Vikings Back on Track at 6-2 after Big Win over Colts
It was a shaky start for the offense on Sunday night with two Sam Darnold turnovers in the first half, one of which — the sack/fumble/scoop-and-score — should have been overturned for a roughing the passer penalty on Grover Stewart.
Vikings Back on Track at 6-2 after Big Win over Colts
Fortunately for the Vikings, the defense held the team close by forcing two turnovers from QB Joe Flacco while Darnold and the offense heated up in the second half to produce three touchdowns and an important 21-13 win.
The Vikings improved to 6-2 with the victory. They’re one game behind the rolling 7-1 Lions and ahead of a team that fell behind 22-0 in Philadelphia on Sunday before rallying and coming up just short in a 28-23 loss. The Jaguars are tied for the worst record in the NFL, but they have plenty of quality players (led by QB Trevor Lawrence and pass rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker). The Jags lost 30-27 to the Packers two weeks ago on a walk-off field goal.
Darnold will have to be more careful with his passing, but he’s due to catch a break from the officials, who have cost him two sacks/fumbles the last two games with bad calls. The Vikings’ defense must continue its strong play from the Colts game after shutting down Jonathan Taylor in the run game (48 rushing yards with a 3.7 average after he came in with a 4.9-yard average) and holding Flacco and the passing game in check.
The Vikings came out of the Colts game with kicking game concerns as Will Reichard injured his quad, and the Vikings may need a replacement kicker until Reichard recovers. And Pro Bowl long snapper Andrew DePaola suffered a hand injury that could land him on short-term injured reserve.
Here are my other reactions to the Vikings prime-time win over the Colts:
1. It was quite a strong performance from newly acquired left tackle Cam Robinson as he replaced Christian Darrisaw. He held up well against a strong defensive front for Indy and only gave up one obvious pressure late in the game. Based on Sunday’s game, it looks like a great trade to get a good left tackle (at least based on the Colts game) for a mid-round pick in 2026, even if Robinson is in the last year of his contract. Now Robinson will face his former team in Jacksonville on Sunday.
The interior O-line had its struggles, which was not surprising when facing one of the NFL’s best DTs in Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner, who had one sack, three QB hits, and six tackles. Stewart’s disruptive play was a bit of a surprise as he came into the game with 9.5 career sacks in eight seasons and had two sacks and two QB hits. He flattened Garrett Bradbury with a bull rush on the sack/fumble/TD play. Bradbury has to anchor better to prevent that from happening again as the season progresses.
2. Darnold made the three mistakes, but he also threw a lot of great passes, such as the 41-yard deep ball to Justin Jefferson that set up Jalen Nailor’s seven-yard game-winning score on a play when Darnold did a good job hanging in until Nailor came open. Darnold also ran for a key first down in the game.
Jefferson got closer to double-digit targets with nine and had seven catches for 137 yards (a season-high). He leads the NFL with 783 receiving yards and should have a good opportunity to pad his stats against Jacksonville’s 31st-ranked pass defense.
Jefferson also further showed his immense value by being willing to play on the hands team for the Colts’ onside kick at the end of the game, and he caught the perfect high-bouncing kick.
3. Jordan Addison stepped up with a tremendous one-handed, left-hand catch for the Vikings’ first TD on the opening drive of the third quarter. Then there was T.J. Hockenson’s return with three catches for 27 yards, including a 19-yarder, which helped set up Addison’s TD. And Josh Oliver had a career-high five catches for 58 yards and the clinching 14-yard TD. He’s showing great hands and his usual excellent blocking in his second Vikings season.
Add the productive Aaron Jones to the mix, and the Vikings have the skill players to be one of the league’s best offenses if Darnold avoids mistakes and the O-line consistently protects him and opens up holes in the run game as they did in the second half for Jones and Cam Akers who ran well on Sunday and has moved ahead of Ty Chandler in the running back pecking order. Akers and Robinson are proving early on to be excellent trade acquisitions for late-round 2026 picks.
The Vikings moved the ball well throughout the game, with 415 yards of total offense, and put points on the board when they stopped the turnovers and allowing Darnold to be sacked (three times in the first half and only once in the second half).
4. It was a much better game in the penalty area for the Vikings, as O’Connell pointed out post-game. The Vikings had only three penalties for 41 yards, and the usual false starts didn’t occur. Meanwhile, the Colts were penalized seven times for 50 yards (and Stewart should have been hit with a roughing call on Darnold).
