Good Teams Find a Way to Win as Vikings Squeak by Jags
Sunday’s 12-7 win by the Vikings in Jacksonville reminded me of my first year as President of the Tennessee Titans in 1999. In my prior season with the 1998 Vikings, we set a then-NFL record for scoring and regularly blew out opponents but lost a heartbreaker in the NFC title game to Atlanta in overtime.
The ’99 season with the Titans was so different. We had a lot of close wins, and our excellent defense carried us past lesser teams. The fan base and the media would call them ugly wins, but I would tell our players and coaches that good teams find a way to win, and in the final analysis, all that matters was to get the win. Style points are nice, but ultimately, they are meaningless.
Good Teams Find a Way to Win as Vikings Squeak by Jags
Our Titans team of 1999 ended up in the Super Bowl, where we were one yard shy of sending the game against the St. Louis Rams into overtime. I’m not saying this year’s Vikings team is Super Bowl-bound. I’m just saying they found a way to win a road game with great defense and a new kicker while their quarterback threw three picks. They are 7-2, which is far better than anyone predicted. Let’s reserve final judgment until we see how this season winds up.
By the way, the Vikings weren’t the only NFL-winning team to eke out a win in Week 10. The unbeaten Chiefs needed a blocked field goal as time expired to beat Denver 16-14. And the team one game up on the Vikings in the NFC North — the Lions — overcame five Jared Goff interceptions and a 16-point deficit to win in Houston.
The game in Jacksonville should have been a blowout in the Vikings’ favor after they dominated in time of possession (42 minutes to 18, the most by any team this season), total yardage (402-143), first downs (29-10), and ran 47 of their 82 plays in Jacksonville territory. The offense’s three turnovers and four pre-snap penalties stalled many drives. The Vikings went 0 for 5 in the red zone on TDs.
Fortunately for the Purple, the Vikings’ defense totally shut down Mac Jones (111 passing yards and two interceptions) and the Jags’ running game (56 rushing yards) after their first-quarter touchdown drive. They came up with three takeaways (now leading the league with 20), and new kicker John Parker Romo came through with a 4 for 4 day to score all the Vikings points.
The Vikings are the first NFL team to win a game with no TDs and three turnovers since the Packers did it against the Vikings in 2006.
Here are my other reactions to the Vikings victory at Jacksonville:
1. Rough day for Sam: Vikings QB Sam Darnold was off most of the day. Besides the three interceptions, too many of his completions required receivers to make difficult catches, such as Justin Jefferson plucking a ball inches from the ground and T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver having to reach back for catches or make them in traffic while getting hit hard.
Darnold also made a bad over-throw on a play when Jordan Addison would’ve made a big gainer.
Kevin O’Connell is facing a big challenge to get Darnold back to playing like he was early in the season when he was the favorite for Comeback Player of the Year. Darnold has thrown five interceptions over the past two games, and his passer rating dropped from fifth at 107 to 11th at 99.
He has to make better decisions and better throws after his interceptions on Sunday were on a forced pass, a ball thrown behind, and a ball underthrown—all targeting Justin Jefferson, which is fine even when he’s double-covered as long as the passes are more accurate. And the first interception should’ve been nullified as Jefferson was held on the play with no call made (part of the lousy officiating in this game), while the second interception was a trapped ball that wasn’t overturned on replay (but it was still a bad throw behind Jefferson).
For the Vikings to knock off top NFC teams such as Detroit and Philadelphia in the postseason, Darnold will have to play much better than the last two games against the Colts and Jags.
2. Darnold did a good job targeting the tight ends: With the Jaguars mainly playing shell coverage to take away downfield shots, the middle of the field was open for Hockenson, who had eight receptions for 72 yards, including four third-down conversions on the second quarter drive that ended with an interception (on the trapped ball in the end zone by Montaric Brown). It was good to see Hockenson handle some of the hard hits he took, especially a low shot he absorbed on one of his catches.
Josh Oliver has taken on a bigger role in the passing game, and he’s shown great hands the past two games. On Sunday, he had four catches for 52 yards.
3. Cam Robinson gave up a lot of pressures but no sacks to Josh Hines-Allen. He also had a costly penalty for lining up too deep, nullifying an Addison reception at the Jags 4.
The O-line did a good job opening holes for Aaron Jones (88 yards rushing, 5.2 average), Cam Akers, and Ty Chandler. It was critical to run the ball well especially late in a game with Darnold inconsistent.
Jones showed his toughness by returning after taking a hit to the ribs. He had four late carries for 17 yards to help close out the game, but he should have gotten the ball on 3rd-and-1 from the Jaguars 38 after Byron Murphy’s interception (Darnold was sacked to force a punt with 2:49 left).
