The Minnesota Vikings have had a checkered past with kickers and on Sunday that continued in the form of Dan Bailey. After missing three kicks last week, the Vikings kicker missed four on Sunday, dooming Minnesota to a 23-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Vikings got off to a tremendous start in the game thanks to a strong effort on the ground. After having their first drive stall deep into Tampa Bay territory, the Vikings capitalized on their second drive with Dalvin Cook converting a one-yard touchdown run to put Minnesota on the board.
Of course, that’s where the problems began as Bailey missed the extra point to make the lead 6-0. On the following drive, the Vikings drove into Tampa Bay territory again and had to call on Bailey for a 36-yard field goal, which he missed wide right.
This opened the door for the Buccaneers as Tom Brady found Scottie Miller for a 48-yard touchdown to give Tampa Bay the lead. Minnesota answered with another long drive but it stalled leading to another miss by Bailey from 54 yards out.
Tampa Bay tacked on 10 more points before halftime as Ronald Jones recorded a one-yard touchdown plunge and a pass interference call on Todd Davis set up a 19-yard field goal from Ryan Succop to send the Buccaneers into the locker room up 17-6.
The Buccaneers quickly extended their lead out of halftime with Brady finding old friend Rob Gronkowski for a two-yard touchdown. Succop missed the extra point to put the Vikings down 23-6 and into a sense of urgency.
After a long, time-consuming drive, Kirk Cousins threw a 14-yard laser to Irv Smith Jr. to chip into the lead and a two point conversion from Cousins to Justin Jefferson to bring the deficit to 23-14.
Minnesota got a stop on the ensuing possession and drove down to the Buccaneers goal line, but Tampa Bay turned up the pressure and forced the Vikings to turn to Bailey again, who missed his fourth kick of the afternoon from 46 yards.
Succop extended the lead on the next possession with a 48-yard field goal and the Vikings couldn’t get their offense going for a comeback attempt.
The Vikings fell to 6-7 with the loss and fell out of the seventh spot in the NFC after the Arizona Cardinals victory over the New York Giants. With the playoffs fading away, the Vikings will host the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday.
