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It’s safe to say that the Minnesota Vikings did not wish for their Week 17 outcome to be a 27-point loss to the Green Bay Packers, but their performance on Sunday night made that result far too easy.
Missing QB Kirk Cousins due to a positive COVID diagnosis, the Vikings were forced to turn to journeyman Sean Mannion, who continuously struggled to move the ball down the field against a stout defensive gameplan by the Packers. Finally having been eliminated from postseason contention, the Vikings have one final week to try and correct a few things before the offseason, which could see some major turnover.
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Vikings Week 17 Takeaways
3. Recent defensive secondary upgrades have been massive failures
The defensive secondary for the Vikings has been a mess the past few years, and the front office has looked to the draft to try and eradicate those issues. But with many of these selections failing to be helpful at the next level, Minnesota is back at where it started.
Any team trying to stop or even slow Davante Adams down is going to have a hard time, but Adams decided to put on an absolute clinic Sunday, hauling in 11 passes for 136 yards and 1 TD, repeatedly being in sync with Aaron Rodgers on back-shoulder connections.
If the Vikings want to compete anytime soon, then they either need to shell out big money in free agency (and not to players as old as Patrick Peterson) or they need to really nail their next draft picks on new members of their secondary.
2. Offensive efficiency heavily reliant on an established WR2
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Justin Jefferson is the clear-cut top option in the Minnesota offense through the air, and his two-year career has been one for the ages in terms of production. But when a team can heavily focus their pass coverage on him, this offense becomes quite stagnant.
The loss of Adam Thielen for the year was quite evident on Sunday, and even though KJ Osborn did haul in a late TD, it was not enough to justify a 6/58 line for Jefferson on a healthy 16 targets. Yes, Jefferson was being targeted by Mannion and rookie Kellen Mond, but the fact still remains that this offense is at its best when there are two well-functioning WR options, which helps take pressure off of Jefferson and makes Dalvin Cook more efficient on the ground.
1. Minnesota desperately needs a long-term QB solution
Cousins has been one of the most efficient QBs this year, as his 30 TDs to 7 interceptions both rank within the top 10 across the league. But with the Vikings desperately needing to free up some cap space to open up a new window of contention, they need to try and find their long-term solution at this position.
Mond, who was selected in the 3rd round this past year, was oddly only given one drive in the blowout, completing two of three attempts for five yards. Mannion was forced to depart after a slight injury, opening the door for Mond to get his first taste of the NFL.
Mond might be that guy for this team in the future, but the only way they will ever know that is if they give him valuable time running this offense during the game. Mannion certainly is not the guy who can take over/for Cousins, and if this team wants to ensure they will be able to compete with the Packers, they need to devote time to determine if they already have the future QB or still need to find him.
