Indianapolis Colts 28, Minnesota Vikings 11: Second consecutive ugly loss for Minnesota

Plenty of us were looking for the Minnesota Vikings to bounce back after their Week 1 loss when they traveled to take on the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It might be getting to be time to lower our expectations.

Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions, the first time he’s done so as a Viking, and the defense once again struggled to get stops as the Colts rolled to a 28-11 victory over the Vikings that, frankly, wasn’t that close.

Minnesota got on the board first, courtesy of a 21-yard field goal from Dan Bailey after a solid opening drive stalled near the goal line. The Vikings also got their first interception of the year, as Eric Wilson got a deflection from Harrison Smith for his first career pick.

The Colts took a lead early in the second quarter after a bad Britton Colquitt punt gave them a short field. Jonathan Taylor scored his first NFL touchdown, going over from five yards out to give the home team a 7-3 lead.

Indianapolis then managed to pick up a safety when DeForest Buckner sacked Kirk Cousins in the end zone after a Colts’ punt was downed at the 2-yard line. This marks the third consecutive regular season game that the Vikings have allowed a safety, and it gave the Colts a 9-3 lead with just under five minutes left in the half. The possession after the safety resulted in points as well, as a 28-yard field goal from Rodrigo Blankenship extended the lead to 12-3.

Cousins then threw an ugly interception while attempting to find Adam Thielen in double coverage, with Khari Wills taking the pick into Minnesota territory. The Colts were forced to settle for another Blankenship field goal attempt, and the rookie connected from 38 yards out to extend the Colts’ lead to 15-3. That’s how they went into the locker room at halftime.

After Cousins’ third pick of the day early in the third quarter, another 38-yard field goal from Blankenship extended the Indy lead to 18-3. The Vikings’ defense kept holding the Colts out of the end zone, but the offense couldn’t get out of its own way to take advantage of it.

That ended early in the fourth quarter with Philip Rivers finally getting his first touchdown pass of the day, a 2-yard toss to Zach Pascal to extend the Indianapolis lead to 25-3. The Colts then tacked on another field goal from Blankenship midway through the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 28-3 as the Vikings’ offense continued to sputter.

The Vikings did manage to put up a score in garbage time, as Dalvin Cook took a handoff over from three yards out to make it 28-9. He also carried in the two-point conversion to make it 28-11 with under six minutes to play.

That was it for this one, as the Vikings put up their second consecutive ugly, ugly loss.

Minnesota once again decisively lost the time of possession battle, holding on to the ball for just over 21 minutes. They also got what might have been the single-worst performance of Kirk Cousins’ career, as he completed 11-of-26 passes for 113 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions.

I won’t recap the rest of the stats, because they were awful. Again.

Minnesota falls to 0-2, and they’ll return to U.S. Bank Stadium in Week 3 to host the Tennessee Titans. The Colts even their record at 1-1, and they will take on the New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium last week.

The Vikings fall to the Colts by a final score of 28-11 in Week 2 action. We’ll have more on this one over the next couple of days and then move our focus to the Titans game. Thanks to everyone that has gotten their coverage of this week’s game right here at The Daily Norseman!