Zulgad: Vikings have only themselves to blame for quick and disappointing playoff exit

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The Vikings’ season came to an abrupt end on Sunday in a 31-24 wild card loss at U.S. Bank Stadium not so much because of what the New York Giants did, but more so because of what the Vikings didn’t do.

Minnesota had won 11 games this season by an NFL-record one score, including a last-second victory over the visiting Giants on Christmas Eve, but its fourth-quarter magic ran out at the worst possible time, amidst a series of self-inflicted wounds.

The worst being an absolutely atrocious performance by a defense that had been a weak link all season. Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said last week that “it’s our time to shine as a defense, now that we’re hitting the playoffs.”

But three weeks after giving up 445 yards to the Giants in a 27-24 victory that ended on Greg Joseph’s 61-yard field goal as time expired, Donatell’s defense surrendered 431 yards and allowed 301 yards passing and two touchdowns and 78 yards on 17 carries to Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

It won’t be surprising if Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, finishing up his first year, makes a change at defensive coordinator. The Vikings’ defense has flaws, and a few too many aging players, but Donatell did nothing to make it better.

Occasionally, O’Connell seemed to light a fire under Donatell after a poor outing, but it never seemed that Donatell realized he needed to make significant and permanent adjustments in a 3-4 scheme. If you don’t include the Giants’ drives that ended the first half and the game on Sunday, they scored five touchdowns and had a field goal on seven possessions.

The Vikings too often looked slow against the pass and the run and passive when they should have been aggressive. O’Connell defended Donatell, declining to talk about his future, but Sunday should have been the final straw. The Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Kirk Cousins’ 1-yard touchdown run but that was the last time Minnesota would lead.

One can debate the importance of time of possession, but it was key in this game because the Vikings and Giants had no interest in having their subpar defenses on the field any longer than necessary. The Giants ended up controlling the ball for 33 minutes and 36 seconds; the Vikings were at 26:24.

Still, the Vikings appeared to be in good shape trailing by seven with 7:47 left in the fourth quarter after Saquon Barkley scored on a 2-yard run. Cousins had tied an NFL record by leading eight fourth-quarter comebacks this season and had shown a clutch ability we hadn’t seen before.

The Vikings started their penultimate offensive possession at their own 23. There would be no Cousins magic. The Vikings went three-and-out with Dalvin Cook losing 4 yards on a pass from Cousins, followed by a 3-yard pass to T.J. Hockenson and then an incompletion to Cook on third-and-11.

O’Connell’s play calls were almost as baffling as his first-quarter decision to call for a pass from wide receiver Justin Jefferson to Cousins on third-and-1. Cousins caught the ball but lost 2 yards. The Giants went up 14-7 on their next drive.

The Vikings got the ball back for the final time with 2:56 remaining at their own 12 and no timeouts. Minnesota appeared to get a huge break on second-and-4 when Cousins’ incompletion to K.J. Osborn was wiped out by a questionable roughing the passer call on Dexter Lawrence II.

That gave the Vikings a first down at their own 33 with 2:30 left. Cousins got the Vikings to their own 48-yard line, where they faced fourth-and-8. The box score will say Cousins had a strong day — 31-of-39 for 273 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions — but the eye test will say Cousins returned to his old habits at the worst moment.

His decision to throw a 3-yard pass to Hockenson on fourth down was a familiar and unwelcome reminder of Cousins at his worst. O’Connell had been hired to get the most from Cousins and, yet, in this key situation his veteran quarterback took the safe and season-ending route.

“The intent as a play caller is you’re not going to call a primary concept where somebody is short of the sticks to gain, especially on fourth down,” O’Connell said. “If it’s third down and you can catch, convert and make it a fourth-and-2 or 3, that’s OK. Looking back on it, I maybe could have just been a little bit more, ‘Hey, this is kind of where you want the ball to go.’

“But I want Kirk to be able to play. I want him to be free out there to make good decisions. He did all night long. Moved our team. Stood in there, getting the ball out of his hand in rhythm. It just so happens that that down — we just didn’t get enough on the play regardless. In the end, I look at (it) as it’s as much on me in that play call, even though we had eligible (receivers) with a chance down the field.”

So often this season the O’Connell and Cousins combination had found a way to find those receivers — Jefferson, Osborn and Adam Thielen in this case — but on Sunday the magic ran out. Combine that failure with a shaky defense that appeared to have no plan and you have the recipe for yet another Vikings disappointment.

Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com

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