I don’t know how many more times I can watch these games. My doctor’s starting to become a go-to contact for my constant cardiac arrest. Your Minnesota Vikings beat the New York Jets, 27-22. Minnesota muscles away a win, moving to (10-2), while the Jets move to (7-5). The way this team plays football is so unreasonably unsustainable that I can’t see them pushing far into the playoffs. Although, they’ve gotten some solid wins with this improvisational method, so who knows.
First up is offense, and today was a truly poor performance. The offensive line could barely handle the trenches, Kirk Cousins didn’t even hit 200 passing yards, and our leading receiver had less than 50 yards. At least Dalvin Cook had 86 yards and a touchdown? This unit is making a trait out of vanishing during the third quarter, and it concerns me strongly. Once we go against a true contender, these long sequences of total impotency can’t happen. Strong teams are going to take advantage of every edge we offer up, and one day these stretches are going to be a killing blow to the team. There were a few nice long tosses for Kirk, but early on he was just flat out bad. He managed to warm up, and then kinda cooled off. Consistency is key, for every aspect of this offense.
Defense is next, and they are absolutely the reason Minnesota won this contest. Specifically, one certain stretch (that also conveniently fits the time that the Vikings’ offense spent kicking rocks) from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth where the defense let up only field goals. Four consecutive forced field goals kept the offense within striking distance when they finally woke up from their coma. A major jolt that started Minnesota on the right path early was Harrison Smith’s interception on the Jets’ first drive of the game, even though the offense only managed to get three points out of it. Camryn Bynum also got an interception, sealing the game as a Vikings win. One of the most interesting players outside of the secondary for me, Patrick Jones II, got a sack, a tackle-for-loss, and a QB hit. Overall, an alright showing for the defense, albeit allowing 369 passing yards from Mike White.
HE DID IT. GREG JOSEPH DIDN’T MISS A SINGLE KICK TODAY. That’s gotta be some reason to celebrate. Ryan Wright continues his Rookie of the Year campaign, getting 48.7 yards per punt today. Next week’s match pits Minnesota against the Detroit Lions, a match that can result in the Vikings’ first division title since 2017. This type of output, though, might not fetch them the result they’ve been searching for.
