3 Vikings most to blame for putting playoff hopes on life support with Lions loss

1. Nick Mullens, QB

If you told a Vikings fan coming into Sunday’s game that backup quarterback Nick Mullens threw for 411 yards and two touchdowns in this matchup, there would’ve been one or two reactions to that. First, there’s a good chance that they would’ve thought you were lying, especially if you added in the fact that Hockenson and Addison missed a large chunk of the game. If they were to believe you, though, then the belief would’ve surely been that the Vikings took advantage of a porous Lions defense and picked them apart through the air. 

While Mullens put up the yardage, though, it all ended up feeling like completely empty calories for the Vikings quarterback because of the turnovers. 

Including the game-sealing duck he threw up that was picked off by Ifeatu Melifonwu, Mullens threw four interceptions in Sunday’s loss while trying to cough up the rock even more, fumbling twice, even though both were recovered by Minnesota.

Giving the ball to the opposition is never beneficial, but when you then look at the eye test with Mullens, it was even worse. When he was pressured, the backup signal-caller looked completely terrified. The feet were happy under duress, he tried to force the issue, and he consistently made mistakes. 

Going back to the ineffectiveness of the run game, that didn’t help the quarterback in this game either. The offense was put on his shoulders, which is frankly not a position that he should be put in. However, the most you can ask for when it comes to a backup is for him to not make the back-breaking mistakes. And when you have a one-possession loss to a rival at home, four interceptions certainly qualifies as a bevy of crippling errors.