It is time for the Minnesota Vikings takeaways after their week six win over the Miami Dolphins.
The Vikings went into Miami and emerged victorious, beating the Dolphins (3-3) 24-16. The Vikings are now 5-1 heading into their bye week. The Vikings and Dolphins started out ugly, with each team combining for seven punts to start the game. Things picked up when Miami kicked a field goal, followed by the Vikings scoring a touchdown to go up 7-3. The Dolphins missed a field goal and threw an interception leading to a Vikings field goal putting them up 10-3 at the half.
Coming out of the half each team again exchanged possessions, combining for seven punts/turnover on downs. Each team then finally got their act together scoring touchdowns putting the game at 16-10 with ten to go in the fourth. Miami then fumbled the ball leading to a Dalvin Cook 53-yard rushing touchdown that all but sealed the Vikings victory. Miami would score once more before failing to convert an onside kick. With that, let’s take a look at my takeaways from the Vikings week 6 win over the Dolphins.
The Defense Looked Much Better
Has the defense figured it out? I’m not going to go saying that yet, but this was one great performance (compared to the rest of the season). The Vikings had six sacks, a fumble recovery and two interceptions. Minnesota got consistent pressure on the Miami quarterbacks leading to a lot of sacks led by Za’Darius Smith and Patrick Jones II, each with two on the day.
What I was most impressed with by the defense today was the fact that the Vikings allowed 458 yards of total offense (385 passing and 73 rushing) and held the Dolphins to 16 points. Miami also went 4-of-14 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth. They also gave up 23 first downs and Miami held the ball for 35:29 minutes. When I see all of this, it’s impressive that the Vikings won in a way where it didn’t feel like Miami dominated so much in these categories. Then again three turnovers are a killer.
Getting Turnovers
The Vikings have done a good job at getting turnovers this season with a total of ten on the year. Minnesota had three today. The first was one heck of an interception by safety Harrison Smith. Camryn Bynum deflected a pass before bouncing around between the two with Smith coming up with the pick.
Probably the craziest interception of Harrison Smith's career! Camryn Bynum knocked the ball loose #Skol pic.twitter.com/0jtx1ajUZU
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) October 16, 2022
The next was a fumble by Jaylen Waddle. Waddle was hit by Harrison Smith and coughed up the ball and it was recovered by Camryn Bynum.
Harrison Smith with a HUGE forced fumble pic.twitter.com/hMV1ejalqv
— Shawn (@SyedSchemes) October 16, 2022
Lastly was a Patrick Peterson interception late in the fourth quarter. Peterson jumped a route and picked off Teddy Bridgewater in a play that pretty much sealed the Vikings win.
Patrick Peterson ices away the #Vikings victory with a 4th Qtr interception! #kfanvikes #nfl pic.twitter.com/144I87MkKw
— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) October 16, 2022
Getting turnovers has been huge for the Vikings this season. Something I’ve noticed with this is that the team has been clutch. It doesn’t matter if it’s a late game drive or late turnover they seem to be clutch. They had a late game interception of Jared Goff that sealed their win over Detroit. A fumble recovery won the game for them last week against the Bears. Minnesota has just been able to get the job done winning close games whether it’s the offense, defense, both, or sometimes just a little bit of luck (yes, I’m talking about the double-doink).
The Offense Struggled
I seriously can’t figure this team out. You got games like today with the offense where they don’t play great, but then have really good games like in the previous two weeks. The same goes for the defense. They have a great day like today but have played poorly for the past few weeks. You just can’t figure them out. The Vikings had 234 yards of total offense with 156 passing and 78 rushing (although 53 of those came from one run). Minnesota only had 11 first downs and were 2-for-12 on third down. They also only held the ball for 24:31.
The Vikings offense the past few weeks has looked on the verge of becoming great, but this week looked like they took two steps back. They have been inconsistent all year. Some games they look nearly unstoppable, while in others they are only able to get success in bursts.
Thankfully, the thing with their inconsistency is that it does make it hard for teams to figure out the Vikings. Think about it, if you don’t know what offense or defense will show up or how they will play, it makes it a lot harder to game plan against a team like that. The Vikings have struggle to be consistent. Sometimes it’s the passing game, or sometimes it’s just Kirk and Justin Jefferson. Other times it is the run game, you just don’t know what will click. The offense can sometimes be lightning in a bottle or an unstoppable force and honestly on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
At this point I don’t know what to expect other than that they are inconsistent and will likely keep winning these close games. Which I’m perfectly fine with because a win is a win regardless of whether it’s ugly, a blowout, or anything in between.
A Look Ahead
The Minnesota Vikings now enter their bye week with a 5-1 record with a two game lead in the NFC north. Coming off their bye in week 8 the Vikings will host the Arizona Cardinals (2-4).
1 Comment
The offense struggles against man coverage. It’s pretty much that simple. GB ran a zone primarily and the Vikings won handily. The Eagles were in man the whole game and dominated them (after running zone in week 1, which almost certainly caught the Vikings by surprise.) The Vikings dominated the Bears in the first half, but at halftime, they (da Bears) switched from zone to man coverage and the Vikings couldn’t do anything for the entirety of the 3rd quarter. And the Dolphins? They use man-to-man coverage at one of the highest rates in the NFL. The Vikings went 3 and out on their first 3 drives, which is not a coincidence. I guarantee you that the word is out around the league about this weakness. If the Vikings can’t overcome it, they will probably make the playoffs but once again be sent home early. Here’s hoping the so-far-impressive coaching staff is on top of it and gets the team to adapt.