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From running the football to fixing QB, Judd Zulgad highlights 4 things the Minnesota Vikings should learn from wild card weekend
Unlike a year ago, the Minnesota Vikings were on their couches for the NFL’s Super Wild Card weekend, watching the Texans, Chiefs, Packers, Lions, Bills and Buccaneers advance.
So what did the Vikings learn in watching the six games? Here are four possibilities.
With the 2023 season coming to an end, let’s see whose stocks rose and whose stocks fell for the Minnesota Vikings heading into the offseason.
What a ride the 2023 Minnesota Vikings gave us. From starting 0-3 and potentially selling the farm to winning six of the next seven, the 2023-2024 Vikings were a roller coaster of emotions from start to finish.
With the ride ending and everyone lining up to buy their reaction photos, let us recognize that there was a lot on the line for some of the players and coaches on this team beyond the box score. Some were making a case that they belong, not only in Minnesota but in the NFL. Others were looking to make their case for more money/more responsibility beyond 2024. For some, they reached and exceeded their goals this season, causing their stock to rise significantly. Others missed their marks and may find it more difficult to sell their stocks in the upcoming off-season.
Let’s look at some stocks that rose and fell along this rollercoaster of a season for the 2023 Vikings.
Tyler Forness reflects on his 2023 bold predictions and what he got right and wrong with analysis on each
The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings is over. The team finished 7-10 this season and had a real chance to make the playoffs when they were at 7-6 but lost their final four games.
Before the season, predictions for the team were all over the place. Some thought they would get the NFC North title for the second consecutive season while others thought they would take a sharp nosedive and finish as low as fourth in the division.
Before the season began, I made six different bold predictions that felt very plausible at the time. Let’s take a look at those and what happened with each.
The Minnesota Vikings folded under the pressure of a must-win situation and missed out on the playoffs. Chris Spooner looks at the good, bad, and ugly from the Vikings 30-20 loss against Detroit.
Well folks, we’ve finally reached the end of the season. With the loss today against the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings have missed the playoffs and their season is officially over.
Even if the Vikings had won today, they didn’t get the help they needed to make the playoffs, as both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints won their games, eliminating the Vikings once again for good measure.
It’s been a frustrating season to say the least, but the fact that Minnesota even had a chance at the playoffs in the final game of the season, given all they’ve had to go through this season, is a remarkable feat in and of itself. It’s important to remember that as we reflect upon the season that was and look ahead towards the season that will be.
But before we get into our off-season coverage, let’s take a minute to look back on the final game of the season against Detroit. Despite the loss, there were a number of good things for the Vikings to take into the offseason, as well as a number of issues they’re going to have to correct for 2024.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the good, bad and ugly from the Vikings 30-20 loss to the Lions.
One last shot. Can the offense help keep the Minnesota Vikings’ slim playoff hopes alive?
One last chance. The Minnesota Vikings have one last chance to cash in on their slim playoff hopes as they face the Detroit Lions on Sunday at noon CST.
The Detroit defense has been a solid unit, but not a dominant one. They are a good complement to their gound-and-pound offense with their physicality and focus on stopping the run.
Minnesota’s offense has been a whirlwind of change, starting three different quarterbacks in the last four games, including now-starter Nick Mullens, who was benched in favor of rookie Jaren Hall after the last meeting against the Lions. Now, with the season on the line, Mullens is back in charge and hoping to lead the Vikings to that final wild-card spot.
To do that, he will need to follow these four keys to success.
Jaren Hall gets the start. What does the offense need to do to be successful with Hall at the helm?
We’ve reached do-or-die time for the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers at 7:20 p.m. CST in primetime on Sunday Night Football. The winner gets to sleep peacefully, knowing that they have one more week to make a push for the playoffs. The loser goes home and likely eliminated from contention..
Green Bay’s defense under Joe Barry has been an uninspiring unit. They’re 17th in points allowed, 25th in EPA allowed/play and 30th in defensive DVOA. There has not been much to celebrate. This unit has been one of the more disappointing in the league.
