It took an extra period, but the Minnesota Vikings were finally able to crawl back to .500 on the season with their overtime victory against the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars. The team overcame plenty of mistakes to secure the win.
They are still committing unforced errors, haven’t been as dynamic in the run game, and the offensive line continues to struggle. But Cameron Dantzler is starting to come into his own.
Here are some things we learned from this victory, which felt kind of like a loss:
The Vikings are their own worst enemy
The Vikings didn’t only battle the Jaguars today, they also had to fight themselves and overcome the mistakes they made, which kept this game much closer than it needed to be. They gave up a pick-six, missed two extra points, missed a field goal and lost a fumble on the goal line. The Vikings were sloppy on Sunday, and it almost cost them a chance at the playoffs.
The most concerning part? This game wasn’t a fluke. The Vikings have had plenty of self-forced mistakes that keep inferior opponents alive. Against the Chicago Bears, they allowed a kickoff return touchdown. Last week versus the Carolina Panthers, they allowed two defensive touchdowns on back-to-back plays. This is a sloppy team, and they need to clean up their mental lapses if they are going to make the playoffs.
Their schedule is going to get much tougher. They play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week and face the New Orleans Saints on Christmas Day. The Vikings aren’t going to sneak out wins playing like this against squads that are in the playoff hunt.
The o-line is struggling
The Vikings’ offensive line hasn’t been great recently. Jacksonville had just 11 sacks on the season, but they were able to register four sacks today and pressured Kirk Cousins all game long. Their defense also did a great job of slowing down Dalvin Cook until the end of the game.
There was hope that getting Ezra Cleveland back would help rejuvenate the O-line. In the Chicago game, they were extremely aggressive and matched the physicality of the Bears front seven. At the time it looked like the Vikings’ O-line was taking that next step forward and developing into a strength.
But that wasn’t the case. This group has been manhandled in the last three games, and the Jaguars aren’t exactly known for their ability to get after the passer. They had no issues pressuring Cousins today, however, sacking him four times. Cook also struggled to bust off long runs and was met in the backfield more than once on the afternoon.
Dakota Dozier has been especially brutal lately. If he isn’t allowing defensive linemen to blow right through him, he is hanging on to him and drawing a flag. It may be worth putting Brett Jones over there to see if things improve. The Vikings are 6-6 and in the thick of the NFC playoff hunt, but if their offensive line doesn’t improve, it isn’t going to matter.
Teams are figuring out Dalvin Cook
Cook carried the rock an eye-popping 32 times today for 120 yards. This shakes out to an average of 3.8 yards per carry. Cook has run for 96, 115 and 61 yards the last three weeks. Today was tough sledding for him again, but he had a ton of carries that helped up his total yardage. Cook had run for over 400 yards the three games prior to the Carolina game, so it is worth wondering if teams are starting to figure out ways to stop him.
He is seeing a lot more run blitzes come his way, and it looks like teams are making it a priority to take him out of games. This, in addition to the Vikings’ offensive line struggles, has minimized Cook’s impact. We haven’t seen a ton of huge game-breaking runs from him, and he is also beginning to get brought down by arm and ankle tackles. This could be the wear of all the carries he’s had over the course of the season, but it also could be the result of teams making it a focus to neutralize him. Luckily for the Vikings, Cousins has stepped up and used weapons like Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen to put points on the board.
Now it is up to Gary Kubiak and the Vikings’ offensive coaching staff to figure out more creative ways to utilize and disguise this dynamic weapon.
Cameron Dantzler is a playmaker
Dantzler was a preseason star for the Vikings in camp last summer, and there were plenty of reports about how he was making play after play in practice. He was even showing the ability to slow down established pass-catchers like Thielen. This impressive showing earned Dantzler a starting spot in the Vikings’ secondary, and the third-rounder was out there on opening day.
He’s been inconsistent and has also been injured, which really slowed his progression — he was on the field for one game and then sidelined for a few weeks. He finally has strung together a few starts in a row, and that playmaking ability has begun to resurface.
Against the Jaguars, Dantzler had two huge plays. He had his first career interception when he pulled the ball out of the arms of a Jacksonville tight end and later forced a fumble that the Vikings recovered. What was great about these two plays was that Dantzler showed some aggression and some fight. He wanted the ball more than the two Jaguars players and just took it away.
His development has been accelerated now that he has been healthy. If the Vikings are going to make the playoffs and push for the NFC crown, this young corner will need to make these types of game-changing plays regularly.
