Vikings defense delivers, but Carson Wentz and offense unravel vs. Bills on MNF

They had put on all their finery for the occasion, bringing together a cast of Vikings Ring of Honor members to welcome Adrian Peterson to the club at halftime. Randy Moss and Cris Carter were together on the field; Peterson’s childhood friend John Jeffers, lead guitarist of the rock band Whiskey Myers, was on the field to play the national anthem. The Vikings planned for their Monday night game against the Bill s to be a showcase, the kind of grand proceeding the team loves to throw in its pristine home stadium. But the kind of showcase the Vikings’ 23-6 loss to Buffalo became, on the eve of the NFL trade deadline , was anything but the kind they wanted. They held the ball for just 17 minutes, went 0-for-7 on third down, gained 178 yards and made Max Brosmer their third quarterback to play this season when they benched Carson Wentz in the fourth quarter. Advertisement And late in the game, as ESPN’s cameras lingered on the Vikings’ sideline, showing long faces from Wentz, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones and most of the offensive line, the team seemed headed for an inescapable choice: Make a deadline day deal for a quarterback, or try to conjure some other nine-game solution that might help its 6-0 start stand up in the league’s toughest division. The Vikings fell out of first place in the NFC North, a half-game behind the 7-2 Bears, and faced the possibility they could slip into last place in the league’s toughest division with a loss to the Packers on Sunday. And the loss came on a national stage just hours before the league’s 3 p.m. Tuesday trade deadline, making the Vikings’ need for offensive upgrades unmistakably clear. When he was pulled in favor of Brosmer with 4:40 left, Wentz left with an 8.9 passer rating, the worst by a Vikings QB who attempted at least 15 passes in a game since Tommy Kramer’s 7.5 rating in 1984. The quarterback completed only eight of his 25 passes for 81 yards, while throwing two interceptions, recording a third turnover on a backward pass and getting sacked once.