The Minnesota Vikings opened the season with a 27-24 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The difference in this game was the penalty disparity. For most of my six decades with the team the Vikings have been one of the least penalized teams in the league. Six to eight penalties per game is the norm. Double digit penalties in a game is a Vikings rarity. In Cincinnati yesterday, that wasn’t the case. At all. The Vikings had four penalties on their first possession. They were called for about 20 penalties for the game. The Bengals accepted 12 of those penalties. It was a game-long problem. Nearly all of the penalties were on offense. It felt like the Vikings had to gain at least 15 yards on every set of downs. The penalties killed drives. When they didn’t kill drives, the penalties slowed drives. The Vikings offense rarely had any rhythm. They’d make a play, get a penalty. Repeat. They were moving backwards as often as they were moving forward. Most of the penalties were pre-snap penalties. Basically, stupid penalties. Unforced penalties. Mind-numbing, drive-killing penalties. The Bengals had three penalties. Three penalties. Just three penalties. Three!
The Vikings hurt themselves. Repeatedly. With that in mind, it was actually remarkable that they were able to force overtime. They were down 21-7 with just over a quarter to play. At the end of regulation, Greg Joseph’s 53-yard field goal made it 24-24. The Vikings hadn’t put an end to the mistakes as they whittled away at the Bengals lead. They just made fewer of them. Limit mistakes and good things can happen. Imagine that. Better things did happen. The Vikings had opportunities to win. They had an opportunity to win, at least take the lead, late in regulation. They had two opportunities to win in overtime. The final opportunity looked like the one.
And then it wasn’t.
Their final opportunity to win came when Justin Jefferson took a Kirk Cousins pass to the Bengals 38-yard line with 2 minutes to play in overtime. Field goal. Touchdown. Preferably touchdown. Leave no doubt. The Vikings were right where they needed to be. They were about where they were when Joseph tied the game in regulation. Everything felt grand for the Vikings. Then the officials decided that this game was going to have a different sort of ending. The Vikings ran Dalvin Cook over right tackle. He doesn’t get much. He’s on his butt, ball comes out, Bengals end up with it. There wasn’t a replay that showed anything other than Cook’s butt hitting the turf before the ball left his grip. I don’t get it. I suppose it was one of those “no clear evidence to reverse the call on the field” kind of deals. Except that there was clear evidence. Cook was down. I do not get what the officials, replay and otherwise, saw. The only turnover of the game, by either team, felt manufactured by the officials on the field and the replay officials in New York. I just don’t get it.
While waiting for the replay, I was nervous. I wasn’t nervous because I questioned what I’d seen live or on replays. I was nervous because of an earlier decision by the replay officials. Justin Jefferson lunged for an apparent touchdown with about 10 minutes to play in regulation. The on-field officials ruled that his knee was down before the ball crossed the goal line. Mike Zimmer challenged that call. Gotta get that touchdown. Gotta cut the Bengals lead to 24-21. I liked the decision by Zimmer for the simple reason that Jefferson had scored the touchdown. There was no doubt in my mind. There was no risk. The replay officials somehow decided that there was no clear evidence to reverse what was called on the field. I just don’t get it. I don’t get how NFL officials with access to loads of replays with loads of angles can see something so different from what I see. Cook scored on the next play so the only thing that was lost was a timeout. It probably would’ve been nice to have that timeout for later but I really saw no gamble in Zimmer’s decision to challenge the call. Jefferson had scored. I just don’t get it.
It’s easy to point to the mystifying decisions of the replay officials as the reason for this loss. Would the Vikings have won if those officials had seen the plays as I saw them? Probably. But the Vikings put themselves in a position to lose this game. The offense was sloppy. They made too many unforced mistakes and too many forced (holding) mistakes. They played like an offense that hadn’t played a live game together. The defense was mostly good but had some slip-ups. A few receivers getting free for easy yards and an easy score. The Vikings had to win this game. It’s Cincinnati. No offense to the Bengals. They have several very promising young players. They are headed in a positive direction if Zac Taylor is the right coach. This was a game that the Vikings should win and they have to win the games that they should win. They have a difficult schedule. Arizona is next. Seattle and Cleveland follow. They had to win this game. They didn’t play well but still had a shot. Only to let it slip away.
A few game thoughts.
One of the few positives on offense was the play of second-year receiver K.J. Osborn. The Vikings needed a receiver not named Adam Thielen or Justin Jefferson to emerge. He had seven catches for 76 yards. His tough catch and run to convert a 3rd-and-24 was the key to the first touchdown drive. This was a great step forward for Osborn.
The Vikings missed tight end Irv Smith Jr. I like Tyler Conklin and he had made a couple plays. They need more from the position. Hopefully, Chris Herndon gets up to speed soon.
The Vikings need rookie tackle Christian Darrisaw healthy and in the lineup. The offensive line often made things difficult for Kirk Cousins. Chandler Jones and Myles Garrett on the horizon is terrifying.
The Vikings also need linebacker Anthony Barr healthy and in the lineup. Nick Vigil is a nice third linebacker but they need Barr on the field.
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