5. The defense had a terrific night against a decent Colts offense, holding them to 227 total yards and 13 first downs, and contributed to the Vikings’ 37-23 minute edge in time of possession by getting off the field on third and fourth down (4 of 13 by the Colts while the Vikings went 7 of 13).
The Vikings consistently pressured Flacco all night and finally sacked him three times late in the game (twice by Jonathan Greenard) and had seven quarterback hits. Andrew Van Ginkel pressured Flacco on the interception by Byron Murphy early in the fourth quarter. It was a big improvement over the no sacks, and two quarterback hits on Matthew Stafford from a tired Vikings defense in the Thursday night loss at the Rams.
6. Harrison Smith made three big plays — recovering the first-quarter fumble on the botched handoff between Flacco and Taylor and breaking up two passes with 5 ½ minutes left and the Vikings clinging to a four-point lead (including on 4th and 2 from the Minnesota 40 when he combined with Stephon Gilmore to break up a pass to Ashton Dulin that was in effect the defense’s third forced turnover). Smith did a great job of not hitting Dulin too high, thus avoiding a flag as he dislodged the ball.
7. It was a rough night for rookie kicker Will Reichard who missed his first two field goals this season — from 53 and 31 yards. Reichard was dealing with a quad injury that caused the short miss. He’s getting an MRI, and the Vikings hope it’s not too serious, as he’s been a big part of their 6-2 start.
8. In the last two games against the Colts (in 2022 and on Sunday), the Vikings have outscored Indy 60-9 in the second half to get the victories.
I’ll be back on Friday to preview the Vikings-Jaguars matchup, the first of the next three on the road (followed by games at 2-6 Tennessee and Chicago).
Around the NFL in Week 9 & a look ahead to Week 10:
1. In the big NFC North battle for first place in the rain at Lambeau Field, the Lions dominated the Packers in a 24-14 win. The Packers outgained the Lions 411-261, but Jordan Love made a poor decision on a disastrous pick-6 by Kerby Joseph, which gave the Lions a two-touchdown lead. Jared Goff was efficient as usual (18 of 22 for 145 yards and one TD with no turnovers in the bad conditions). The Packers also self-destructed with 10 penalties and five dropped passes.
Lions star safety Brian Branch was ejected on a helmet-to-helmet hit on Bo Melton. It was the right call by the officials on a dangerous play. I was disappointed to hear Fox announcer Tom Brady say that Branch shouldn’t have been ejected and that a hit like that was part of the game. As a former player, Brady should know better than to make a statement like that when Branch launched himself at Melton and made the hard hit to the head area (with the league trying to eliminate such concussion-causing hits).
The Bears were drilled 29-9 by the Cardinals in the desert. Arizona rushed for 213 yards, and Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams was sacked six times.
2. The Cardinals now surprisingly lead the NFC West at 5-4 but have the 49ers and Rams a half-game back. The Niners were on their bye, and the Rams won a thriller 26-20 in OT at Seattle on a terrific one-handed 39-yard TD catch by Demarcus Robinson from Stafford. Ex-Gopher Tyler Johnson had a great 24-yard catch in traffic on the winning drive.
3. In other games, Kirk Cousins continued his strong recent play with three TD passes in 6-3 Atlanta’s 27-21 win over the fast-sinking 3-5 Cowboys. The 7-2 Bills have a four-game lead over the Jets in the AFC East after Tyler Bass’ 61-yard field goal beat Miami. The Commanders beat the Giants 27-22 to stay a half-game ahead of the Eagles in the NFC East. Washington has won three straight, and Philadelphia has won four in a row.
Don’t write off the Bengals yet. They won their third straight game with Joe Burrow throwing five TD passes in a 41-24 home win over the Raiders. Cincinnati is now 4-5 heading into a pivotal Thursday night game at 6-3 Baltimore, who drilled Denver 41-10. The Ravens were led by Lamar Jackson, who threw for 280 yards and three TDs, and NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry, who ran for 106 yards and two TDs.
The Saints started this season 2-0 but have lost their last seven games, including Sunday’s 23-22 defeat at lowly Carolina. New Orleans fired Coach Dennis Allen following the loss.
4. Other big games in Week 10 include two matchups of division leaders —Detroit at Houston on Sunday night and Pittsburgh at Washington. The Cowboys’ last gasp for 2024 could be when they host the Eagles.
Notable Former Viking Hits IR for Giants
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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