Just when it appeared that the Minnesota Vikings have used up all their luck, they proved us wrong again. Against the Jeff Saturday-led Indianapolis Colts, the Vikings somehow offered us their worst half of football all season. Down 33-0 at halftime, even the most optimistic Vikings fan couldn’t have predicted what the second half would bring. And who could blame them? No team in NFL history had ever come back from more than 32 points.
When the Vikings brought in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, fans expected him to use an analytical approach in his decision-making. Kevin O’Connell employs a game-management coach to help him maximize timeouts, time management, and other game-day decisions. The team leans heavily on sports science as well. Unlike the Mike Zimmer regime, these guys embrace analytics, hoping to maximize every bit of data to find an edge.
But, despite this new-school thinking, something unquantifiable drives this Vikings team. They have a belief in one another when adversity strikes. That’s how they were able to come back against the Buffalo Bills last month in what was then the whackiest Vikings game we had ever seen. It also spearheaded the greatest comeback in NFL history on Saturday.
These games aren’t pretty, but they are building a camaraderie that can be dangerous once the playoffs arrive. Minnesota has seven comeback victories in 2022, and while they may not be destined to blow any teams out this year, they know they are never out of any game. The Vikings are now 10-0 in one-possession games this season, which is hard to fathom for people who don’t regularly watch them. But for those in the locker room, it’s no surprise.
With that, here are five numbers that tell the story of the Vikings-Colts game.
157
For the first time this season, a receiver not named Justin Jefferson broke the century mark when K.J. Osborn set a career high with 157 receiving yards. Osborn caught 10 of 16 targets on Sunday, including Minnesota’s first touchdown.
He was efficient all day, averaging a team-high 2.91 yards per route run. That was only the second time this season that Osborn averaged more than 2.0 yards per route. His 94 yards after catch trailed only Dalvin Cook, who had 99 yards after the catch. But despite all the yards after catch, Osborn still had an average depth of target (ADOT) of 9.2 yards, his third-highest of the season.
417
Kirk Cousins set a career high in passing yards on Sunday, but most of the damage was done in the second half and overtime. Cousins passed for 417 yards in the final 40 minutes of game-time, adding four touchdowns along the way. He finished with 460 passing yards while completing 34 of 54 passes.
Perhaps most impressive was that Cousins, widely viewed as a player who needs everything around him to be perfect, was as effective as he was despite being sacked seven times. Cousins has now been sacked 40 times this season. Only Russell Wilson and Daniel Jones have been sacked more this season.
4/4
Minnesota’s red-zone offense got back on track after a rough day last week against the Detroit Lions. They scored touchdowns on all four red-zone opportunities against the Colts. That included three passing touchdowns and a touchdown run by C.J. Ham, the third such score of his career.
The Vikings have scored touchdowns on 33 of 52 red-zone trips this year. That 63.5% success rate ranks seventh in the NFL and is a testament to the situational football that O’Connell preaches.
4.3
Minnesota’s defense had its best game in over a month. They allowed only 4.3 yards per play, far below their season-long average of 5.9 yards. The Vikings held the Colts to only four yards per rush on the day and 4.7 yards per pass after giving up seven yards per pass on the season.
After spending all week looking to tweak the defense, the Vikings showed different looks against the Colts. Harrison Smith lined up on the edge of the line and blew up a third-and-goal at the Vikings’ one-yard line. He knocked Colts running back Zack Moss backward before he got wrapped up for a seven-yard loss, setting up a field goal.
3
The Vikings’ pass rush came back to life after taking a vacation the past several weeks. On Sunday, Minnesota notched three sacks on Matt Ryan. Danielle Hunter came alive, leading the team with 1.5 sacks. Za’Darius Smith aided his half-sack. And because the Vikings sent extra rushers on blitzes, Eric Kendricks was able to join the action and added his first sack of the season.
When Ryan wasn’t getting sacked, he felt pressure in the second half. According to Pro Football Focus, on 33 dropbacks, the Vikings notched a total of 16 pressures. Hunter led the team with five, followed by run-stuffing Dalvin Tomlinson, who got three total pressures. If the Vikings can attack quarterbacks down the stretch like they did with Ryan, the defense may be capable of holding its own in the playoffs.
