Brian Murphy: 3-1 is a good start but there's a lot to learn about these Vikings
The Double Doink in Swinging London validated all the Sunday morning binge drinking in Minnesota.
Imagine the self-loathing hangovers that would have crashed Monday morning coffee klatches and Zoom meetings if fate delivered yet another body blow to this fragile fan base.
If Will Lutz’s 61-yard field goal had bounced through the uprights to punctuate another crushing franchise loss instead of pinballing harmlessly to the turf and sending the Vikings chortling out of Britain like Austin Powers?
Yeah, baby!
No wonder Vikings fans are pinging their shrinks every week. So many conflicting emotions to unpack and process after their hair-raising 28-25 victory over the New Orleans Saints in Jolly old England.
Like a spiffy 3-1 record and commanding place atop the NFC North with victories in hand over Green Bay and Detroit. Or having fulfilled the logistical challenges of a Monday night road game against dominant Philadelphia and a transcontinental corporate junket against freefalling New Orleans.
The Vikings and their penchant for drama have hardened the team’s armor as it pivots into the middle portion of a schedule that features punishing trips to ascending Miami and surging Buffalo before a formidable home matchup against Dallas.
The remaining slate looks like extended preseason.
The Chicago Bears, who make their annual visit to U.S. Bank Stadium this Sunday, are rudderless as usual after a coaching purge and all-in quarterback commitment to rickety Justin Fields.
Cardinals, Commanders and Jets? A trio of meh.
There is a clear path to the playoffs considering no NFC team besides the Eagles appears capable of matching the impressive standard set by its AFC colleagues.
Where is all the ticker tape in our digitally transformed world?
Not to rain on any purple parades, but there are red flags that must be resolved and litigated before the Vikings make a case for playing into late January.
At first glance, not much has changed from 2021.
Kirk Cousins remains an enigma that will not be solved unless his internal hard drive is replaced.
The 11-year veteran quarterback can still vanish under pressure or in the red zone only to jump out of a cake and drop dimes like the 39-yarder to Justin Jefferson that set up Greg Joseph’s game-winning field goal.
Granted, it is only four games. But first-year head coach Kevin O’Connell has been unable to unleash Dalvin Cook or unlock the mystery of consistently pushing the ball downfield to Jefferson and his talented comrades Adam Thielen, K.J. Osborn and Irv Smith Jr.
Early offensive success never translates into putting down inferior opponents instead of letting them hang around to cause trouble like an uninvited houseguest. Lack of a killer instinct helped doom Mike Zimmer, who was fired after the Vikings went 2-5 last season in games decided by four points or less.
Meanwhile, on defense, Ed Donatell’s inherited unit essentially says to opposing quarterbacks: “We’re old, tired and doing the best we can despite No. 8. Come and get it.”
Nothing too aggressive or imaginative beyond what we already knew aided and plagued them.
It would have been treason to let Andy Dalton and the Tri-Lambs beat you on foreign soil without top quarterback Jameis Winston, No. 1 running back Alvin Kamara and alpha wide receiver Michael Thomas.
But there was the journeyman Dalton exploiting soft spots in Minnesota’s pass coverage to not only keep the Saints relevant but march them across midfield in the waning seconds to position Lutz for unwelcome heroics.
“You have to find ways to just be gritty and grind things out, respond when things don’t go your way,” said Cousins. “We’re certainly getting experience with that early.”
And reconnecting with their internal broken clock.
Wish I was among the knighted Monty Pythons when the troll asked about their quest.
To seek the Holy Grail was overrated. I just want an NFL head coach who knows how to tell time.
O’Connell is learning on the fly how to manage play calls, timeouts, field position and a chaotic sideline while the whole world watches and types in real time. There really is no interview question or simulation that can prepare coaches for how to preserve or snuff precious seconds at the end of a half or the game.
With 56 seconds left in the second quarter and all three timeouts in hand, O’Connell ran two short passes in bounds that drained 53 seconds before he called one.
“I know it’s not always the easiest thing to hear,” O’Connell said. “But we’re four games into this thing, tons of opportunities for me to coach better, our guys to be a little bit more consistent. Hopefully when we do that, we’ll start seeing a little bit more of pattern of results where we don’t feel like we need to come back in the end.”
But we’ll keep coming back for more. Because the Vikings are appointment viewing.
Morning, noon or night.
Related: Vikings-Saints PFF grades: Kirk Cousins struggling under pressure
Related: Matthew Coller: Vikings are living and dying by Justin Jefferson
