The Minnesota Vikings couldn’t have asked for a much better start to their season than this. The Vikings enter their week seven bye with a 5-1 record and a two-game lead in the NFC North. Oh, they also swept their entire division at home already. Their only loss came by the Eagles (6-0) on Monday Night Football 24-7 a game that should have been much closer than it was. With that, let’s take a look at what we know and don’t about the Vikings as they enter their bye week.
Know – The Vikings Are Great At Winning Games Late
Minnesota has had three game winning/go ahead drives this season late in games. The first was in week three against Detroit. In that game, Minnesota had two 10-point comebacks. They got down 14-0 to start the game before tying it up at the half. In the second half, Detroit jumped out again, leading 24-14 with 2:08 to go in the fourth quarter. The Vikings then proceeded to score 14 unanswered including a 28-yard touchdown to K.J. Osborn with 0:45 seconds left. The Vikings sealed the game with an interception of Jared Goff.
Just going to leave this here if you want to relive K.J. Osborn's go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds left in the #Vikings comeback win over Detroit.#SKOL
Check out a ton of postgame locker room reaction on @KSTP.comhttps://t.co/FGKVVnmfON pic.twitter.com/oCk34AdVJs
— Alec Ausmus (@A_TwiceKSTP) September 25, 2022
The second was when they played in London against the Saints. New Orleans tied the game at 25-25 with 1:51 left. Minnesota got the ball back and drove the ball 53-yards in 1:27, kicking a field goal to take a 28-25 lead. The Saints would go on to get in field goal range where they would miss a game tying field goal.
#Saints K Wil Lutz hit a 60-yard FG to tie the game earlier in the quarter. He had a chance to tie it again from 61 yards out.
Double Doink strikes again.
What a game. https://t.co/RGJG9Lq5aK
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 2, 2022
Then again against the Bears in week five. The Vikings got an early 21-10 lead at the half. The Bears then climbed back into the game taking a 22-21 lead with 9:26 left in the fourth. The Vikings then put together a 17 play, 75-yard drive that took seven minutes, ending in a Kirk Cousins 1-yard rushing touchdown with 2:26 left. The Bears got the ball back, but Ihmir Smith-Marsette caught a pass that Cameron Dantzler ripped from him, sealing the game.
Cam called GAME 😤😤
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/3L24g1rjhS
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 9, 2022
The Vikings, late in games, have proven they can put together clutch drives getting anything from field goals to touchdowns with two-point conversions. The defense has even stepped up getting big turnovers late in games to seal victories. This is such a good quality to have as a team. Yes, a lot of their opponents haven’t been good, but this is good experience to have. Knowing you can be down late and have the ability to go and get three, seven, or whatever you need is huge. Teams need to keep an eye on this. If the Vikings continue this trend, teams won’t want to get into a tight one with them.
Don’t Know – Can They Find Consistency?
This has been something I’ve been wondering since week 3. Can they finally get some consistency on either side of the ball? The Vikings have looked great offensively, sometimes to the point of one of the best offenses in the league. Other times, they fail to move the ball at all. Like last week against the Dolphins where the Vikings punted nine times; all being three-and-out.
The defense has had similar issues but with a lot less consistency. You have last week’s game against Miami where the Vikings gave up 458 yards of total offense, 23 first downs and allowed the Dolphins to hold the ball for over 35 minutes. Yet they still got three turnovers and held Miami to 4-of-14 on third down. It is crazy to think Minnesota won this game given the gap in statistics.
Minnesota’s defense appears to be determined quarter-to-quarter (though the offense can be thrown into this as well). The Vikings have had periods where they are lights out for one half then are awful the next. This needs to be fixed as their level of competition is about to go up in the second half of the season here.
Know – The Offense and Defense Can Be Great
Look, both have struggled greatly so far this season, but they have had moments when they have looked great. When the Vikings played the Saints and Bears back-to-back the offense scored on 11 of their 20 offensive possessions. During that stretch they punted five times, turned the ball over twice, and missed two field goals. Not bad, especially against some decent defenses (yes, the Saints and Bears have decent-to-good defense).
The defense has also had some good moments. Through their first three games the Vikings were great in the second half against teams. The Vikings allowed only 17 points in the third quarter and had shutout teams in the fourth. Minnesota’s defense has also been very good at getting turnovers, having ten of them on the year. The Vikings are averaging at least one turnover a game and have three games with multiple turnovers. This team can be great. They just need to learn how to put it all together for four quarters.
Don’t Know – Can They Keep Winning Ugly Games Against Better Compeition?
Minnesota has been great in close games, winning four by a margin of eight points or less. The Vikings competition through six weeks has a combined record of 17-18. In the Vikings next six games they face teams of a combined record of 20-16 – including the Bills, Jets, and Cowboys. In fact, the Vikings will face seven teams with a .500 record or better (at the moment) during their last 11 games. The Vikings only faced three teams who are currently at or over .500 during their first six (two are 3-3).
Their schedule is also looking a lot harder than it did at the beginning of the year. The Vikings now have a nine-game stretch to end the year that at one point looked like the easiest part of their schedule. It’s now shaping up to be a bit of a gauntlet. The Vikings over their last nine games will play at Buffalo, vs. Dallas, vs. New England, vs. New York (Jets), at Detroit, vs. Indianapolis, vs. New York (Giants), at Green Bay, and at Chicago.
Why am I considering this hard? Well, games like Detroit and Chicago would be considered easy, but the fact that each gave the Vikings a run for their money, being on the road will make them harder. The Patriots, Jets, Colts, and Giants, while all at home are all currently over .500 (except for New England who is 3-3) and are looking to be tough outs. The good thing is if the Vikings keep up their winning ways, they’ll become a legit team and a real threat, ugly win or not.
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