VIKINGS CAN’T CAPITALIZE ON RAMS GAFFES TO GET THE WIN

Well, this about does it for the Vikings this year and maybe head coach Mike Zimmer. The Vikings had a chance to win today and keep their playoff hopes alive. The Rams were not playing great and some of their play calling choices were questionable at times while Justin Jefferson broke the record for most receiving yards over his first two seasons. Matthew Stafford did his best to try to give the Vikings the win all on his own it seemed. Not to take away from them either, but the Vikings defense played great today! They kept the team in the fight the whole time. What failed them two things: the offense didn’t get going until late and were inconsistent until they did, and Dalvin Cook being out due to Covid hurt at the most important time. While the team is not officially eliminated it is an uphill battle.

How the Minnesota Vikings Can Make the Playoffs: Through Week 16 – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The Vikings needed this win to keep control of their playoff destiny in their own hands. The thing is that they had it three times today but dropped it, or had it taken away. What do I mean? Twice in the game the Vikings could have had two more interceptions than the 3 they had, and it would have kept the Rams off the scoreboard. A bad call by the refs nullified a fumble recovered by the Vikings as corner Cam Dantzler ripped the ball from Cooper Kupp and linebacker Eric Kendricks recovered it, but the officials said Kupp’s forward progress had stopped even though it hadn’t. It’s a non-reviewable call so even when the replay showed the clean fumble it didn’t matter. The bigger problem is that off the three INTs they did have today they only scored 10 points. The offense looked inept at times as Cousins was rushed on many throws. They only scored 3 points in the first half to Rams 13. Aaron Donald is an absolute stud player, and he has some good compliments around him. He looked unstoppable at times though as he made Oli Udoh look like, well, Oli Udoh as he has not been good this year. What may have been annoying in that respect was that it took so long to roll Cousins out of the pocket and allow him to throw outside the pocket. Once they did that and went to a no huddle offense, they finally got rolling big time. The Vikings were never down by much. It looked like the Vikings could catch and beat the Rams with their offense playing like they were in the second half. The problem was that any time they made good headway they would kill the momentum with a penalty or poorly executed play. While Alexander Mattison is a really good player, he is not Dalvin Cook and he misses holes at times or doesn’t make a cut that Cook can make and make more out of nothing. Cook tested positive for Covid and is unvaccinated. So, he was out by his own refusal to do all he can to be on the field. Had he played the Vikings would have been in a much better position to win the game and maybe be celebrating a continued playoff drive instead of sweating other teams’ performances the last two weeks of the season.

CLICK HERE FOR VIKINGS VS RAM GAME RECAP

With the momentum swinging back to the Vikings in the 3rd quarter the special teams had a rare mistake by allowing Brandon Powell to return a punt for a touchdown. That was the one thing they couldn’t have happen as the defense was playing well enough to get another stop. It was just another misstep that killed the momentum and maybe the rest of the season. The only way the Vikings can make the playoffs now is that they need to win their last two games against the Packers at Lambeau Field and at home against the Bears. Neither will be easy as they are division rival games, and the Packers are trying to lock down homefield advantage in the playoffs and the Bears are simply playing for pride. In other words, no key players will be sitting down to give the Purple an easy win. Along with the wins they need the Washington Football Team to lose to the Cowboys today and then beat the Eagles next week. Neither are guaranteed. If the Vikings do win out and make the playoffs, they will still have an uphill battle as all the games will be on the road and they just don’t have the punch needed to keep up with or dominate those playoff teams. If they lose out, they will have at least a top twelve pick in the draft and the offseason debate will be when it would have been better to lose games then to win them. It’s a lose/lose end to the season either way that leads to an offseason with most likely a new coach if not a whole new front office. Right now, it’s a matter of when we Vikings fans say the inevitable, “Well, there’s always next year.”

Superstar ⭐⭐ pic.twitter.com/fCmIXeUpv1

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 26, 2021