The Vikings have serious issues

In a month, the Vikings have gone from looking like a Super Bowl contender to a team that looks like a one-and-done candidate in the playoffs. What the hell has happened?

Jared Allen has fallen off the face of the Earth

The next play this guy makes will be his first in about 3 weeks. He has had a terrible two-game stretch where his presence was minimally felt. He hasn't sacked the QB in a long time, and he isn't generating pressure either. A big reason Chicago was able to build a 16-0 lead was because they were giving Cutler a lot of time in the pocket, and that's on Allen. He's the money pass rusher, and he was invisible tonight. He was also invisible last week, and this needs to change immediately. Without Allen generating pressure, the secondary becomes exposed. This secondary can hold up with a steady pass rush, but if the QB has time, they can be picked apart.

Antoine Winfield has been terrible as well

Winfield was beaten a few times tonight for big plays, and he was beaten pretty solidly by Steve Smith last week. I don't know if he's 100% or not, and if he's not then the Vikings shouldn't be playing him. A corner who can't run at 100% is useless; all things being equal, Benny Sapp is not as good as Winfield, but if he can run and Winfield can't, he's the better option.

Kevin Williams...basically the same thing

Do you notice a pattern here? The Vikings' A players are not playing at an A level right now; you'd probably be generous in saying they're playing at a C level right now. Kevin Williams hasn't been as bad as Allen and Winfield, but he hasn't been his penetrating self either.

The offensive line has fallen off

Anthony Herrera had a miserable night trying to block Tommie Harris. Bryant McKinnie and Phil Loadholt were better than they were a week ago (couldn't get much worse), but they still are not playing up to par right now. The Vikings have a little too much trouble on short yardage runs, and Favre faces just a little too much pressure. I don't expect perfection, but these guys were playing better earlier in the year, and their dropoff has definitely hampered the offense.

Here's the deal; when a player like Jasper Brinkley gets exposed in coverage (as he was tonight), or Anthony Herrera has trouble blocking Tommie Harris (as he did tonight)...hey, that happens. These are not the Vikings' top players, and it's to be expected that they'll be exposed a few times in a given game. But Jared Allen, Antoine Winfield, Kevin Williams, Bryant McKinnie...these are the guys that need to show up and play well for Minnesota to win. 3 of the past 4 games (excluding Winfield, who missed the Arizona game), these guys have not played well at all, and as a result the Vikings were blown out twice and lost in OT to a bad Chicago team.

Football outsiders rates the Vikings' defense as a below average unit, and right now I'd have to agree. It pains me to say that, because we've been really good on defense for 3-4 years now. But there has been a noticeable decline, and allowing 37 points to the Bears is the straw that breaks the camel's back. I really believe that if they could just rush the passer again, everything else would fall in line. The secondary would look better, offenses would be faced with more long-yardage situations, there would probably be more turnovers forced...it really does start with the defensive line. If they starting playing well again, everything else should fall into place. But if in a playoff game, Aaron Rodgers or Tony Romo or Kurt Warner were to be given ample time to throw the ball, the Vikings would probably be a quick out. They aren't good enough in the secondary to hold up forever against good QBs.

The bright side is this is correctable. The talent is already in place on the roster, and it just needs to start playing up to its capability again. Jared Allen needs to start rushing from the outside again, and Kevin Williams needs to start rushing from the inside again. Do that, and everything else should fall into place. This team still has the talent and capability of making the Super Bowl, they just need to start playing like it again. Hopefully they bottomed out at halftime (keep in mind they outscored Chicago 30-14 in the 2nd half, which should always lead to victory) tonight, and the 2nd half will be what carries over.