Kyler Murray and the Vikings still haven't found a fit as the offense continues to founder

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The season is no longer too fresh for the Minnesota Vikings to be concerned about their unproductive offense. Their latest quarterback experiment with Kyler Murray keeps getting sent back to the lab.

Still on top of the NFL's winningest division at 6-1, the Vikings took their first defeat in a fashion at Detroit that raised more questions about their long-term viability as a contender in the stacked NFC North. Their showstopping defense, though suddenly vulnerable in the second half , limited the high-scoring Lions to 19 points, but for the first time in almost a year the effort on that side of the ball was ultimately wasted.

“Whether it's me or somebody else, there's too many, ‘My bads,'” Murray said. “It's not good enough. It got us beat."

Murray had a season-high two touchdown passes and delivered the go-ahead score to T.J. Hockenson in the fourth quarter after a 51-yard throw to Jordan Addison, but the eighth-year veteran had an afternoon of indecision in the pocket and incompletions down the field. Murray went 17 for 29 for 210 yards, with just five completions for 33 yards and a touchdown on nine targets to star Justin Jefferson, whose exasperation was such that he declined to conduct his postgame interview session with reporters.

“We’ve got to find ways to get him the ball. Obviously, he’s frustrated, and that’s understandable,” said Murray, whose five full games with the Vikings have yielded an average of 18 points. "He is who he is, and he has every right to feel the way he feels when he doesn’t get the ball. So that’s on us to find ways to get him the ball.”

The pressure on coach Kevin O'Connell to steer the Vikings out of this skid has never been higher, considering the similar struggles of last season behind J.J. McCarthy and his backups. Since Sam Darnold quarterbacked the prolific 2024 team and departed for Seattle, the offense has been in a 25-game funk.

The downfield passing attack thrived that year, but Murray's strengths are much different from Darnold's. O'Connell has committed to running the ball more than ever before, but the usage of shorter and quicker throws and Murray's scrambling ability has come only in fits and starts as the Vikings appear to be stuck between two styles.

“There’s going to be some completions there in rhythm, and then also his ability to activate his athleticism has been a positive thing for us,” O'Connell said. “We've just got to figure out what that balance looks like.”

The pass rush that defensive coordinator Brian Flores continues to aggressively activate contributed to Lions quarterback Jared Goff's first interception of the season and four sacks. Andrew Van Ginkel had a hand in three of them.

The defense, perhaps worn out for the first time this season while the Lions racked up 35-plus minutes of possession time, uncharacteristically struggled to stop the run at the point of attack. Jahmyr Gibbs forced 12 missed tackles on his 25 touches, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Van Ginkel had a career-high 2 1/2 sacks and three hits on Goff, continuing to thrive as an edge rusher Flores frequently moves all over the field.

Right guard Will Fries, who has the third-highest salary cap charge on the roster in his second season with the team, has simply not performed up to his contract. His holding penalty erased a 29-yard run by Jordan Mason on the first play of a drive that began late in the third quarter and ended when Murray's fourth-and-5 pass from the Detroit 25-yard line was incomplete.

Murray began the week with some uncertainty around a hamstring injury that developed during the game. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw (shoulder) and backup safety Theo Jackson (quadriceps) were also in treatment on Monday, with no clarity yet about their availability for practice.

89.7% — The Vikings sent at least five pass rushers at Goff on 26 of 29 dropbacks, the highest blitz rate recorded by NFL Next Gen Stats since tracking began in 2016. That broke the record set by the Vikings last week (85.2%) against Indianapolis.

The Bills lead the AFC at 6-1 behind the enduring excellence of quarterback Josh Allen, the 2024 NFL MVP, but their defense presents another opportunity for O'Connell, Murray and the Vikings to get in a groove. The Bills rank 24th in the league in both yards and points allowed per game and 30th in passing yards allowed per game.

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