The Vikings continued their winning ways by completing the sweep of the AFC east with a 27-22 win over the New York Jets (7-5). The Vikings took a commanding 20-6 lead into the half and led 20-15 with 12:30 to go in the fourth. Minnesota then got the offense going leading to a Justin Jefferson touchdown and the defense held firm leading to a 27-22 win over another good team. With that let’s take a look at my Minnesota Vikings week 13 takeaways.
Winning The Viking Way
Yep, this is how the Vikings have been winning games all year long and how they will continue to win games. Today was no exception with a great first half, followed by a second half that saw the Vikings score only seven points and give up 16. In the first half, the Vikings were great, scoring 20 points and controlling every aspect of the game.
ALEXANDER MATTISON 14 YARDS UNTOUCHED FOR THE SCORE #skol
pic.twitter.com/SBGaCasLcD— RetroMinnesota (@RetroMinnesota) December 4, 2022
Unfortunately, that dominance was almost non-existent in the second half as the Jets made some really good adjustments and took over from there. It was frustrating at points to watch, seeing them chip away at their lead.
The bend don’t break mentality on defense is something I’m starting to get behind. The Vikings were outgained 486-287 yards yet gave up 22 points including five field goals. That is really impressive giving how badly they were outgained. They also had a pair of interceptions leading to three points and the game sealing pick. The Vikings are finding ways to win no matter how close or ugly it gets. At this point I’m done hoping for a blowout or a win by more than eight points. This is the team they are and I’m here for it. Just keep winning, it doesn’t matter how tight, how the team looks, just keep winning.
The Defense Actually Looked Good…For A Half
As mentioned above in the first half the Vikings were great. They held the Jets to six points in the first half and had an interception on the Jets opening drive that led to a field goal. The Vikings suffocated New York in the first half. The defense looked like it may have found its footing and looked to be putting on one of their best performances of the season.
Then, halftime came. After that the defense wasn’t the same. They gave up 16 points in the second half and didn’t look great. They tackled poorly and had some bad coverages (White did have some good throws for the Jets) but they looked completely different from the first half. It’s not surprising anymore to see this. In the end they stood tall with a pair of red zone stands and had another game sealing interception.
The Offense Did Enough
Today, the defense held firm in the red zone and the offense scored just enough to hold off the Jets second-half surge. Kirk Cousins had an okay game throwing for 173 yards with a completion percentage of 60% and a touchdown. Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison both had good games with Cook rushing for 86 yards and touchdown and Mattison with 14 yards and a touchdown. Jefferson had 45 yards and a touchdown. The offense was decent today, but it wasn’t the dominant one we saw last week.
Instead, we saw them score on four of their six possessions, punting one time in the first half. In the second they punted five times on seven possessions with one scoring a touchdown and the other the kneel down at the end of the game. They need to continue to find ways to not be a two-quarter team but a four-quarter team. This has been their weakness on offense, and they need to find a way to be more consistent like last week. If they can they’ll be able to win games like these by double digits and not one score.
A Look Ahead
The Minnesota Vikings will travel to Detroit to take on the Lions (5-7). Detroit is coming off of a 40-14 blowout of Jacksonville. The Vikings can wrap up the NFC north with a win over the Lions next week.
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