Vikings’ Pathetic Offense Wastes Another Strong Defensive Effort Against Bills

Minnesota Vikings Scores and Results Vikings’ Pathetic Offense Wastes Another Strong Defensive Effort Against Bills More of the same in prime time by Christopher Gates Nov 10, 2026, 4:27 AM UTC Facebook Link For the second week in a row, the Minnesota Vikings’ defense held up for as long as they could against one of the better offensive units in the National Football League. And, for the second week in a row, the Minnesota offense did just about nothing to give them any sort of support at all. The Bills’ offense held the ball for over forty minutes on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the Minnesota defense eventually just wore down as the Vikings fell to the Bills on Monday Night Football by a final score of 23-6 in Week 9. Things got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Vikings, as the Bills elected to receive the opening kickoff after winning the opening coin toss and got a big return from Greg Dortch, who took the ball all the way into Minnesota territory at the 36-yard line. But the Vikings’ defense got their first big stand of the night, as Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense went backward, culminating in a Dallas Turner sack of Allen on third down for a three-and-out and a punt that resulted in a touchback. The Vikings’ first offensive possession also resulted in a three-and-out, as Wentz’s first two passes went towards T.J. Hockenson, one a bad miss and a second short of the line to gain. Brett Thorson’s punt put the Bills at their own 33 to start their second possession of the night. The Bills put together a decent drive, with Allen converting on a couple of third-down throws to D.J. Moore and Khalil Shakir. Allen then converted another third down with his legs to put the Bills on the edge of the red zone, but Allen was called for intentional grounding on the next play thanks to Andrew Van Ginkel nearly dragging him down. After a screen got blown up to make it third and long, Allen tried to find D.J. Moore in the end zone, and instead found Byron Murphy for an interception, with Murphy getting a huge return to midfield for a big momentum shifter for the Minnesota defense. But on the very next play, Wentz threw what was supposed to be a screen pass that was too high for Jefferson; it was first ruled incomplete and then, after review, changed to a lateral that was recovered by the Bills for another turnover that gave the ball right back to Buffalo in Minnesota territory. The Bills got themselves into position for a 39-yard field goal attempt for Tyler Bass, who connected to give the Bills a 3-0 lead with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. The Vikings barely avoided another disaster on the ensuing kickoff, as Myles Price got a nice return but had the ball popped out of his hands. Fortunately, the ball went directly to Ben Yurosek, who held on to set the Vikings’ offense up at their own 45-yard line. Unfortunately, the Vikings’ offense once again went three-and-out as Wentz continued to show a complete lack of accuracy on his passes, including one that Jefferson had to leap for that resulted in him going off the field slowly. After the Vikings punted it away, the Minnesota defense forced yet another three-and-out, with the ensuing Buffalo punt once again giving the Vikings good field position at their own 45-yard line as the first quarter came to an end. But the first possession of the second quarter resulted in yet another three-and-out for the Minnesota offense, and the Bills took over at their own 13 following yet another punt from Thorson. Minnesota’s defense, once again, forced a three-and-out as they continued to swarm Allen and gave him no time to get comfortable. After the punt, the Vikings actually got a first down. . .because of a defensive holding penalty on the Bills. But then, they got an actual first down on a pass from Wentz to T.J. Hockenson to move the ball into Buffalo territory. But that was followed by a sack of Wentz and more incompletions, and the Vikings punted again, with Tai Felton making a brilliant play to down the ball at the Buffalo 1-yard line. The Bills did pick up a first down on the ensuing possession, but a few plays later, Andrew Van Ginkel came flying around the edge to sack Allen and appeared to have forced a fumble that the Vikings recovered at the Buffalo 1-yard line to set up a first-and-goal. However, after review, the call was reversed. . .correctly. . .and it was ruled that Allen’s knee was down before the football came loose, resulting in a sack that put the ball at the 2 and forced another Buffalo punt. Myles Price took the punt to the Buffalo 34-yard line to set up the Vikings’ next drive. The Vikings didn’t gain many yards on the ensuing drive, but they did enough. . .by which we mean “didn’t go backwards”. . .but they did enough to give Will Reichard an opportunity from 43 yards out, and he put the ball between the uprights to tie things at 3-3 with four minutes left in the first half. The Bills took over and put together their best offensive drive of the night, marching into Minnesota territory, getting down to the Minnesota 25-yard line with less than a minute left. Then, Allen bought himself some time by rolling out to the right and found a wide-open Keleki Latu in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown. It was the first touchdown of Latu’s career and gave the Bills a 10-3 lead with 44 seconds left in the first half. Minnesota got the ball back and Wentz, to his credit, managed to string a few completions together and got the Vikings into position for another Reichard try, this one from 53 yards out. Reichard split the uprights again, and the Vikings went into halftime trailing by a score of 10-6. The Vikings got the ball first to start the second half, and things got off to a decent start on a nice kick return by Price. A few plays later, Aaron Jones drew a 19-yard pass interference call to move the ball into Buffalo territory at the 37-yard line. However, on the next play, Wentz was looking for T.J. Hockenson and was intercepted by Bills linebacker Dorian Williams to put an end to what had been a promising drive. The Bills took over and put together another long, sustained drive into Minnesota territory. Allen’s pass on third-and-goal fell incomplete in the end zone, and they settled for another field goal from Bass, a 25-yarder that extended the Buffalo lead to 13-6 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. The ensuing drive for the Vikings saw them get things going on the ground with three straight carries from Jordan Mason that picked up 24 yards and put the Vikings into Buffalo territory. Then, the Vikings asked Wentz to throw a pass, and he was promptly intercepted by Terrell Bernard to end the drive and give the ball back to the Bills at the Buffalo 34-yard line. Minnesota’s defense got another stop after the interception, with a touchback on the punt giving the Vikings the ball at their own 20. But, once again, Wentz and the Vikings couldn’t manage even one first down as they punted it away again after a three-and-out. The Bills got the ball back and pushed into Minnesota territory at the 38, where they had a 3rd-and-1. Allen pushed forward on a quarterback sneak and appeared to have the line to gain, but Kevin O’Connell challenged the spot and won to make it 4th-and-inches. Allen tried another sneak, and after initially being ruled short, Allen got the first down. Shortly after that, James Cook went into the end zone from five yards out for a score that, essentially, sealed the deal for the Bills, putting them ahead 20-6 with six minutes left in regulation. The Vikings got the ball back after the Cook touchdown and went four-and-out, going for it on a fourth down and failing when a Wentz pass for Jefferson fell incomplete. The Bills took over and added a 52-yard field goal from Bass to extend their lead to 23-6 with just under five minutes left in regulation. After that, the Vikings pulled Wentz from the game in favor of Max Brosmer. B