The Vikings are not doing enough to win on the offensive side. They are scoring, averaging just over 24 points a game since Kirk Cousins has been out, but they can’t finish the job. Most of that is because of the lack of consistency at the position.
Josh Dobbs gave the performance of his life for six quarters. After that, he turns into a pumpkin for three straight games, including a game after the bye week. Nick Mullens gave it his best effort, and while the ball was moving, he didn’t perform at the level necessary to keep his job.
Now Minnesota turns to Jaren Hall, the only quarterback with a starting record above .500, to try to spark this offense to the playoffs.
Can he do it? He has the capabilities. He and the rest of this Minnesota offense must follow these four keys to success.
Check out the top waiver wire targets in fantasy football for Week 17.
The majority of fantasy football leagues come to an end this week. It has been a long and grueling process to the point, and most of us have been left with disappointment with championship week upon us.
However, there are still plenty of vital matchups taking place, and the waiver wire should be a busy marketplace in Week 17 after the events that unfolded on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Before we get to it, I’d like to thank you for sticking with us all season. We wouldn’t be here without the readers, and even though the suggestions haven’t always worked out, we’re appreciative of the time you’ve spent with us this season.
We’ll be taking a look at the top available players rostered in Yahoo leagues, using the 75% rostered mark as the threshold. If you have any questions about prioritizing a certain player over another, don’t be afraid to hit me up on X, formerly Twitter, (@KevinHickey11). Your questions and comments are always welcome!
Because it’s Week 17, there is no need for stashing players so we’ll only look at the top streaming options for the upcoming week along with the top waiver adds.
Fantasy football waiver wire recommendations refer to 12-team league formats, unless specifically stated.
Check back for any updates throughout Monday and Tuesday as more injury news becomes available.
During their 30-24 loss against the Detroit Lions, some players saw their stocks rise, while others fizzled in the heat of the moment.
This isn’t fun anymore.
The Minnesota Vikings concede the NFC North to the Detroit Lions with a 30-24 loss at home. They found another way to lose late as they lost the turnover battle four-to-one, but more importantly, they lost their firm grasp on their playoff future. At 7-8, the Vikings are on the outside looking in the NFC playoff picture as both the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks sit at 8-7.
The Vikings’ defense stayed on the field for almost 40 minutes of game time, while the offense couldn’t sustain any momentum long enough to be a consistent threat. This season is starting to get away from the Vikings, and there needs to be more self-reflection as they go into these final two weeks.
As Minnesota traverses these final two weeks, some players stepped up and had their stocks rise, while some players let their stocks fall in one of the more pivotal moments of the season.
Judd Zulgad looks at why Kevin O’Connell abandoned the run against the Lions
It was difficult to focus on all of the Minnesota Vikings’ shortcomings Sunday because the miscues by Nick Mullens were so frequent and damaging. The veteran quarterback threw four interceptions and fumbled twice, although neither resulted in a turnover, in a 30-24 loss to the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Lions’ victory, which was not secured until Mullens’ pass for Justin Jefferson was intercepted by safety Ifeatu Melifonwu at the Detroit 5-yard line with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, gave Detroit its first NFC North title ever and first division title since 1993 and knocked the Vikings out of a playoff spot (at least for now) with two regular-season games remaining.
In order to get back in the postseason mix — the Vikings will play host to Green Bay next Sunday and at Detroit on Jan. 7 — Kevin O’Connell is going to have to make a few adjustments with his offense.
The Vikings’ coach and chief play-callers needs to start with his team’s ground game. In a game in which the Vikings fell behind by 10 in the first half, but rallied to take a four-point lead in the third quarter, Mullens threw 36 passes and the Vikings only attempted 11 runs for 17 yards.
That was the fifth-fewest rushing yards in a single game in franchise history, according to the StateMuse website. The lowest total came on Oct. 28, 1996, when the Vikings rushed for 11 yards on 14 carries in a 15-13 loss to Chicago at the Metrodome. The 11 attempts tied for the fourth-fewest in Vikings’ history. O’Connell also called for only 11 runs last January in a 37-10 loss at Green Bay.
