Vikes Win is a Win—Though an Ugly one Over the Jags
Vikings Territory Breakdown
The final score in Jacksonville on Sunday resulted in a 12-7 Minnesota Vikings win over the Jaguars—but that in no way describes how it got there. The Vikings adopted a local strategy as age-old as their purple uniforms: play down to your opponent. They had the highest time of possession of any team this season and put together multiple double-digit-play drives but didn’t score a touchdown—because they turned the ball over three times. You shouldn’t be able to win that way in the NFL, but the Vikings were fortunately playing the lowly Jags.
And they have a pretty good defense. The Purple D caused three turnovers of their own (two interceptions and a fumble recovery), with the two picks occurring late in the game and helping to secure the victory. The defense once again bailed out an offense that couldn’t put points on the board, and helped improved the squad to 7-2.
Meanwhile, kicker John Parker Romo, the newest Viking (along with their new long snapper ??), was able to put up some points. He booted four field goals in his first game in the NFL and those kickes were, ultimately, all the Vikings needed to secure the victory and maintain their second place position in the NFC North standings and their position for a postseason Wild Card berth.
But there was so much wrong with this performance. From the Darnold turnovers, to the Cam Robinson penalties and the KOC questionable calls, it is one to watch, dump and forget for the Vikings. Of course, we won’t let them do that quite yet. The fellas at Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com—will hash over this ugly win before we can all flush it. Tune in and check it out.
Prepare to Ride the Sam Darnold Experience to the End