Vikings' Loss to Green Bay Not a Sign of Things to Come in Minnesota

Coming off one of the team’s most embarrassing losses in recent memory, the Minnesota Vikings will need to regroup in order to steer their season back in the right direction.

Based on their pitiful showing against Green Bay, that might be a tall task. The offense could neither run the ball nor throw the ball efficiently. The defense was gashed on the ground and through the air. The Vikings were sloppy with the ball too, turning it over three times. If the Vikings of Week 5 are what fans will see the rest of the season, winning another game would be a lofty expectation.

There are numerous reasons to think Minnesota will get back on track. That could happen as soon as Sunday, when the Detroit Lions come to town. The Vikings' ugly showing against Green Bay will be less predictive of future results than a typical game for the following reasons.

1. Results from previous Thursday night games have not carried over to the following week in 2014.

The following table displays the results of previous Thursday night games, some of them with similarly ugly point differentials, and how the losing team fared in its next game.

Week	Team	Thursday Result	Following Week
1	Packers	16-36 L @ Seahawks	31-24 W vs. Jets
2	Steelers	6-26 L @ Ravens	37-19 W @ Panthers
3	Buccaneers	14-56 L @ Falcons	27-24 W @ Steelers
4	Redskins	14-45 L vs. Giants	TBD
5	Vikings	10-42 L @ Packers	TBD

A pattern has started to develop. Sure, the losing team from Thursday games will probably not continue winning the following week throughout the season. But at the very least, the loser has been far more competitive.

Many theories could explain the pattern of blowouts themselves, forgetting the following week’s results for the meantime. The first is that the less talented team in each game is at a disadvantage with the shorter week. For teams with talent deficiencies, preparation and thorough game planning can be equalizers.

In each of the previous Thursday night results, saying that the Steelers, Buccaneers, Redskins and Vikings were less talented than their opponents would not have been a stretch. Green Bay was not limited by a short week of preparation in Week 1 of course. So when teams simply aren’t as good as their opponents in these situations, blowouts tend to follow. Minnesota's roster does not match Green Bay's, so the logic follows.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Inexperience could be another factor. Minnesota had the fourth-youngest roster on the final cutdown day back in August. That figure has changed since, but it provides a decent approximation. Green Bay’s average age is very similar.

Inexperience in the current system is more important. The young players and veteran players alike are still internalizing the offensive and defensive schemes put into place by Minnesota's new coaching staff. The majority of Green Bay’s roster has played under its coaching staff for a while, so preparation for a single game may not be as tall a task.

None of these reasons fully excuse the pathetic display of football Minnesota exhibited Thursday, but they do explain to some degree why the Vikings were disadvantaged by the short week.

The responses from previous teams who fell on Thursday nights should be encouraging as well.

2. Minnesota was set up to fail on Thursday with Christian Ponder at quarterback.

Captain Obvious swoops in with this point, but the idea goes beyond simple hindsight. Ponder was brutal in Green Bay. Everyone knows that. The defeated quarterback may have even played worse under the fog of uncertainty that was the Teddy Bridgewater injury.

Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press provided info on how little preparation Ponder was able to get through before Thursday’s game:

"

Ponder started thinking he would start wed and then teddy ruled out today

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) October 3, 2014"

If Ponder did not know he would start until Wednesday, then imagining that he was fully prepared would be a stretch. The short week didn’t help either.

When the game actually began, some issues became evident. It appeared that offensive coordinator Norv Turner lacked confidence in Ponder’s ability to make multiple reads from a pocket, so play-action passing became an emphasis. Cutting the field in half and moving Ponder out of the pocket gave him a better chance to succeed, but that approach limits the offense's capabilities.

Though Turner and the offense enjoyed success through packaged plays and defined reads with Bridgewater the week before, they didn’t use those with Ponder. The playbook appeared to shrink, and the lack of preparation and any confidence issues with Ponder would explain why. Turner’s overarching plan for his third-string quarterback turned out to be not much of a plan at all.

Fortunately enough for the Vikings offense, help appears to be on its way, via Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN:

"

Bridgewater: "No doubt" he will be ready for next week's game vs. Detroit. #Vikings

— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) October 3, 2014"

Bridgewater has made significant strides toward proving his adeptness operating in a tight pocket, as proficient NFL quarterbacks often do. That immediately helps the offense moving forward, because Ponder and the offensive line were not in sync at all on Thursday night. In Bridgewater’s first start, albeit against a lesser pass rush, he took no sacks.

The rookie raises the play of the entire offense in a way that Ponder has never been capable of. That is sorely needed in Minnesota, if Thursday night’s mockery is any indication.

3. The schedule is about to lighten up.

The meatiest part of Minnesota’s schedule is over with. If asked before the season whether a 2-3 record would be acceptable after five games, considering the talent of the first five teams and the quality of their quarterbacks, Minnesota would certainly have taken it.

Now the Vikings get a home game against a Detroit team that is limping both literally and psychologically. Then they draw three teams that also have endured quarterback changes this season and have been inconsistent at best in 2014.

Week	Opponent	Place
6	Lions	Home
7	Bills	Away
8	Buccaneers	Away
9	Redskins	Home
10	BYE

For the Vikings, the plan seems clear. Building the team back up into what the coaching staff envisions, and doing so against opponents that lack a distinct talent advantage over Minnesota, is the first step. While that happens, Bridgewater should continue to grow into his starting job and return to full health. Players like Chad Greenway and Kyle Rudolph should also return to the lineup in time for the stretch run as well.

4. Mike Zimmer will challenge the team going into Week 7.

Don’t underestimate the value of a fiery coach like Zimmer challenging his team on a level unseen until this point in the season. He made his feelings on the team’s shambolic showing in Green Bay clear in postgame interviews:

"

Zimmer on regrouping: "If I have to hurt some feelings, I’m going to hurt some feelings. I don’t care because my feelings are hurt, too.”

— Matt Vensel (@mattvensel) October 3, 2014"

The Vikings will return to practice on Tuesday, where each player will face up to his awful display on film. Zimmer and his staff will challenge the players to raise their play or lose their roles on the team. Not enough players on this team are so clearly the best options at their respective positions as to be invulnerable to being replaced, so the response against Detroit ought to be positive.

For all these reasons, expect much more out of the Vikings moving forward from their loss in Green Bay. Extenuating circumstances played a big role in the team’s poor showing, and the arrow on the team’s growth is still pointing upward for the remainder of the season.