Identifying the symptoms and treating the ailing Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota is unwell, but they should be pumped full of football penicillin in the coming days.

Oct 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) reacts against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings could really use a football doc to diagnose and treat what ails them.

Overall, the Vikings are in good health. Two straight losses after a 5-0 start has raised concerns about underlying issues, but with the correct diagnosis they should be able to treat symptoms and get back on track.

The symptoms

Symptoms arose in Week 4 against Green Bay and they have come and gone since. Bad penalties, unlucky calls from officials, facing elite quarterbacks, playing on short rest, red-zone woes and a pass defense that has been shredded are the most obvious signs of failing health.

Minnesota was crushing the Packers 28-7 to start the fourth quarter when all of a sudden the defense started to cough up yards. Jordan Love led the Packers on a touchdown drive in which he threw for 78 yards to and a TD to make it 28-14. Then Sam Darnold was sacked and fumbled and two plays later Love threw another TD. Minnesota led 31-22 before Love took the Packers 96 yards in five plays for another TD. They held on to win, but something was wrong.

The next week, in London, the defense wasn't bleeding yards. Instead, the offense began to wheeze, although doctors have since realized that five consecutive scoreless drives in the Green Bay game may have signaled signs of an ailing offense. After losing Aaron Jones to a hip injury early in the game, Minnesota totaled only 91 second-half yards, including just seven rushing yards.

The Vikings led the Jets 17-0 and it was like someone turned the offense off, as four of the next seven possessions ended in a punt while the other three resulted in two field goals and an interception. One of the field goals was after a three-and-out in Jets territory.

They flew home 5-0 after defeating Aaron Rodgers but were in dire need of a vaccine.

Perhaps the most severe symptom arose during the following bye week as it was revealed that starting inside linebacker Blake Cashman had suffered a turf toe injury. Without him, the Lions gashed the defense for 391 total yards. The leaky defense was masked some by a defensive touchdown, but Jared Goff eviscerated Minnesota's blitz and found chunk yards to open receivers over the middle all day.

It happened again against the Rams. Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes and the Vikings' once-ferocious pass rush generated only three pressures. And again, the offense went missing after back-to-back touchdown drives to begin the game, adding just six points over the final three quarters. They had seven drives over the final three quarters and they went punt, punt, end of half, field goal, field goal, punt, safety.

Comorbidities, if you will, have included the refs making recovery harder for the Vikings.

Against Green Bay, Xavier McKinney was awarded an interception near the end zone even though it was clear that he didn't have control of the ball when he landed out of bounds. If that doesn't happen, the Vikings almost surely turn that drive into three or six points and lead 31-7 or 35-7.

Against the Rams, a phantom defensive holding call on Byron Murphy Jr. gave Los Angeles a first down after an incomplete pass on third down. That drive ended in a touchdown. The other egregious reffing error was the no-call on an obvious facemask of Darnold that led to the game-sealing safety.

The treatment

The Vikings are about to be pumped full of football penicillin with Cashman expected to return from his toe injury, tight end T.J. Hockenson making his season debut to add firepower to the offense, and Dalton Risner perhaps taking over at right guard for the struggling Ed Ingram.

Those three should help treat the symptoms that have led to Minnesota's faltering health, and the Vikings can boost their immune system more by buying over-the-counter talent before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.