Before Sunday’s game at Baltimore, defensive end Everson Griffen talked about the Vikings looking to “win these 10 next ones.” Instead, they suffered yet another frustrating defeat, falling 34-31 in overtime to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Vikings (3-5) blew a 24-10 lead in the third quarter as Baltimore (6-2) scored 21 straight points. They did tie the score 31-31 late in regulation, but Ravens kicker Justin Tucker won it on a 36-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in overtime.
It was the second overtime game the Vikings have lost this season, and their other three defeats have been in the waning seconds.
Linebacker Eric Kendricks doesn’t deny that it’s frustrating.
“We want this more than anything,” he said. “We’re working every day to do that. Obviously, the product isn’t showing on the field. We’re losing these really tight games over and over. But at some point it’s got to turn.”
It looked as if it might turn on Sunday, when the Vikings had leads of 17-3 in the second quarter and 24-10 in the third after rookie running back Kene Nwangwu returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. But in the end, the Vikings couldn’t contain Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Jackson got off to a slow start but finished with 120 yards rushing on 21 carries and completed 27 of 41 passes for 266 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Jackson wore down a Vikings defense that was playing without defensive end Danielle Hunter, safety Harrison Smith, cornerback Patrick Peterson and nose tackle Michael Pierce. It was the first game for the Vikings without Hunter, who was lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle suffered in last week’s 20-16 loss to Dallas. Shortly before kickoff Sunday, the Vikings placed Smith on the COVID-19 reserve list; he also will miss next Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Ravens rolled up 500 yards of offense, the most the Vikings have given up this season.
“Disappointing today,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “I thought we played hard, I thought we fought. Had some guys step in for some other guys, but we didn’t play good enough to win. … They started pounding us pretty good late in the game.”
The Ravens dominated the Vikings in time of possession by an astounding 46:04 to 23:40, leading Kendricks to say the defense “definitely” wore down. In the 9 minutes, 44 seconds of overtime played, the Vikings had the ball for just 1 minute, 25 seconds.
Still, the Vikings had a chance in overtime. After the Ravens won the coin flip and drove to the Minnesota 33, Jackson threw a pass that was batted in the air and intercepted by linebacker Anthony Barr at the Vikings 38.
“It was a huge play on Anthony’s part,” Kendricks said. “Gave us a chance to win the game. That’s all we can do on defense.”
But the offense gained just one yard in three plays and had to punt. The Ravens got the ball with 5:17 left in overtime, then went on a 10-play, 72-yard drive in which they mixed short passes and runs against Minnesota’s weary defense. After they ran the clock down, Tucker kicked the winning field goal.
“It was a tremendous play by Anthony, and to get the ball back in that position was a great opportunity for us,” Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “It was disappointing that we didn’t make the plays necessary to go down and score and win the game then.”
The previous time the Vikings had the ball, Cousins drove the team 75 yards in 10 plays to tie the score 31-31 with 1:03 left in regulation, capped by his 1-yard touchdown pass to Adam Thielen. But perhaps the Vikings should already have had the game in hand by then.
The Vikings took the 17-3 lead on Cousins’ 50-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson in the first quarter, his 1-yard quarterback sneak TD in the second quarter and Greg Joseph’s 36-yard field goal in the second quarter. But the offense bogged down after that.
“It was a combination of penalties, negative plays, long-yardage situations that allowed the Ravens to keep everything in front of them,” Cousins said. “Put us in tough spots.”
Cousins completed 17 of 28 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings got 110 yards rushing on 17 carries from Dalvin Cook, but he had just 20 yards in the second half. In the first second quarter, his 66-yard run set up Cousins’ TD run.
“To lose is always not good,” Cook said. “It’s frustrating. … “We just have to win the football game.”
As Minnesota’s offense began to bog down, the Ravens got going. They cut the deficit to 17-10 at halftime on Jackson’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Devonta Freeman with 19 seconds left in the half. On the play before, safety Xavier Woods was penalized 42 yards for pass interference, which Kendricks said was a “ridiculous” call.
In the second half, after Nwangwu’s touchdown, the Ravens scored 21 straight points on a 1-yard TD pass from Jackson to Patrick Richard in the third quarter, a 5-yard one-handed catch by Devin Duvernay from Jackson early in the fourth quarter and a 1-yard run by Le’Veon Bell with 3:29 left in regulation.
“We didn’t lay down,” Jackson said. “We saw the score was tilted early in the game. Our guys just fought. We made a comeback.”
The Vikings at least were able to force overtime after Bell’s score, but the game ended like so many others have this season. All five of their losses have been by seven points or fewer, and four of them by four points or fewer.
“We have to take that lump, go watch film (Monday) and get better,” Cook said.
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Vikings blow 14-point lead, lose 34-31 to Ravens in overtime - Pine Journal
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