1. Herbert toasts Flores’ pressure cooker
Unlike the three quarterbacks the Vikings have defeated — still-raw Caleb Williams, bad backup Jake Browning and rookie third-rounder Dillon Gabriel — elite franchise QB Justin Herbert looked totally comfortable being uncomfortable as defensive coordinator Brian Flores blitzed him early and often during Thursday’s 37-10 beatdown by the Chargers. The Vikings had pressured Herbert 15 times on 23 dropbacks (65.2%) when it was a 21-3 game at the half. Herbert calmly completed 8 of 10 passes for 149 yards, six first downs and a touchdown while running from pressure four times for 45 yards and three more first downs. Number of sacks and negative plays on those 15 pressures: 1.
The Vikings’ defense started with a decent plan. The players just weren’t ready. They played slower than Herbert, mentally and physically. They couldn’t finish. They miss Andrew Van Ginkel in a big way. And, oh yeah, Justin Herbert isn’t Dillon Gabriel. And neither is Jared Goff, whom the Vikings play at Detroit a week from Sunday.
2. Beatdowns happen when you ignore the run
This was one of those rare boring mismatch NFL games when the embarrassing “wow” stats kept coming in waves. My favorite came early in the third quarter, when Jim Harbaugh seemed to dedicate the second half to embarrassing a Vikings team that didn’t hire him when it chose Kevin O’Connell in 2022. The Chargers opened with three straight impose-your-will runs for 23 yards up the gut when this stat appeared: The Chargers have 20 first downs, the Vikings have 24 plays!
At that point, the Vikings had run the ball five times for 10 yards. With a backup quarterback who was playing injured behind an offensive line missing both of its starting tackles. The Chargers’ leading rusher had 23 carries for 117 yards. The Vikings’ leading rusher had two carries for 16 yards. The defense was terrible, yes, but the Vikings played the opposite of complementary football from the get-go, so the defense was not entirely responsible for the Chargers holding the ball for over 39 minutes.
3. Penalties costing Price in return game
How about we make the following a coaching point of emphasis before the Lions game: Stop committing penalties when Myles Price has the ball in his hands. The undrafted rookie returner is a good one. He could be making a name for himself league-wide if all of his best returns weren’t being called back. He lost 54 yards of field position in returns because of three more penalties on Thursday. Talk about hidden yards. The Vikings’ offense had only 164 yards.
Price took the opening kickoff 46 yards to the Vikings’ 46. But Tyler Batty was flagged for holding. That cost 30 yards of field position and at least a field goal attempt since the offense did move the ball 25 yards before O’Connell decided to pass on third-and-1 (shocker) and punted after an incompletion. Another Batty holding penalty wiped out a 42-yard return to the Minnesota 41 when it was a 24-3 game. The ball was moved 19 yards back. Price did his best to establish momentum, but Batty kept batting it down.
4. Turner could have been tossed
This observer is known for defending NFL defenders against the injustices from a league that gloats every time it creates another rule or point of emphasis that favors the quarterback. That being said, Dallas Turner is lucky he wasn’t ejected for hitting Herbert late as he intentionally lowered his helmet to strike Herbert in the head.
If Turner were back at Alabama, college football rules would have tossed him this week and the first half of next week for targeting. The game was scoreless. It was third-and-1. Herbert easily beat the pressure to complete a 15-yard pass to the Vikings’ 17. Turner’s easily avoidable penalty moved the ball to the 8 and the Vikings were down 7-0 in a blink. That’s about the only time Turner was noticed by these eyeballs. He had no solo tackles and two assists.
