDs to Daniel Jones, who also ran for 78 yards on the day. Saquon Barkley only ran the ball nine times but two of those times ended in the endzone. Isaiah Hodgins was a game-breaker as he had eight receptions for 105 yards and one TD.
2. The Offensive Line Consistently Struggled
They may not have surrendered a sack to the Giants but Kirk Cousins was hit a total of 11 times in that game. Kirk was constantly under duress and that was a big part of why he was only able to complete a three-yard pass to Hockenson on the Vikings’ last offensive play of the game.
The offensive line struggled to make lanes for Dalvin Cook as well. He finished the game with 15 carries for 60 yards as the leading rusher and only rusher besides Kirk.
3. A Trick Play In The First Quarter Killed The Vikings’ Momentum And They Never Totally Recovered
The Vikings decided to get cute on a third-and-one play toward the end of the 1st quarter and it resulted in a two-yard loss on a reception by Cousins.
The play started with a throw across the field behind the line of scrimmage from Cousins to Justin Jefferson, after that Justin Jefferson threw the ball back across the field behind the line of scrimmage to Cousins who was blown up by Giants’ CBs that had sniffed out the play.
It had the potential to be a great play as K.J. Osborn was wide open when Justin Jefferson caught the ball and acted like he was going to throw it downfield. Instead, he threw it back to Kirk, behind the line of scrimmage, and Kirk got obliterated by the defenders as he had no protection out on the edge.
4. Special Teams Returners Were A Non-Factor/Weakness In This Game
Kene Nwangwu finished the game with only one kick return for 24 yards, not terrible but also not very productive. Jalen Reagor only had one punt return but he muffed/fumbled the kick and was lucky to have Kris Boyd recover it.
Nwangwu has been known to be an explosive returner at times but unfortunately, he did not have many opportunities to be the game-changer that he is in this game. Jalen Reagor has been fairly disappointing as he was a former first-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles and the Vikings gave up a “2023 seventh-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick that becomes a fifth-round pick if Reagor falls short of certain statistical marks.”
It seems fairly likely that he fell short of those statistical marks but I do not believe those specifics have been made public.
5. TJ Hockenson Has Another Productive Game But Falls Short In The End
TJ finished the game with 10 receptions for 129 yards but he came up short in a couple of crucial moments toward the end of the game.
On the Vikings’ second-to-last offensive drive of the game, Hockenson made a three-yard catch on a second and-14 play. Cousins followed up that completion with an incompletion and the Vikings punted.
On the Vikings’ last drive and last offensive play of the game, the Vikings needed to get eight yards and Kirk had to settle for a three-yard completion to Hockenson as he was under pressure and did not have time to let a deeper route develop.
While you can not blame it on any one single player or coach, it is a bit of a head-scratcher that the Vikings did not seem to run any routes to the first down yardage. Hockenson’s route was well short of the yardage needed, while the rest of the receiver’s routes went well beyond the required yardage.
Five Predictions/Needs For The Future
1. Vikings Need To Overhaul The Majority Of Their Defense And Defensive Players
They have already made a change in this area by letting Ed Donatell go. His defensive schemes throughout the season were incredibly ineffective. They also seemed to allow offenses to gain any yardage they wanted until they got into the red zone. Offenses were feasting on short passes and runs that were allowed to turn into bigger plays.
The Vikings also have several defensive veterans that are going to be big salary cap hits in 2023. Harrison Smith is set to make over 19.1 million, Za’Darius Smith is supposed to make just under 15.5 million, Danielle Hunter 13.1 million, and Eric Kendricks 11.4 million. As of right now, the Vikings are over the cap by over 14.6 million so it would make a lot of sense to restructure the contracts or release these players that underperformed down the stretch.
2. Vikings Will Restructure Or Release Longtime Vikings Offensive Players
I mentioned several of the defensive players that the Vikings could ask to restructure their contracts or release. Let’s take a look at some of the higher-earning offensive players that could suffer the same fate.
It seems fairly unlikely that the Vikings would ask Kirk to restructure or even think about releasing him. He is a polarizing player but he made the plays he needed to more often than not this past season. He is set to make over 36 million this upcoming season but he would count as a 48.75 million dead cap if the Vikings were to release him.
The next player is a fan favorite and home-state hero in Adam Thielen. He is set to make just under 20 million this upcoming season. Considering his lack of production and the rise of KJ Osborn, it seems highly unlikely that the Vikings will choose to pay Thielen that full amount.
Brian O’Neill is set to make just under 20 million next year as well. He seems a more unlikely candidate for restructure or release as he has been rock steady on the right side of the line until his injury this year. He also is only 27 years old and should have a few more productive years at this point.
Dalvin Cook is set to make just over 14 million, considering his decrease in production and considering that running back production falls off a cliff at his age, it seems likely that they will try to restructure his contract or even possibly release him. They have a solid stable of running backs with Alexander Mattison (as long as they can resign him), Kene Nwangwu, and Ty Chandler.
3. Vikings Will Trade Into The First Round In This Year’s Draft
They do not have many draft picks in this year’s draft but I believe the Vikings could use a veteran player or future picks or a combination of both to trade into the first round of the 2023 draft. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been willing to wheel and deal in his first year as the Vikings’ General Manager and I expect that trend to continue.
4. Vikings Will Get Brian Flores For Their Defensive Coordinator Position
He only has a 24-25 record from three seasons as a head coach with the Miami Dolphins but he did an amazing job turning around a pitiful team. Two of his three years ended with winning records, he was surprisingly fired after finishing 2021 with a 9-8 season. He is now an LB coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers and hopefully, he has learned from Mike Tomlin in his time there. He also overlapped with Kevin O’Connell for one season in New England.
5. Vikings Will Trade Dalvin Cook For High Draft Picks
Dalvin Cook is not the same explosive player as he was in the past and they have plenty of good options behind him that will be significantly cheaper. He is old enough that it is reasonable to expect him to become less and less productive each season as well.