The Minnesota Vikings lost for the first time on Sunday, dropping a hard-fought contest to the Lions, 19-15.
The offense was again the issue.
Running backs Jordan Mason, Aaron Jones and DeeJay Dallas combined to carry the ball 14 times for 46 yards, an average of just 3.3 yards per tote.
Coach Kevin O’Connell made an extremely conservative call late in the fourth, punting on fourth-and-5 from his 33 with 3:01 remaining, and never got the ball back.
But the player under the most scrutiny — and deservedly so — is Kyler Murray.
The Vikings quarterback was 17-of-29 for 210 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, while adding four carries for 35 yards on the ground.
The numbers look OK, but Murray missed some throws and didn’t see others quickly enough, as the offense didn’t put up enough points against a poor Lions defense that was further compromised Sunday by injuries.
As the season nears its midway point, Murray has not found his footing in Minnesota. He is 26th of 31 quarterbacks with a dropback EPA/play of minus-0.011 this season, better than only Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert, Cam Ward, Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones.
The Vikings have a Super Bowl caliber defense, but they need Murray to be better.
Will he get there?
Kyler Murray Playing Worst Football of Career
When Murray was in Arizona, he had some very good quarterback seasons. In 2021, he finished seventh in the NFL in Total QBR. In 2024, he was ninth.
In total, Murray was in the top-15 of Total QBR in four of his seven years with the Cardinals, but team success was still hard to come by because of other organizational issues.
Now that he’s in Minnesota, average quarterback play would lift the Vikings into legitimate contender status, but he hasn’t answered that bell.
Murray has a Total QBR of 44.9 this season, which is on pace to be the worst of his career.
The first game against the Packers was a disaster, and his performance against the Buccaneers a couple weeks later was also wretched.
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Despite the early hiccups, there is some reason for optimism.
Murray is 15th in dropback EPA/play from Week 4 on, one spot behind Patrick Mahomes. He is still doing a good job taking care of the ball, as there has only been one turnover in those four games.
It hasn’t been a good season, but it hasn’t been quite the trainwreck that social media would lead you to believe.
Murray has shown flashes of what made him an above average quarterback in the past. He remains one of the most elusive running quarterbacks in the NFL, and has thrown some pretty deep balls to Jordan Addison.
There is also reason to believe things will continue to improve as does his chemistry with Justin Jefferson and O’Connell.
The consistency, though, has not been there, and the Vikings’ ceiling cannot be reached if Murray can’t get the chains moving on a consistent basis.
Minnesota has a huge game next week against the Bills, and Murray needs to show that he has the extra gear that made him one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the NFL in years past.
Time is not up on Murray, but the clock is ticking. He must be better.
Column: Will Kyler Murray Get Better?