Ty Chandler, the new starting running back, had 17 yards on eight attempts and a touchdown; Mullens rushed once for 1 yard; and Alexander Mattison, returning from an ankle injury, carried two for negative-1 yard. That means the Vikings averaged 1.5 yards per carry.
The Vikings’ previous low rushing total under O’Connell came in a 10-3 loss last Dec. 11 in Detroit as the Vikings had 22 yards rushing.
This is not an attempt to absolve Mullens of blame. He’s been awful and I don’t care that the box score says he threw for 411 yards and two touchdowns. Mullens has six picks in two games and is prone to making some of the worst decisions of any quarterback to set foot on an NFL field.
Mullens deserves blame, but so does O’Connell because it’s his responsibility to make sure that a team with an unreliable passer can lean on its run game. That seemed to be an offseason priority when the Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver to a three-year, $21 million contract ($10.7 million guaranteed) last March.
Oliver was ranked second in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grade, in 2022 with the Baltimore Ravens. The Vikings finished last season tied for 27th in the NFL in rushing with an average of 97.7 yards per game. Mattison was signed to a two-year, $7 million deal to return and veteran Dalvin Cook was jettisoned.
Getting rid of Cook proved to be the right move. The 28-year-old joined the New York Jets and entered Sunday with 214 yards rushing on 67 carries (3.2 yards per rush) and no touchdowns in 14 games and one start. He did not carry the ball in the Jets’ victory over Washington on Sunday.
The issue is the Vikings either haven’t found the right running backs to replace Cook, or O’Connell simply isn’t willing to commit to the run on a consistent basis. Either way, this is a problem that has to be fixed, no matter who plays quarterback for the Vikings next season.
Ideally, the fix starts in the next two games.
Mattison, a third-round pick by the Vikings in 2019, had 13 starts entering Sunday but was averaging only 3.9 yards per carry and hadn’t rushed for a score on 168 attempts. He does have 27 catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns but also has had issues with key drops.
Running back Cam Akers was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in a September trade but suffered a ruptured Achilles’ in an early November win over Atlanta. Chandler, a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2022, has shown explosiveness when he gets the ball but his opportunities had been limited.
That changed last Sunday with Mattison sidelined as Chandler had 132 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown and established himself as the Vikings’ go-to guy. But that doesn’t mean much when the leading ball carrier only gets the ball in his hands eight times, as he did Sunday.
The Vikings entered Sunday again ranked 27th in the NFL in rushing (93.1 yards per game) and will fall further down the rankings after their porous performance against the Lions. Detroit was fifth in the NFL in run defense (90.6 yards per game), but the Vikings’ next opponent, the Packers, were 30th against the run (135.9).
This means the Vikings should be able to establish the run, and make life easier on their quarterback against their arch-rival. But for that to happen, O’Connell is going to have to trust the run — something he definitely didn’t do Sunday.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com.
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Ty Chandler plunges in from a yard out to tie the game at 7 against Detroit.
Ty Chandler immediately makes the most of his second start by punching it in from a yard out to tie the game at seven for the Minnesota Vikings.
Returning the favor.#Skol
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/whkgCQcV6Q
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 24, 2023
Chandler put the capper on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that found the Vikings’ offense moving smoothly down the field. A necessary answer to the Detroit Lion’s 14-play drive that took up over half of the first quarter.
Nick Mullens brought optimism that he can efficiently run this Minnesota offense as he went four-for-six for 60 yards on the drive. While Mullens was successful, there were still those couple plays that remind you that he is still a backup. Like his questionable decision to try to hit tight end Josh Oliver in the flat that almost turned into an easy interception for rookie Brian Branch.
Despite that, the Vikings ended up finding the end zone and made a statement to this Detroit defense. They are willing and able to keep up with their offense.
Stay tuned to Vikings Wire for more live game updates.
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