After nearly pulling off in incredible escape act on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings ended up getting exactly what they deserved in a heartbreaking 19-17 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Though they managed to take the lead in the final minute thanks to an impressive drive from J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings had no business beating the Bears with how poorly they played throughout the game.
It was another rough outing for McCarthy as he continues to struggle through what can kindly be considered growing pains. Is he salvageable? That’s a question that Vikings are going to have to start asking themselves if his poor play continues.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
J.J. McCarthy’s accuracy is a problem
As he reflected on his performance after the game, McCarthy gave a blunt assessment of himself, acknowledging that he needs to be more accurate if the Vikings are going to have any chance of success.
He’s spot on.
The accuracy was an issue for McCarthy through his first month as a starter for the Vikings and it didn’t get any better as he only completed 16 of 32 passes for 150 yards, a touchdown, and a pair of interceptions.
As bad as the misses from McCarthy looked bad in real time, they looked even worse after watching the film. There were players running wide open down the field on multiple occasions and he never even gave them a chance.
There’s no excuse for missing some of the throws McCarthy missed throughout the game. If it doesn’t improve dramatically over the next couple of months, difficult conversations will need to be had sooner rather than later.
Kevin O’Connell called a good game
A vocal minority of the fan base wanted to take play calling away from Kevin O’Connell last weekend. He responded to that nonsense by consistently putting McCarthy in a place to succeed this weekend.
There was a healthy dose of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason in the run game, which, in turn, set up different looks in the pass game. The only problem was that McCarthy consistently missed some of the easy throws that were there to be made.
There was the misfire to Jordan Addison deep down the field off of play action. There was the misfire to T.J. Hockenson up the sideline with nobody around him. There was the misfire to Justin Jefferson on a mismatch that was perfectly schemed up.
There’s only so much O’Connell can impact the game from the sideline. If anybody walks away from that game criticizing him for his play calling, they are intentionally focusing on the wrong things.
Jordan Addison had a costly drop
With the Vikings trying to take control of the game in the early stages, McCarthy stepped up in the pocket, then fired down the field Addison, who was running wide open over the middle following a crisp route.
It should have been a big play that moved the chains and helped put the Vikings in scoring position. It ended up going down as a missed opportunity and Ryan Wright came on to punt.
Maybe things would’ve played out differently if Addison hadn’t recorded a drop on a play that absolutely should’ve resulted in a catch. There was also another uncharacteristic drop from Addison that stopped a drive in its tracks
Asked about both of his drops after the game, Addison lamented his mistakes, adding that he needs to be better for McCarthy moving forward. The same thing can be said about McCarthy, however, when looking at all of his plays in the aggregate.
The defense needs to force turnovers
It wouldn’t be fair to place too much blame on the defense considering how effectively it was able to keep Caleb Williams out of a rhythm. He never seemed comfortable because of the way the defense was playing on the other end.
Though he managed to avoid sacks like he was Harry Houdini in his prime, Williams was running for his life for large chunks of the game. That led to some of him only completing 16 of 32 passes for 193 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions.
As much as the Vikings were able to bother him inside and outside of the pocket, however, they were not able to turn him over. This is the latest game during which they failed to force a turnover.
It was a strength of the Vikings last season as they led the league in takeaways. It’s been a weakness of the Vikings this season as they haven’t been able to force turnovers at nearly the same rate.
That’s a concerning trend that needs to change.
The special teams giveth and taketh away
The duality of special teams was on display for the Vikings at different stretches throughout the game.
They got a 42-yard punt return by Myles Price that helped provide a spark a pivotal moment. They also allowed a 56-yard kickoff return to Devan Duvernay that contributed to losing the game as time expired.
The good news for the Vikings? It appears Price has a chance to be the best kick returner and punt returner they’ve had in a decade. The bad news for the Vikings? The unit is still very much a work in progress at this point.
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