MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carson Wentz surveyed the field, making his pre-snap calls from the shotgun formation on third down. The next thing he knew, he was sprinting away from the line of scrimmage, chasing down a high snap that short-circuited Minnesota's first drive.
That was only the start of a frustrating afternoon for Wentz and the Vikings, who scored just one touchdown in six red zone trips in a 28-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
That’s
right — the Vikings crossed the 20-yard line six times and five of those trips ended with Will Reichard field goals, including a 59-yarder after Wentz recovered that errant snap 22 yards behind the original line of scrimmage.
Minnesota’s other red zone forays were waylaid by a variety of issues – penalties, dropped passes, errant throws and untimely sacks. It would be easy to place most of the blame on Wentz, who was facing the team that drafted him with the second overall pick in 2016. But it took a team effort to come away with just 22 points on six red zone possessions.
“We had no issues moving the football,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said, citing the “self-inflicted” mistakes. “It was points. That has not really been our problem."
Wentz threw interceptions to end their second and third possessions. Jalyx Hunt – an edge rusher who dropped back in coverage – made the first pick and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 14-3 lead.
“I saw him there at the last second as I was releasing the ball, and then I was looking up at the scoreboard seeing him run,” Wentz said. “Not a good feeling. I’ve got to be better in that situation, not try to force it.”
After the two turnovers, the Vikings moved the ball effectively the rest of the game. That is, until they crossed the 20-yard line.
Trailing 14-3, they drove to the 6 and had second-and-1, but Wentz threw consecutive incompletions, the first one dropped by Justin Jefferson after Cooper DeJean knocked it away.
Then on fourth-and-1, Wentz hit Jalen Nailor for a touchdown, but center Blake Brandel was flagged for holding, and the Vikings settled for yet another a field goal.
The second half was more of the same. Wentz was called for intentional grounding on second-and-8 at the 9. On the next drive, Moro Ojomo sacked Wentz on third-and-5 from the 10.
Some of the red zone struggle was just bad luck. T.J. Hockenson’s diving touchdown catch with 3:05 left was overturned by the replay official. That drive ended on Reichard’s fifth field goal with two minutes to play, and the Vikings never got the ball back.
“Penalties and negatives in the red zone make it real hard to come away with seven,” O’Connell said.
The Vikings placed a focus on improving on third down – they went 7 for 15 on those plays on Sunday after entering the game ranked 30th in the league at 31%. But that improvement was small consolation after a tough loss.
“Third down has been our kryptonite, and today it was the red zone,” Hockenson said. “You can’t go 1 of 6 and win a game with two turnovers.”
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