Penalties, Offensive Line, Controversial Replay Doom Vikings in Dramatic OT Loss to Bengals

The Vikings fall to 0-1 on the season after a crushing overtime defeat in Cincinnati.

The Vikings and Bengals couldn't have engineered a more dramatic opening to the 2021 NFL season, but in the end, all that matters is the result. A controversial Dalvin Cook fumble was upheld on replay review late in overtime, the Bengals moved the ball down the field, and they won it 27-24 on a field goal as the fifth full quarter of football expired.

That means the Vikings are 0-1 and head to Arizona next week with a lot to prove. A crucial season for Mike Zimmer, Kirk Cousins, and so many others is off to a rough start.

The Vikings could've won this game. If Cook doesn't fumble the ball inside the Bengals' 40-yard-line, Minnesota probably at least sets up a game-winning field goal attempt for Greg Joseph. It appeared that Cook's butt may have touched the ground before the ball came loose, but there were no conclusive camera angles so the call on the field of a fumble stood after review.

With that said, you can't make the argument that the Vikings deserved to win based on their overall performance. They committed 12 penalties for 116 yards, gave up three sacks, and were a little bit up-and-down on defense, allowing 366 total yards to Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, and company.

The big issue, as has been the case for the majority of Zimmer's tenure in Minnesota, was the offensive line. Whether it was getting beat for sacks or pressure in Cousins' face or committing costly penalties that set the offense back, that unit was horrible all around. If that continues, the Vikings won't sniff the playoffs.

The Vikings' first half was an outright disaster of offensive football. They were flagged a ridiculous 13 times, with ten of those penalties being accepted. Nine of the ten were on the offense. There were five false starts, five holding calls (two were declined), and an illegal shift. Rashod Hill, starting at left tackle because rookie Christian Darrisaw is injured, was thoroughly dominated by Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.

It was a mess. For the game, the Vikings' offense faced six third downs of at least 15 yards, with five of those at least 20 yards.

After the Vikings scored first on an Adam Thielen touchdown catch, the defense — which had gotten off to a strong start — sprung some holes. Joe Burrow and the Bengals scored touchdowns on three straight possessions spanning the end of the second quarter and the start of the third. 

New Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland had a rough day, getting burned several times, most notably on a 50-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. Breeland also caught the penalty bug, with a pass interference flag setting up one of Cincinnati's other touchdowns.

Fortunately for the Vikings, they managed to reel in the penalties in the second half and the offense woke up. Kirk Cousins was excellent when he was given time to throw, finishing 36 of 49 for 351 yards, two touchdowns to Thielen, and no turnovers. Dalvin Cook went over 100 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown, while Thielen, Justin Jefferson, and K.J. Osborn all recorded at least 70 receiving yards.

The Vikings slowly but surely rallied in the second half, tying the game on a career-long 53-yard field goal from Greg Joseph at the end of regulation. But Cook's fumble was the game-changer late in OT, and the Vikings are left to lick their wounds and look ahead to Week 2 against a Cardinals team that looked mighty impressive on Sunday.

Takeaways

• When the Vikings' offense wasn't committing penalties or getting killed up front, it was pretty good. Cousins was efficient and effective, and all three receivers made plays. Cook didn't have much running room but added some production as a receiver. They were 8 for 18 on third and fourth downs, including some clutch conversions in the second half.
• The offensive line simply has to be better. The Vikings need Darrisaw to get healthy or to explore other options at left tackle, because Hill was a serious liability in this game and next week comes a matchup with Chandler Jones, who had five sacks in Arizona's opener. The interior trio was also quite bad, which was the big problem a year ago.
• K.J. Osborn looks like the Vikings' WR3. He had seven catches for 76 yards, including a clutch diving grab to set up the game-tying field goal.
• Andre Patterson was right about Michael Pierce having some upside as a pass rusher. The huge nose tackle had two sacks in this game, and the Vikings had five as a defense (Danielle Hunter, Nick Vigil, and Harrison Smith had the others).
• Despite the sack, Hunter was fairly quiet for most of the game. Everson Griffen had a couple pressures but didn't seem to play much.
• The Vikings' run defense wore down late in the game, missing some tackles and letting Mixon pick up chunk gains.
• Special teams were a positive for the Vikings. Joseph made the big field goal, Jordan Berry averaged over 50 yards per punt with a pair of 60-yarders, and the coverage in the return game was good.

Back to the drawing board for the Vikings this week. Starting 0-2 with the Seahawks and Browns coming to town after that would be disastrous.

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