Vikings-Bills

Well, that was a disaster. Everything went right for the Buffalo Bills in the first half as they jumped all over the Vikings early. 27-0 at the half. 27-6 at the end.

Trap game? Maybe. Did the Vikings look past the lowly Bills and towards their Thursday night date with the Los Angeles Rams? Perhaps. It's tough to know the mood, intentions of a team sitting where I'm sitting. When the Vikings announced on Friday that running back Dalvin Cook and defensive end Everson Griffen would sit against the Bills it felt like they were preserving the offensive and defensive stalwarts for a more important game. Especially considering that the more important game was being played on only three days of rest.

From the start, this was a game that simply, and completely fell the Bills' way. On the third play of the game Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson had Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen wrapped up for a sack. Unfortunately, defensive tackle Linval Jospeh came in a beat late and hit Allen helmet-to-helmet. The Bills should've been punting and the Vikings offense should've been starting the game with good field position. Instead of punting the Bills were on their way to their first touchdown. The breaks kept coming for the Bills. The Vikings offense responded to the Bills early score with Kirk Cousins fumbles on their first two possessions. Each gave the Bills the ball at around the Vikings 20-yard line. One served up a touchdown. The other served up a field goal. Just like that, 17-0 Bills. A "lesser" team with nothing to lose was leading a "better" team that might've been looking ahead.

It's the NFL. The talent difference between teams isn't as great as most talking heads and all fans make it seem. If a "lesser" team can get a few breaks, gain some momentum, and get a decent lead, they can just tee off. They can take some risks. They can play the game on their terms. This was one of those games. It got away from the Vikings early and it stayed out of reach throughout. The game got away from them. So did the ball. It looked like they had some sort of ball repellent all game long. Cousins lost those two early fumbles. He had a couple he didn't lose. When the Bills put the ball on the ground it always found it's way back into their hands. Even on a beautifully executed onside kick at the end of game the ball somehow managed to avoid Vikings players. It was surrounded by three Vikings players and still found it's way out of bounds. Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs dropped what could've been a long touchdown. He doesn't drop passes. Adam Thielen had a drop. He doesn't drop passes. Bills linebacker Matt Milano even got himself an interception with some nifty footwork while he was flat on his back. The ball was as much the Vikings opponent as the Bills.

Positives for the Vikings in a game like this?
-Matt Wile had a 70-yard punt.
-Laquon Treadwell had no drops.
-C.J. Ham had a couple nice plays late in the game.
Positives are few in a game like this. It was actually great to see Treadwell make the plays that he made. On a day in which the ball seemed to be the mortal enemy of every player in purple Treadwell seemed to be friends with it. I hope that continues.

When very good teams, and the Vikings are a very good team, have a game like this early in the season I often think back to the 2003 New England Patriots. They opened the season with a 31-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills. That Patriots team managed to recover from that disaster and win the Super Bowl. It doesn't feel that way now but that outcome is still out there for the Vikings.