Vikings loss to the Chargers exposes multiple weaknesses that will haunt them for the remainder of the season

No discipline

Under O'Connell, this has always been a well-coached team. They are prepared to handle anything that is thrown at them. On Thursday night, they looked anything but, and O'Connell admitted as such after the game.

“We got outplayed. We got outcoached. There are no excuses. Injuries short week, whatever it is that is not in any way, shape or form, our standard of what we want to put on the field,” said O’Connell. “This is not a bury the tape kind of time for our organization. This is a watch it, view it, own it. Every coach, every player, and it starts with me. I did not have our team prepared to play.”

The Vikings had eight penalties for 66 yards on the day, and they came at inopportune times, including a holding penalty on the opening kickoff of the game. They are still getting to the line of scrimmage late, which is causing a litany of problems and setting them back. It's hard to get anything going when you continue to shoot yourself in the foot.

Pass rush struggles to finish

The Vikings are finding a way to get to the quarterback, but you can't just get to the quarterback. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has a difficult challenge ahead of him in trying to fix the pass rush. It's bad enough that the Vikings aren't getting pressure enough when they send pressure, but they can't finish when they get into the backfield.

Against the Chargers on Thursday night, Herbert dropped back 34 times, and the Vikings tallied 28 pressures. They got just two sacks on the day, and that's a big problem. You need to get home and finish when you pressure the quarterback. Jonathan Greenard continues to get his hand on quarterbacks but can't take them down. The Vikings have 140 pressures this season to just 18 sacks. That sack number needs to improve for how much they are impacting the quarterback.

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