3 Vikings to blame after upset loss to Rams begins a new, bad streak

Through the first five weeks of the 2024 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings were the last undefeated team in the NFC. The start that they got off to, especially in a season in which expectations weren't high, was something to behold.

The Vikings were dealt their first loss of the season in Week 7, losing a hard-fought game to the Detroit Lions. Losing a divisional game at home always hurts, but there's no shame in losing by two points to a rock-solid Lions team.

While the loss against the Lions was unfortunate, the Vikings had what felt like a get-right game ahead of them. Sure, it was going to be a short week, and the Los Angeles Rams were going to get Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back, but those same Rams had not played particularly well for much of this season. The 5-1 Vikings, even on the road, had what felt like a strong opportunity to get back on the winning track. That did not happen.

Star left tackle Christian Darrisaw suffered a knee injury, and the Vikings lost 30-20. They were in it throughout, but a late Rams touchdown put the Vikings in an eight-point hole, and a safety (thanks in large part to poor refereeing) sealed it.

The Vikings are now 5-2 on the season, and are in the midst of their first losing streak of the year. These three individuals are most responsible for that.

3) Aaron Jones was kept in check by the Rams defense

Aaron Jones' first season with the Vikings could not have started much better than it had through his first six games. The 29-year-old had stayed healthy and had been running efficiently, averaging 5.2 yards per attempt and rushing for 443 yards overall. His average of 73.8 rushing yards per game was in the top 10 in the NFL, entering Thursday's action for players who have played in at least six games. He was not that same efficient rusher in Week 8, though.

Jones was given 19 carries on Thursday - five more than his average of 14.2 entering this game. He managed just 58 yards on the ground - 15 yards fewer than his season average before Week 8. With a lot more volume, Jones ended with one of his worst yardage outputs of the season. The 3.1 yards per carry he averaged in this game was a season-low. To make matters worse, he didn't get into the end zone a single time.

The passing game was working for much of the night, as evidenced by Sam Darnold's 240 yards passing and two touchdowns. The ground game was not, though, and that has to do with Jones' inability to get much going on that front.

2) Brian Flores' defense did not live up to expectations against the Rams

Minnesota's offense led by Sam Darnold has been mostly great thus far, but their defense has been the team's strength. Even after a rough defensive showing in Week 7, the Vikings ranked sixth in the NFL entering this game allowing just 17.8 points per game. They had allowed over 17 points just twice this season, and those games came against high-powered offenses from the NFC North. This Rams team doesn't measure up to the Packers and Lions.

Getting Kupp and Nacua back helped, obviously, but did the Vikings really have to surrender four passing touchdowns to Matthew Stafford - a quarterback who entered this game with only three of those all season? Plus, it wasn't only Kupp and Nacua who did damage. Kyren Williams ran for nearly 100 yards. Demarcus Robinson caught two touchdown passes.

The Vikings defense allowed 28 of the 30 Los Angeles points in this game. Minnesota's offense could've played extremely well and still lost this game because the defense surrendered far too many points.

Brian Flores' defense ranked third in the NFL with 24 sacks entering this game. They didn't manage to record a single one against Matthew Stafford and Los Angeles' banged-up offensive line.

Flores was garnering a ton of credit for Minnesota's lockdown defense this season, and deservingly so. If he's going to get credit when they do well, though, he's going to have to take the blame when they have nights like this one. The Vikings' defense did not show up, and Flores deserves some blame for that.

1) Byron Murphy Jr.'s penalty proved to be costly

Taking a quick glance at a box score won't suggest that Byron Murphy Jr. had a bad game. In fact, it'd say he had a good game. He recorded four tackles and even had the only interception of the game for either side. He's on this list, though, because of one particular penalty.

Stafford threw an incomplete pass to Cooper Kupp on second and long, and that would've created a third and long situation with the Vikings only trailing by one. Instead, Murphy was called for defensive pass interference, moving the ball to the 16-yard line and more importantly, giving the Rams a new set of downs. Three plays later, the Rams scored a touchdown on a 10-yard pass to Demarcus Robinson and kicked an extra point to go up by eight.

The Vikings were still in the game at that point, but a one-point deficit is very different than an eight-point deficit.