It was difficult to focus on all of the Minnesota Vikings’ shortcomings Sunday because the miscues by Nick Mullens were so frequent and damaging. The veteran quarterback threw four interceptions and fumbled twice, although neither resulted in a turnover, in a 30-24 loss to the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Lions’ victory, which was not secured until Mullens’ pass for Justin Jefferson was intercepted by safety Ifeatu Melifonwu at the Detroit 5-yard line with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, gave Detroit its first NFC North title ever and first division title since 1993 and knocked the Vikings out of a playoff spot (at least for now) with two regular-season games remaining.
In order to get back in the postseason mix — the Vikings will play host to Green Bay next Sunday and at Detroit on Jan. 7 — Kevin O’Connell is going to have to make a few adjustments with his offense.
The Vikings’ coach and chief play-callers needs to start with his team’s ground game. In a game in which the Vikings fell behind by 10 in the first half, but rallied to take a four-point lead in the third quarter, Mullens threw 36 passes and the Vikings only attempted 11 runs for 17 yards.
That was the fifth-fewest rushing yards in a single game in franchise history, according to the StateMuse website. The lowest total came on Oct. 28, 1996, when the Vikings rushed for 11 yards on 14 carries in a 15-13 loss to Chicago at the Metrodome. The 11 attempts tied for the fourth-fewest in Vikings’ history. O’Connell also called for only 11 runs last January in a 37-10 loss at Green Bay.
Ty Chandler, the new starting running back, had 17 yards on eight attempts and a touchdown; Mullens rushed once for 1 yard; and Alexander Mattison, returning from an ankle injury, carried two for negative-1 yard. That means the Vikings averaged 1.5 yards per carry.
The Vikings’ previous low rushing total under O’Connell came in a 10-3 loss last Dec. 11 in Detroit as the Vikings had 22 yards rushing.
This is not an attempt to absolve Mullens of blame. He’s been awful and I don’t care that the box score says he threw for 411 yards and two touchdowns. Mullens has six picks in two games and is prone to making some of the worst decisions of any quarterback to set foot on an NFL field.
Mullens deserves blame, but so does O’Connell because it’s his responsibility to make sure that a team with an unreliable passer can lean on its run game. That seemed to be an offseason priority when the Vikings signed tight end Josh Oliver to a three-year, $21 million contract ($10.7 million guaranteed) last March.
Oliver was ranked second in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus’ run-blocking grade, in 2022 with the Baltimore Ravens. The Vikings finished last season tied for 27th in the NFL in rushing with an average of 97.7 yards per game. Mattison was signed to a two-year, $7 million deal to return and veteran Dalvin Cook was jettisoned.
Getting rid of Cook proved to be the right move. The 28-year-old joined the New York Jets and entered Sunday with 214 yards rushing on 67 carries (3.2 yards per rush) and no touchdowns in 14 games and one start. He did not carry the ball in the Jets’ victory over Washington on Sunday.
The issue is the Vikings either haven’t found the right running backs to replace Cook, or O’Connell simply isn’t willing to commit to the run on a consistent basis. Either way, this is a problem that has to be fixed, no matter who plays quarterback for the Vikings next season.
Ideally, the fix starts in the next two games.
Mattison, a third-round pick by the Vikings in 2019, had 13 starts entering Sunday but was averaging only 3.9 yards per carry and hadn’t rushed for a score on 168 attempts. He does have 27 catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns but also has had issues with key drops.
Running back Cam Akers was acquired from the Los Angeles Rams in a September trade but suffered a ruptured Achilles’ in an early November win over Atlanta. Chandler, a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2022, has shown explosiveness when he gets the ball but his opportunities had been limited.
That changed last Sunday with Mattison sidelined as Chandler had 132 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown and established himself as the Vikings’ go-to guy. But that doesn’t mean much when the leading ball carrier only gets the ball in his hands eight times, as he did Sunday.
The Vikings entered Sunday again ranked 27th in the NFL in rushing (93.1 yards per game) and will fall further down the rankings after their porous performance against the Lions. Detroit was fifth in the NFL in run defense (90.6 yards per game), but the Vikings’ next opponent, the Packers, were 30th against the run (135.9).
This means the Vikings should be able to establish the run, and make life easier on their quarterback against their arch-rival. But for that to happen, O’Connell is going to have to trust the run — something he definitely didn’t do Sunday.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com.
