Some of Minnesota's struggles so far in 2025 are plainly seen.
Quarterbacks (McCarthy and Wentz) under duress. Not enough push in the run game, and too much given up on defense trying to stop it. The most obvious issue, though: a lack of complementary football.
Except for the Week 3 drubbing of Cincinnati, the Vikings haven't pieced together 60 minutes of good execution in all three phases. Their identity's been bungled by penalties, failed possessions and sloppy performance in areas that were foundational to the club ripping off 14 wins in 18 games one season ago.
They've already matched their 2024 loss total, and now the Vikings are looking at a daunting schedule.
How can they improve? _What_ must look different in the final 10 games to salvage enormous potential?
Alec Lewis of _The Athletic_ on Tuesday examined seven facets of Minnesota's first seven games with the aim of injecting a bit of perspective into what viewers have observed casually through the 3-4 beginning.
Here are the subsets Lewis outlined (with details):
* Too many sacks (permitted/taken by Minnesota)
* Jumbo personnel defense (is being targeted by opponents)
* Short-yardage trouble (for the offense has persisted)
* Inconsistent run game (is debilitating, again)
* Minimal interior pressure (by the defense is concerning)
* Offensive linemen unavailability (is a theme)
* Quarterback inaccuracy (is spoiling play designs)
The former and latter are particularly interesting because they incorporate measures of both of Minnesota's starting quarterbacks. In other words, the issues aren't exclusive to McCarthy _or_ Wentz.
On the poor protection that's upended drives and diminished momentum, Lewis wrote the following:
_One of the primary problems? The rate at which the Vikings are being sacked. It's astronomical. Justin Fields has struggled to see the field in New York, and Cam Ward hasn't effectively acclimated to NFL speed in Tennessee. Yet the Vikings have a higher sack rate than both of those teams._
_If you need a historical benchmark on how troubling this is, only three NFL teams have posted higher sack rates than the Vikings since 2016. Blocking is a factor._
You can check out Lewis' full article, packed with context and stats, [here](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6754946/2025/10/28/vikings-disappointing-start-nfl/).