EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings lost ground to Philadelphia in the race for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, but the bigger concern is the health of their offensive line heading into a Week 15 home game against the Bengals.
By the end of Sunday’s 31-24 loss at Carolina, right guard Joe Berger was the only starting lineman manning his normal position. By no coincidence, Case Keenum was sacked a season-high six times, while the sixth-ranked running game disappeared.
“Some guys got beat (physically) that don’t normally get beat,” head coach Mike Zimmer said Monday. “And we had some mental errors. We might have been late pushing out to a guy or something like that. That’s mostly what it was.”
Right tackle Mike Remmers (lower back) missed his fifth straight game. Center Pat Elflein (shoulder) missed his first. To compensate, the Vikings started Rashod Hill at right tackle, while moving left guard Nick Easton to center and backup Jeremiah Sirles to left guard.
But then left tackle Riley Reiff sprained his left ankle in the third quarter and did not return. That forced Hill to move from right to left tackle, Sirles to move from left guard to right tackle, and rookie Danny Isadora to step in at left guard.
Reiff’s injury is the biggest concern. Zimmer rarely discusses injuries, but said the injury was much less serious than first believed. He also said the ankle is not broken.
As for any other details as to who may or may not play, Zimmer snapped, “Today is Monday. I’m not going to talk about injuries. We’re not going to go there. There is no sense in starting already. I’ll know more Wednesday when they practice.”
Meanwhile, Zimmer confirmed that Keenum will be his starting quarterback again on Sunday. Keenum had three turnovers, but only one was his fault.
The Vikings need the injuries up front to heal in time for them to finish strong against the Bengals, Packers (and probably Aaron Rodgers) in Green Bay and the Bears at home.
Asked if he didn’t play Remmers or Elflein because he wants them healthy for the playoffs, Zimmer said, “Come on. Come on. You didn’t seriously ask me that, did you? If guys can play, they’re playing. That’s just how it’ll be. We’re not in the playoffs and we need to go out and play.”
At 10-3, the Vikings hold the No. 2 seed in the NFC behind the Eagles (11-2). But Philadelphia has lost quarterback Carson Wentz for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
There are several playoff scenarios, but the best is the following, which comes from leading the Packers and Lions by three games with three to play: If the Vikings win on Sunday, they will clinch their second NFC North title in the past three years.
“We feel like we can still control our situation,” tight end Kyle Rudolph said. “But we’re not good enough to just roll the ball out there on offense. We can’t make uncharacteristic mistakes and be successful.”
Having a healthy offensive line certainly would help as well.
–The Vikings are the latest team to be asked what they think about the NFL’s unpopular definition of what constitutes a catch.
Near the end of the first half, receiver Adam Thielen was awarded a touchdown that would have given the Vikings a 17-14 lead. He caught the ball in the back of the end zone and landed just in bounds.
But …
When the score was automatically reviewed, it was ruled an incompletion because the ball moved when Thielen landed. It never touched the ground, but that didn’t matter.
Head coach Mike Zimmer was asked if he was given an explanation on the reversal.
“No,” he said.
Then he couldn’t resist elaborating.
“I just think the whole thing is messed up,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years and I know what a catch looks like. So, the ball moved a little bit, yeah. But, he caught the ball.”
NOTES: RT Mike Remmers missed his fifth straight game. He missed three games because of a concussion and the past two because of a lower back injury. … C Pat Elflein missed the first game of his rookie season because of a shoulder injury. He had started every one of the first 12 games. … LB Emmanuel Lamur was on crutches with a protective boot on his right foot after Sunday’s game. … WR Adam Thielen is becoming richer by the catch. With six catches on Sunday, he now has 80 on the season. He has incentives for reaching 70 ($500,000), 80 (another $250,000) and 90 (another $250,000) this season.
REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS
–PASSING OFFENSE: D — A beat-up offensive line had its worst outing of the season as Case Keenum was sacked a season-high six times. One of the sacks included a strip that was recovered by Carolina. Keenum also had a badly underthrown deep ball that was intercepted on the game’s first possession. Receiver Stefon Diggs also had a ball go off his hands for another interception. A 52-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen made things interesting in the fourth quarter, but the passing game was too sloppy and ineffective for too much of the game. Tight end Kyle Rudolph dropped a deep ball, and Thielen bobbled a ball in the end zone, causing the ruling of a touchdown to be reversed.
–RUSHING OFFENSE: D — Jerick McKinnon broke a 17-yard run, but other than that, the rushing offense was pretty much limited to Keenum running for his life while turning some sacks into gains. Latavius Murray had his least productive outing since Dalvin Cook went down with a season-ending injury in Week 4. Murray had only 14 yards on nine carries. He lost yardage on three of his nine carries.
–PASS DEFENSE: B — Cam Newton completed only 13 of 25 passes for 137 yards and a 64.9 passer rating. But he did make a powerful, off-balance, cross-field throw for an 18-yard touchdown to Devin Funchess. Strong safety Andrew Sendejo intercepted a pass late in the game. That led to a tying field goal.
–RUSH DEFENSE: F — On its third snap of the game, Carolina’s offense beat the Vikings straight up the middle for a 60-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Stewart. Late in the game, Newton beat the Vikings straight up the middle with a 62-yard run to the Vikings’ 8-yard line. That set up the winning touchdown. Stewart had three rushing touchdowns. The Vikings hadn’t allowed a team to rush for more than 115 yards this season. The Panthers had two carries that went for 122 yards. Carolina finished with 216 yards on 36 carries (6.0 yards per attempt).
–SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Punter Ryan Quigley had a punt downed at the 2-yard line for the second straight week. That led to a three-and-out, which was followed by a 29-yard punt return to the Carolina 30-yard line. But after the offense lost 6 yards, Kai Forbath yanked a 54-yard field goal attempt way left.
–COACHING: C — Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur may have gotten too greedy early on the game’s first possession with a deep ball on second-and-14. But Keenum had earned his trust with how he’s played most of this season. Defensively, the two long runs were grossly uncharacteristic of Mike Zimmer’s defense. Special teams played well, but clearly someone overestimated Forbath’s range when he was sent out to attempt the 54-yarder. He obviously wasn’t comfortable at that distance and over-kicked the ball badly.
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