The Kevin O'Connell era has officially derailed. Carson Wentz started for Kyler Murray in the Minnesota Vikings' 23-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, offering little confidence that this offense can ever get back on track. The expectation is that the Vikings will be working the phones and looking to make a trade before Tuesday's 3 p.m. CT trade deadline.
But even if Minnesota acquires a quarterback before the deadline, why wasn't this properly addressed in the offseason? Why has Murray underperformed so badly? Why did Wentz have one of the worst quarterback performances in Vikings history against a defense that isn't exactly the second coming of the 1985 Bears?
Minnesota is 6-2, and the season is far from over. But frustration is growing,
and you have to wonder what happens if the team drops its next two games against the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers.
Here are three instant takeaways from the Vikings' loss to the Bills.
Instant Takeaways from the Vikings' 23-6 loss to the Bills
This team needs a new quarterback by the end of Tuesday
I've tried to avoid being overly critical of Murray throughout the season. Although the offense has lacked explosion, he has generally taken care of the ball. But his failure to get the ball to Justin Jefferson enough raised questions about his long-term viability, and I believed Wentz could fix the issue.
Instead, Wentz completed only 8 of 25 passes on Monday night for 81 yards and two interceptions while also losing a fumble on a poorly thrown screen to Jefferson. Wentz looked beat up, getting his throwing hand hit on one pass and his foot stepped on while nearly throwing an interception. Worst of all, he didn't appear to see the field clearly, forcing passes into small windows.
There was speculation that the Vikings could acquire a quarterback before the trade deadline, but now there is no other option. Minnesota has to get someone else in the building, or this locker room could get ripped apart if the quarterback play continues to drag down the rest of the roster.
Jefferson is barely holding it together, and I can't blame him
The plan to get the ball to Jefferson failed miserably. He caught only three passes for 58 yards on 11 targets. Even his best opportunities to make plays were affected by poor passes.
After the game, Jefferson said the Vikings need to change something on offense. He alluded to simplifying the playbook, saying the offense is too talented to struggle this much. They rank 31st in total yards per game, and their 178-yard output on Monday was a season low.
The defense was phenomenal
Getting shut down on offense with the talent Minnesota has is one thing. But to underperform that badly while the Vikings' defense played the way it did was the real tragedy. Brian Flores' unit held Josh Allen and Buffalo's offense in check, allowing only 4.3 yards per play on 79 snaps.
The Vikings sacked Allen four times and intercepted him in the end zone as he threw off his back foot in the first quarter. James Cook ran 31 times for 107 yards and a touchdown, but much of his production came at the end of the game when Minnesota's defense was already worn down (the Bills possessed the ball for 42 minutes and 32 seconds).
That's why the Vikings need to get a quarterback. It may be easier to justify looking towards the future if the defense wasn't as good as it is.
However, the significant gap between the offense and defense makes that difficult. Minnesota needs to acquire a quarterback who can fix the offense before its struggles create a divide in the locker room.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Instant Takeaways from the Vikings' 23-6 loss to the Bills
