There was a bit of surprise in the Twin Cities when the Vikings were made slight underdogs for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. The Vikings were 8-1, coming off a thrilling overtime victory at Buffalo and returning home to play the first of three at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Were the oddsmakers serious? What did they know anyway? Turns out they knew plenty and were far too kind with the point spread.
A Vikings team that prided itself on its ability to compete, stage fourth-quarter comebacks and had exceeded anyone’s expectations, looked like a bottom-feeder in a 40-3 loss in which they were physically dominated on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked seven times and spent the day looking flustered as pressure neared.
That started early.
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Cousins was stripped of the ball on a sack by Dallas linebacker Micah Parsons on the Vikings’ third play from scrimmage and things only got worse from there. The Vikings’ only previous defeat under coach Kevin O’Connell came in Week 2 — 24-7 on a Monday night in Philadelphia.
The Vikings responded with seven consecutive victories that were by one score or less. The Eagles’ loss was ugly but not nearly as ugly as what happened Sunday. The Vikings had talked about having to quickly turn the page on their 33-30 win over the Bills and not suffer the same fate the 2017 team did when it followed their Minneapolis Miracle win with an awful performance against the Eagles in the NFC title game.
Instead, the Vikings put on a performance that went from unsightly in the first half to ghastly in the second. It’s the type of defeat that will raise legitimate questions about how good these Vikings really are and whether they were more lucky than anything in the first half of the season? Anyone in the national media who dismissed the Vikings’ success was given even more reason to question them.
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It won’t take long to find out if the Vikings are really contenders to make a run in the postseason — their record means they are almost certainly going to win the NFC North — or if the latest Purple-tinged disappointment is right around the corner. The New England Patriots, who improved to 6-4 with a victory over the Jets on Sunday, will come to U.S. Bank Stadium for a prime-time game on Thanksgiving night.
That will put Cousins and his teammate on a national stage with many convinced their unraveling has only begun. Cousins’ struggles in prime time and later starts has been well documented and Sunday’s debacle will only enforce the belief that the brighter the lights get, the more he’s incapable of winning high-pressure games.
Cousins, who was sacked seven times by the Cowboys, was far from the Vikings’ only problem Sunday. Everyone associated with the team had a terrible day and that included O’Connell.
O’Connell is an NFL Coach of the Year candidate in his first season, but he and his coaching staff got taken to school by Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and Co. The Cowboys dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, with Dallas’ running game carving up the Vikings’ defense and the Cowboys defense continually applying pressure on Cousins. A Vikings’ offensive line which has held its own this season was nothing more than a speed bump for Dallas’ pass rushers.
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw, brilliant until Sunday, started after clearing concussion protocol coming out of Buffalo. Darrisaw had a rough day and was lost after having to go back into the concussion protocol. He is likely to be replaced by Blake Brandel on Thursday.
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O’Connell’s poor day didn’t end with being outcoached. He also, inexplicably, left Cousins and other regulars in the game to get pounded in the third quarter. Cousins was finally removed in favor of backup Nick Mullens early in the fourth quarter.
That meant Cousins wouldn’t have a chance to pad his stats on a terrible day — 12 of 23 for 105 yards with a 64.2 passer rating — but it also stopped him from possibly being injured.
Mullens’ entrance into the game with about 10 minutes left was met with near silence from a crowd that had either left or was checked out by that point. It was exactly what the Vikings deserved considering their complete no-show on Sunday.
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Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
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