On Thur, Nov 5, the Minnesota Vikings announced that Kyler Murray will be inactive for the Monday night football game against the Buffalo Bills on Nov 9. Murray suffered a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter in the 19-15 loss to the Detroit Lions and is considered week-to-week, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. This means that Carson Wentz will be stepping in again to be the starting QB for the Vikings and having appeared in two games so far this season, Wentz has shown an ability to drive the struggling offense in Minnesota down the field and lead scoring drives that end with touchdowns.
Wentz will make his seventh start for the Vikings since Week 3 of last season and he has helped the Vikings win four games across his eight appearances. In the opening week game against the Green Bay Packers, Murray suffered a concussion in the first quarter and Wentz came in and helped lead Minnesota on a comeback from down 12 points with four consecutive touchdowns scored in the second half. In the 39-22 win, Wentz threw three touchdown passes, including two of them to Justin Jefferson, who is not having a productive season thus far. With Murray in concussion protocol, Wentz started the Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears and on a rainy, sloppy day at Soldier Field, he led three crucial drives that ended in field goals. The Brian Flores defense did a good job at containing Caleb Williams and the Bears offense and some amazing turnovers occurred to help Minnesota secure a hard-earned 9-3 lead. Wentz went back to the sidelines when Murray returned to play in Week 3 and the offensive production from the Vikings since then has not been satisfactory.
With only 11 total offensive touchdowns so far on the season, Minnesota is in dire need of an upgrade offensively and they have been rumored to potentially in the running to acquire Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor before the NFL trade deadline on Tues, Nov 10. There are other teams who are pursuing a trade for Taylor, who is one of the best running backs in the league but his offensive production has been diminished on a struggling Indy team. So far, Nolan Teasley has made no indication that the Vikings could acquire Taylor, but there is still time for a deal to materialize. As for the QB depth in Minnesota, Wentz will have Max Brosmer serve as his backup and whether a potential emergency third QB is signed for this week is currently unknown. With Murray considered week-to-week, there is a possibility that he could miss multiple games or possibly be placed on injured reserve.
With a frustrating past few weeks on the offensive end of the ball, the Vikings will be hoping that Wentz can provide some relief against a Buffalo team with a weak secondary in their defensive ranks. The Minnesota defense will be busy trying to contain the dynamic play of Josh Allen, who is having himself a solid season thus far with 1,793 passing yards and 20 total touchdowns(11 passing, 9 rushing). With James Cook, Dalton Kincaid, DJ Moore and other tantalizing offensive pieces, the Bills’ offense might be the toughest group that Brian Flores’ defensive unit will face so far as the season nears the halfway point for the Vikings.
The atmosphere at U.S Bank Stadium will be exciting to say the least as Wentz shall make his eighth career start on Monday Night Football. If Wentz plays well enough to keep the game close or even leads Minnesota to victory, then there could be a new QB controversy brewing for a team all too familiar with changes to the most important position on a football team. Time will tell how this situation shakes out for the Minnesota Vikings, who are hanging onto a slim lead in the NFC North and risk falling in the standings due to the tough stretch of games that they are currently in.
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