Everyone was right. The Minnesota Vikings lose to the New York Giants, 31-24. Minnesota fills their first-round exit prophecy, and it almost entirely falls on the coaches. The offense really did well, but the defense…allowed 31 to the Giants.
Offense is up first, and I hope Kirk Cousins goes home and tries to relax because he dragged this shuffling carcass of a team as far as he could. 273 yards and two touchdowns while getting floored by New York’s defensive line is a statline that should win a team games. 129 yards for T.J. Hockenson should be part of a win. Why wasn’t it? Idiotic coaching. I’ll save most of my words for the defensive calling, but I’m not gonna shy away from whatever local moron decided Justin Jefferson should take a sweep, then pass it back to a Kirk Cousins who’s a few feet from a stretcher trip. Screens during the final drive of the game. Why? New York didn’t blitz at the end because they didn’t have to. Kevin O’Connell overthought the holy hell out of this game and it bit him back hard. The rushing game was never consistently there because our offensive line isn’t worth a penny. They lack effort, form, and being good at football. Not usually a good combo.
Defense is next, and there really isn’t anything worth mentioning about the players because they never had a chance. They never had a chance because there’s been a tumor standing on the sideline, drool spilling from his mouth, fooling the entire Minnesota Vikings front office into thinking he’s competent whatsoever. If Ed Donatell still has a job with this team next year, I might not waste my time watching because the outcome is already decided. Not a soul was in the middle of the field, allowing Daniel Jones to rip us apart through the air and on the ground. Outside of that slimebag, the team didn’t tackle well at all when they had the chance to. Coverage wasn’t great, and the pressure put on Jones by the defensive line wasn’t nearly enough (most likely also due to Donashell). Three sacks is okay, but there wasn’t much more in Jones’ face than that. Shameful all throughout.
Special Teams is last, and Greg Joseph did what he could with the opportunities allotted. Ryan Wright had a solid game, averaging 54.7 yards per punt. Jalen Reagor, someone we specifically traded for to return punts, almost ended the game early by not calling for a fair catch and then muffing the punt. He really hasn’t been worth what we gave up for him, hopefully he can turn it around next year. Overall, it was a fun and historic year, I just wish the team could’ve put their best foot forward in this one. Time to look ahead to the offseason/draft and leave this where it ended. It’s been an interesting one, to say the least.
