'Keep fighting': Vikings trying to stay positive amid 0-3 start
Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings gets hit by Jeffery Simmons #98 of the Tennessee Titans in the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Tennessee Titans defeated the Minnesota Vikings 31-30. ((Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - Nobody likes to lose, and the Minnesota Vikings are doing some soul-searching and looking in the mirror after a 31-30 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
For the first time under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings are 0-3 to start a season. Monday, the team was in the film room analyzing the good, the bad and the ugly from Sunday’s loss.
The good – Justin Jefferson’s seven catches for 175 yards and a touchdown. Dalvin Cook had 22 carries for 181 yards and a touchdown, and added two catches for 18 yards. Adam Thielen made a diving touchdown catch. Kirk Cousins passed for 251 yards and three touchdowns, bouncing back from one of his worst performances as a starting quarterback.
The bad – The defense, which allowed over 100 yards rushing for the third straight week. A young secondary missing starters gave up big plays and allowed Ryan Tannehill to pass for 321 yards. That’s despite only allowing the Titans to go 3-of-13 on third down conversions, and out of eight red zone opportunities, they scored two touchdowns.
Through three weeks, the Vikings have one of the worst defenses in the NFL, allowing 1,320 total yards. They’re not generating enough pressure on the quarterback, and not making enough plays to get off the field.
The ugly – The offensive line, and the last two drives on Sunday. They resulted in 13 total yards, and needing only a field goal to get a win, the Vikings went backwards after a gift roughing the passer penalty.
While there are signs of progress, the Vikings are 0-3. So what is Mike Zimmer’s message to the team?
“Keep fighting. Everybody’s got to continue to grind and keep doing their thing. I’m not really used to losing either, so that’s a good thing,” Zimmer said. “We work hard and we don’t have anything to show for it right now. It’s disappointing, it’s frustrating, it’s all those things that you want to say. We’ve got to keep grinding and hopefully the ball bounces our way and we’ll get a win here this next week.”
Losing is not something the Vikings want to become familiar with, especially for second-year tight end Irv Smith Jr. He lost three games his entire college career at Alabama.
“Definitely something I’m not used to. It’s definitely going to have to stop soon because as a team, we have a lot of goals that we want to achieve, and we won’t achieve those goals by losing,” Smith Jr. said.
There are plenty of areas that need attention and plenty of things to fix, but the defense arguably needs the most work. They’re without four starters, and gave up at least three big plays to Tannehill Sunday. Two long pass plays, over Jeff Gladney and Holton Hill, led to Derrick Henry touchdowns that gave the Titans a 25-24 lead after they were down 12 in the third quarter.
Safety Anthony Harris says after watching the tape, they’re not as far off as it might look.
“We feel like we’re right there. We played with a lot more intensity this past week, put ourselves in a position to win, but now we’ve just got to figure out how to close and finish people off when you get the chance,” Harris said.
The Vikings’ offense put up 464 yards and 40 points on Sunday. Most days under Zimmer, that’s plenty to win. Yet with 1:44 to play and down 31-30, the Vikings needed only a field goal to get their first win.
They were gifted a roughing the passer penalty, then went backwards 16 yards. Cousins faced immediate pressure on two incompletions, and in between, wasn’t ready for a Garrett Bradbury snap, and the result was a 16-yard loss.
While they work to correct mistakes in the film room and on the practice field, just as important is staying together in the locker room. It’s easy to point fingers when you lose. Thielen said Monday they have to do whatever it takes to stay positive.
“Is it easy? No, absolutely not. Is it frustrating? Yes, 100 percent. The best teams find a way, and they keep going back to work and stay positive and stick together. We have a team that’s a bunch of fighters that are going to keep going to work and trying to get better individually to help this team win,” Thielen said. “You see what kind of guys you have in your locker room when things are bad. When things are good, it’s easy to have energy and be positive. You really find out what kind of guys you have when you’re in a tough spot and you’re not playing well.”
The Vikings and Houston Texans will be equally desperate on Sunday. Both will be looking for their first wins of 2020.