Devoid Of Leadership, Vikings Fall To 0-3 After Brutal Loss To Chargers

Who is going to step forward for the Minnesota Vikings as a leader?

That’s the question at hand after they fell to 0-3 following their brutal 28-24 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Vikings don’t have leaders on their team – at least not from the usual places. The quarterback has to be a leader who will take charge and responsibility for doing the right thing when the game is on the line. Kirk Cousins is a 12-year veteran and he is getting paid $35 million this season, and the Vikings are looking for more than accurate short- and medium-range passes.

Cousins panicked when the game was on the line. After completing a fourth-down pass to tight end T.J. Hockenson on a 4^th-and-6 play from the Chargers 15 with 41 seconds remaining, Cousins didn’t know what to do. The play was good for 9 yards and a first down, and there was only one thing to do once the play was over with about 30 second remaining and no Vikings timeouts.

Cousins had to clock the ball and give his team as many as 3 opportunities to score the winning touchdown. That did not happen as Cousins simply panicked, wondering what he should do as Kevin O’Connell shouted a play into his ear.

His previous 11 years as an NFL quarterback should have schooled him on what to do no matter what he was hearing in his headset. The clock was ticking down and the Vikings were losing valuable time. The words coming out of his coach’s mouth should not have mattered. Cousins had to take charge and give his team a chance to win the game.

Instead, the Vikings tried to run an ill-advised play with 12 seconds left. Cousins threw another pass that was once again intended for Hockenson. It deflected off the tight end, a Charger defender and into the arms of linebacker Kenneth Murray. Game over, and the Vikings are winless.

Here is Cousins’ shoddy explanation of the disaster that resulted. “I just couldn’t hear him (Kevin O’Connell) with the noise so I just had to call a play,” Cousins said. “What I called was pretty much what he wanted. I can do whatever I want, but you also have to deal with the consequences.”

Last year’s division championship and the 13-4 record is now a distant memory.

O’Connell was of course second-guessing himself after the game, saying what everyone else already knew. “Looking back, I wish I would’ve clocked it and not tried to steal one there,” O’Connell said in a voice steeped in regret.

O’Connell was hired as head coach two years ago because of his offensive mastery. He has helped develop a passing game that has been one of the best in the league, but he fell apart when the game was on the line.

If he didn’t call a second play prior to the Hockenson first-down catch, there was no chance to find success without clocking the ball on the next play. Cousins was trying to hear what his coach was saying, and then he would have had to communicate it to his teammates. The Vikings lost nearly 20 seconds between plays, and the disastrous result was easy to see.

So, the Vikings are searching for leadership. It’s not coming from the two men who are paid to stand and deliver.

Will any leader step forward in the next 14 games?