Vikes Were Far From Perfect in Lions Loss

Vikings Territory Breakdown

The Minnesota Vikings lost 19-15 to the Detroit Lions in Ford Field on Sunday. It was bound to happen—only one team has won all their games (the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who might still be recovering from their champagne hangover). The Vikings are now 6-1 yet still on top of the of the NFC North. The problem coming out of Sunday’s loss is that the offensive struggles continue, and this week they are place squarely at the feet of quarterback Kyler Murray.

We were seeing some reasons for hope in recent weeks, but Murray’s performance against Detroit regressed to some earlier struggles. He missed open receivers, throwing high or late, and just didn’t appear to find passing lanes needed to complete passes. He had a great throw (a 51-yarder to Jordan Addison) that demonstrated his arm strength and deep-throw accuracy, and two touchdown passes (one of them that Justin Jefferson bailed him out with an incredible catch). Murray had a spotty game at best, and his play is not sustainable, particularly with the gauntlet of teams ahead on the schedule who may be smelling Purple blood in the water.

The defense played well against an explosive offense (at least for the first half), but the Vikings offense’s inability to stay on the field had the defense gassed and arm tackling in the second half, allowing the Lions to come from behind and win the game. It is a difficult pill for Purple Nation to swallow, watching their favorite team lose a winnable road game in the division, but all is not lost. So, keep the faith and check out the fellas at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com, and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com. They’re here to break it all down. Skol!