Ball security is the Vikings’ biggest problem
We knew that the Minnesota Vikings had seen some awful luck this season, but it’s been really bad. Through six games in the 2023 season, the Vikings are tracking poorly in both fumbles and dropped passes.
The Vikings lead the NFL in dropped passes with 17 and nine lost fumbles. Those stats are both atrocious and not sustainable.
When you take a look at how the stats break down, only Kirk Cousins has multiple fumbles (7 of their 13). It’s not a singular person that can be blamed, which is the most frustrating element of it. For context, the Jaguars also have 13 fumbles on the season, but they have only lost five on the season.
The drops are a bigger concern. Pro Football Focus has charged Alexander Mattison with five drops, which is tied for first in the league with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua. The difference is that Mattison has 40 less targets on the season than Nacua does.
T.J. Hockenson and K.J. Osborn are each tied for second in the league with four drops. Those three players combining for 13 drops is really bad.
You can argue that three of Hockenson’s drops aren’t fair to actually call them drops because they were difficult catches outside of his frame and difficult catches. It’s also something that the Vikings can fix moving forward.
Sometimes you have to create your own luck and the Vikings haven’t done a great job of doing that this season.
