The Vikings’ offensive performance on Sunday in Green Bay was the kind you’d see from a 3-12 team playing out the string in a pointless Week 17 tilt long after being eliminated from playoff contention. Of a team that was on its backup quarterback and had its fanbase saying, “We have to get a better No. 2 next offseason so we don’t have to go through THIS again.” Of a team that did not have any interest in opening up its playbook, and when it was finally forced to, you understood why. Minnesota managed 4 total yards of offense in the second half of a 23-6 loss to Green Bay on Sunday. That number dips below zero if you include a 5-yard loss on a false start infraction. The second half drive chart: 3 and out 3 and out 3 and out interception interception The offensive highlights of the final 30 minutes were sacks of J. J. McCarthy, where the quarterback was ruled down at his own 1-yard line rather than them being ruled safeties. The game was over the moment Minnesota went down multiple scores after a blunder by Myles Price on a punt return. The Vikings couldn’t block Packers star edge rusher Micah Parsons, or anyone else on Green Bay’s defensive front. McCarthy isn’t nearly good enough at this juncture to operate the offense under the most optimal conditions, as proven last week in a 19-17 loss to Chicago wherein Minnesota played 58 minutes of putrid offense . at home . against one of the worst defenses in football. When facing a good defense in a bad script? Forget it, it’s over. It’s non-competitive. Minnesota’s offense is an eyesore. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell admitted postgame to reporters that his team’s margin for error is “razor thin” at the moment. The narrow path to victory he described sounded like a team hoping to milk the clock to shorten the game and win 13-10. Never would you have thought this was possible in the O’Connell era. In the coach’s previous three seasons guiding the Vikings’ offense, Minnesota has ranked sixth, fifth and sixth in the NFL in passing yards. That includes a season in which Josh Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall took turns filling in after Kirk Cousins went down with a season-ending injury. Minnesota is averaging 138 yards through the air in McCarthy’s six starts. On a day when they lost by three scores, the Vikings attempted only 19 passes, and even that somehow felt like too many. There was never a guarantee Minnesota would always be good, but with O’Connell, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, the assumption was the Vikings would always be fun. Yet this neutered offense is currently one of the toughest watches in football. It can be enjoyable to watch a youthful signal caller learn, develop and blossom, even amid growing pains. But this experiment is getting worse every week. O’Connell and McCarthy keep referring to mechanical changes the 22-year-old is attempting to master and implement on the fly. That process, frankly, feels impossible to complete midseason. It’s currently going about as poorly as you’d expect. As a result, fans likely feel worse and worse about this team with each passing performance. And with playoff odds now sitting south of 5% after this latest loss, what’s the point of tuning in? It’s certainly not for entertainment; there was none of that to be found on Sunday.
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