4. Cashman impactful in return: Blake Cashman returned from his turf toe and had another terrific game: One sack, two QB hits, two tackles-for-loss, and five tackles. His pressure on Mac Jones played a big part in the game-clinching interception by Cam Bynum as Jones unloaded and overthrew Gabe Davis to avoid a sack.
The Vikings are 6-0 when Cashman plays and takes on the green dot role of relaying Brian Flores’ defensive calls. The Vikings missed his leadership and effectiveness in covering the middle of the field in run and pass defense in their losses to the Lions and Rams.
5. First down defense excellent: The Vikings had the Jags in second-and-11 or more six times after making tackles for loss on first down (they had eight TFLs in the game). It’s always a great formula for success on defense.
6. Great play by Cam Bynum on his game-clinching pick: Bynum showed good range and wide receiver hands in grabbing Jones’ deep ball.
7. Special teams solid: Romo booted four of his five kickoffs too deep to return which was important against a good returning team. A hidden value of the Vikings’ 402 yards of offense was that Ryan Wright only had to punt twice to a dangerous returner—Devin Duvernay–who made one fair catch and the other punt was out of bounds. Wright also did a great job handling a high snap from new snapper Jake McQuaide on Romo’s second field goal.
The Vikings do need more production from Brandon Powell on punt returns, as he made two fair catches when he had room to run.
8. The Vikings reverted to previous bad form with several pre-snap penalties and six total. I thought the officiating was awful, with so many missed calls against both teams and the officials having trouble spotting the ball on a punt.
The three-game road swing continues at Tennessee this Sunday against the 2-7 Titans, who lost 27-17 to the Chargers on Sunday. The Vikings will need to play better on offense against the league’s top-ranked defense in yards allowed. The Titans’ offense is shaky with a No. 27 ranking, and Will Levis is a young quarterback whom Flores will try to rattle as he often has done successfully with other young quarterbacks this season (and did it to Jones in Jacksonville).
Please check on Friday for my preview of Vikings at Titans (my two former teams).
Around the NFL in Week 10 & a look ahead to Week 11:
1. In the NFC North, the Texans had the Lions on the ropes with a 23-7 halftime lead before Detroit rallied for a 26-23 win. Jake Bates made a 58-yard field goal to tie the game and a walk-off 52-yarder just inside the left upright for the win. Despite five Jared Goff interceptions, the Lions stayed one game ahead of the Vikings at 8-1. It was the first time since 1970 (Colts vs. Browns) that a team won after trailing by more than 15 points and having thrown five picks.
The biggest play in Houston’s downfall was a third-quarter end zone interception by Carlton Davis on a late throw with too much air under it to a wide-open Tank Dell, which would’ve put the Texans up by 30-13.
It looks like the Lions have easy sailing to 11-1, with Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Chicago next on their schedule.
The Bears fell to 4-5 with their third straight loss, an awful home defeat by New England and their rookie QB Drake Maye, who outplayed Caleb Williams, who had only 120 passing yards and was sacked nine times. The Bears’ offensive line played poorly, but Williams also held the ball too long on several of the sacks. The Vikings are at the Bears after the Tennessee game.
6-3 Green Bay had their bye week.
2. As mentioned earlier, Kansas City needed a blocked field goal on a 35-yard attempt by Will Lutz as time expired to remain unbeaten at 9-0. The Chiefs have a big test at 8-2 Buffalo on Sunday in a matchup of the top two AFC teams through Week 10.
3. Checkdown Kirk showed up in Atlanta’s loss at New Orleans. Cousins threw short of the sticks for a one-yard loss on 4th-and-4 from the Saints 43 with seven seconds left. Shades of his season-ending pass to Hockenson in the 2022 home playoff loss to the Giants.
4. Pittsburgh beat Washington 28-27 in a battle of division leaders, opening the door for the 7-2 Eagles (34-6 winners over fading Dallas) to move a half-game ahead of the 7-3 Commanders heading into their big game in Philly on Thursday night. The Eagles have won five straight, and the two teams will meet again in Week 16 in Washington. It will be fun to watch the two QBs—Jalen Hurts and Jayden Daniels.
The Steelers (7-2) host the Ravens (7-3) on Sunday, and first place in the AFC North is on the line.
Christian McCaffrey returned to the lineup with 107 combined yards as the 49ers beat the Bucs 23-20. And the Cardinals whipped Aaron Rodgers and the Jets 31-6 behind Kyler Murray’s 22 of 24 passing game for 266 yards and one TD, plus he had two rushing TDs. The Cardinals somewhat quietly lead the NFC West at 6-4 with wins over the 49ers and Rams in the first half of the season. The Vikings will host Arizona in Week 13 in a game that will be tougher than originally anticipated when the schedule came out.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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