Vikings Rally for All-Important 10th Win, Stay Close to Lions with Cousins up Next
Kevin O’Connell has established an excellent record in one-score games in his three seasons as Vikings head coach. He’s now 24-9 in such regular season games after the Vikings rallied to beat the Cardinals 23-22 on Sunday. The one-score record is 7-1 this season.
More importantly, the Vikings’ victory earned them the all-important tenth win of the season, virtually assuring them of an NFC playoff spot. It kept them one game behind the 11-1 Lions and one game ahead of the 9-3 Packers, who both won home games on Thanksgiving against Chicago and Miami, respectively.
Vikings Rally for All-Important 10th Win, Stay Close to Lions with Cousins up Next
The key for the Vikings moving forward is to at least hang on to the fifth seed and first wild card spot, which would put them on the road in the wildcard round against the weaker NFC South or NFC West champions. That’s a much better path to advancing in the postseason compared to a first-round trip to Philadelphia or Detroit (whoever emerges as the second seed) if the Vikings were to fall to the seventh seed.
While the first goal is to clinch a playoff spot, and the overriding goal is to win the division for a home playoff game or two, I know from experience that GMs and team presidents are already thinking of likely playoff matchups.
We know for sure the Vikings will have to play like they did late in the Arizona game and not like the first half come playoff time. The Cardinals are a solid team that could win the NFC West, but the Vikings should not have lost time of possession 36-24 minutes, been outgained 406-273 yards, and outrushed 154-68 yards. But the Vikings won the turnover battle 2-1 and scored on their last three possessions (TD, field goal, TD) to come through at crunch time.
This come-from-13-points-behind win may pay dividends down the stretch and in the postseason, as the team believes it can rally behind Sam Darnold, his clutch receivers, an opportunistic defense, and a strong kicking game.
Here are my other reactions to the Vikings win over the Cardinals:
1. For the second straight week, Darnold played great late in the game with several clutch throws, including the 4th-and-5 completion for 12 yards to Justin Jefferson with 2:10 left. He scrambled 12 yards for a key first down on the fourth quarter drive to a field goal that brought the Vikings within three points.
He had no turnovers for the third straight week despite facing consistent pressure (five sacks) from Arizona’s heavy-blitzing defense until O’Connell’s move to an up-tempo offense tired the Cardinals a bit late, and the O-line then protected better.
2. Aaron Jones has to protect the ball: He now has five fumbles, two in this game, with three of them lost this season (including in the first quarter on Sunday). Jones also dropped a potential TD pass on a perfect throw from Darnold in the right corner of the end zone in the fourth quarter. Jones did bounce back and catch the winning TD pass with 1:10 remaining, but he has to do a better job of protecting the ball, or Cam Akers and Ty Chandler will get more play time, as occurred during stretches of this game.
3. Jefferson, Addison, and Hockenson were clutch late in the game: They all made contested catches and big plays to aid the rally. Jefferson now has 1,038 receiving yards this season (second in the league to Ja’Marr Chase) after his seven catches for 99 yards against Arizona.
4. Issues picking up the blitz: The Cardinals linebackers were not picked up several times due to mistakes in protection (mostly with the interior O-linemen). That has to get cleaned up quickly. The expected return this week of one of the league’s best blocking tight ends, Josh Oliver (from his ankle injury), will be a big help in pass protection and run blocking and give Darnold another quality target.
5. Red zone defense saves the day: The Vikings D held the Cardinals to 1 for 6 on TDs in the red zone. The D bent but didn’t break as they dealt with the elusive Kyler Murray, who had a fine game. He made a lot of great throws until his two fourth quarter interceptions. One of them–by Byron Murphy (his fifth of the season) against his former team– led to a field goal, and the last-minute pick by Shaq Griffin on a terrific play in coverage on Marvin Harrison, Jr. sealed the victory.
