Coming into Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings had turned over the football 11 times through four games. The Vikings are tied with several other teams with the sixth-most turnovers through the first four games of any season since 2000, according to Daily Norseman. For context, the last two teams to accomplish this feat were the 2022 New Orleans Saints and the 2016 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jim Nantz, who has not called a Vikings win in over a decade, is on the call for Sunday’s game for CBS alongside Tony Romo. The last recorded victory for the Vikes with Nantz on the call came on September 29, 2013. Minnesota defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers that day out in London at the venerable Wembley Stadium. Since then, Nantz has called six Vikings games. The team has lost them all.
On the first play from scrimmage during Sunday’s game, Kirk Cousins completed a pass to tight end Josh Oliver, who fumbled away the team’s opening possession after a 15-yard gain. With Minnesota turning over the ball for the 12th time on the season, Nantz went in on the Vikings for yet another critical error.
"He fumbles the ball and the script continues! [The Minnesota Vikings] have been a DISASTER in the first quarter this year! Coughing up and turning over the football! And it starts today on the very first play of the game!"- Jim Nantz pic.twitter.com/X7odZMz51e
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 8, 2023
“The script continues” is a brutal quote that perfectly summarizes the moment.
Coming into Sunday’s contest, the Vikings had given up 30 points in drives directly after a turnover or as a result of a turnover. Well, low and behold, Kansas City capped off a nine-play, 45-yard drive with an Isiah Pacheco one-yard rushing touchdown. Make that 37 points off of turnovers, and Week 5’s matchup was not close to being over at the writing of this article.
A huge reason for the Vikings’ struggles this season has been their turnovers, and Nantz’s “Oh, no, here we go again” moment was all too familiar.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.