6. Vikings corner depth a concern: Fabian Moreau made a couple of nice plays in coverage, but he was picked on when he replaced Stephon Gilmore (hamstring—and he wanted to return, but the coaches and trainers wisely kept him on the sideline). Moreau had two pass interference penalties, including a 38-yarder that set up the only Cardinals TD in the third quarter for a 19-6 lead, and Harrison beat Moreau on the 15-yard TD. Brian Flores should not have had Moreau in single coverage as often as he did, especially on a talented receiver like Harrison, who is four inches taller.
7. Jonathan Greenard is a gutsy player: He fought through sickness and exhaustion from chasing Murray all day to make a huge sack on the last drive that led to Griffin’s interception. It’s the second straight game he’s made a big sack late after taking down Caleb Williams to help force an overtime punt last week. Greenard now has 10 sacks to rank third in the league.
8. Vikings again won the penalty battle: Arizona had 10 for 96 yards (four false starts as the loud home crowd aided the Vikings. The Vikings had three penalties for 56 yards (two by Moreau).
9. Did Romo kick in his last game? He made a 55-yarder, missed from 43 yards, and is 11 of 12 on field goals and 7 of 8 on extra points in his four games since replacing Will Reichard. O’Connell said Reichard’s 21-day window to return from IR will be opened this week (along with Pro Bowl long snapper Andrew DePaola).
That indicates Reichard’s quad injury is fully healed or close to it, so it will be interesting to see if O’Connell brings him back this Sunday against Atlanta (and Kirk Cousins) or sticks with Romo for the time being.
Around the NFL in Week 13 & a look ahead to Week 14:
1. The Bears’ awful clock management at the end of their three-point loss to the Lions (with Bears Coach Matt Eberflus not calling a timeout to try and get into field goal range at the end) cost Eberflus his job, along with the six-game losing streak for a team that was 4-2 and looking like a playoff contender after six weeks.
2. All eyes in Vikingsland will be on the Thursday night game this week in Detroit, where the Lions face the Packers. Green Bay won in Detroit last year on Thanksgiving to jump-start their playoff run. The Vikings win either way in this game. They’d prefer to see the Lions lose to give them a chance to tie for the division lead with a win on Sunday. But a Lions win and a Vikings win would drop the Packers two games back of the Purple in the race for the top wildcard spot.
3. The Vikings’ next opponent, Atlanta, lost at home 17-13 to the Chargers, with four Kirk Cousins interceptions costing the Falcons. Cousins leads the NFL with 13 picks, but his mobility is less than ever after his Achilles injury last season. He returns to Minnesota on Sunday to face the Vikings’ D, which leads the league in interceptions with 18.
It’s a huge game for the Falcons, who have lost three straight and are tied for the NFC South lead with Tampa Bay at 6-6. The Bucs host the 2-10 Raiders and can take the division lead with a win and a Falcons loss to the Vikings.
4. In other games, the Eagles won their eighth straight with a 24-19 win in Baltimore. Future Hall of Fame kicker Justin Tucker missed two field goals and an extra point in the loss that dropped the Ravens to 8-5, 1 1 ½ games behind the 9-3 Steelers (who won in Cincinnati 44-38 behind Russell Wilson’s 414 yard passing day). Pittsburgh hosts lowly Cleveland on Sunday before tough road games in Weeks 15 and 16 at Philly and Baltimore.
Buffalo whipped fading San Francisco 35-10 on a snowy night in western New York, and the Niners lost Christian McCaffrey to a knee injury in the game.
Seattle took over the NFC West lead at 7-5 with a come-from-behind 26-21 win at the Jets, dropping Aaron Rodgers to 3-9 this season as he threw a 92-yard Pick-6 to Seahawks DT Leonard Williams that was the biggest play in the game.
5. Other big games in Week 14 besides Vikings-Falcons and Lions-Packers include 10-2 Buffalo at the 6-6 Rams, 7-5 Seattle at 6-6 Arizona, and the 8-4 Chargers at the 11-1 Chiefs on Sunday night.
There’s a J.J. McCarthy Injury Update
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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