The Minnesota Vikings’ final home game went just as we’ve grown accustomed to. A late offensive surge gave the Vikings a lead, the defense squandered it, and Minnesota once again walked off with a last-second score. Does anyone have any spiked eggnog to calm our nerves before the family comes over?
After the game, Fox’s Howie Long said that we didn’t learn anything about the 12-3 Vikings on Saturday. As fans, it could be easy to get upset about this. But, week after week, Minnesota continues to play out the same movie. Like John McClane in Nakatomi Plaza, you’re pretty sure this team will figure out a way to win. Not only are they holding onto the NFC’s No. 2 seed, but they’re still keeping enough hope alive for the top spot.
It feels like the same story every week at this point, and it feels like we’ll never know exactly what to make of this team. They have a talented offense that disappears for long stretches of games. Their defense bleeds yards consistently. Yet when one side of the ball fails to hold up their end of the bargain, the other responds in glorious fashion.
This isn’t like 1998 when the Vikings destroyed everyone in sight. Or 2009, when they had Brett Favre under center. Even the 2017 squad appeared to be set up for a storybook ending where they’d win a Super Bowl in their own stadium. Those teams felt like they were destined to win it all, but they couldn’t even get to the big game. The 2022 Vikings are widely viewed as a team destined to be one-and-done in the playoffs. However, perhaps this is the year they finally flip the postseason script, because nothing they’ve done this year really makes sense.
With that, here are five numbers that tell the story of the Vikings-Giants game.
445
After being a driving force in the comeback against the Indianapolis Colts, the Vikings’ defense reverted back to its old ways against the New York Giants. The Vikings yielded 445 total yards of offense, including a seven-play, 75-yard drive that allowed the Giants to tie the game with 2:01 remaining in regulation. The scoring drive took all of 59 seconds.
This was the sixth time in seven games that the Vikings gave up at least 400 yards and the ninth time all season. It was only the third time all season that the Giants had eclipsed the 400-yard mark, and it was their highest single-game total in 2022. New York did what most teams have done this season, and that was looking like a top-tier offense against Minnesota’s predictable defense.
6.0
It’s possible that the Vikings sent Giants head coach Brian Daboll a thank-you note after the game. New York averaged six yards per carry on the day. However, they only ran a total of 21 times, including four Daniel Jones scrambles. In total, the Giants gained 126 yards.
Trailing by eight and facing fourth-and-two with 2:07 remaining, the Giants needed a conversion to stay alive. Saquon Barkley squeezed through a hole and scampered into the end zone for the 27-yard touchdown. One play later, New York converted the two-point conversion to tie the game.
2
It wasn’t all bad for the Vikings’ defense, though, because they were opportunistic once again. They forced two key turnovers, cutting promising Giants drives short each time. Minnesota has forced turnovers in 12 of 15 games this season. They are 11-1 when forcing at least one turnover and 1-2 when failing to get a takeaway.
The first takeaway came on the first play of the second quarter. Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger caught a pass from Jones and turned upfield. But Vikings rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah punched the ball loose, recovered it, and returned the ball to the Vikings’ 36-yard line. This helped Minnesota preserve a 7-0 lead.
After the Vikings took a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter, New York tried answering with a touchdown drive of their own. They moved the ball 43 yards in four plays, advancing to the Vikings’ 32-yard line. But on the fifth play of the drive, Patrick Peterson intercepted Jones. The future Hall of Famer had a rough day covering Giants receiver Isaiah Hodgins. But Peterson’s veteran savvy allowed him to keep his composure and respond with the key play.
133
Justin Jefferson continued his record-setting season on Saturday, racking up 133 yards receiving, a league-high for the day. He broke Randy Moss’ 19-year-old single-season franchise record of 1,632 yards on his first catch of the day. Jefferson now sits at 1,732 yards on the season. With two games remaining, he is on pace to break Calvin Johnson’s league record for a single season (1,964 yards).
After a relatively quiet first three quarters — by his standards, anyway — Jefferson helped spearhead the victory for the Vikings. His 17-yard touchdown reception with three minutes remaining in regulation gave Minnesota a 24-16 lead. When the Giants responded with a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game, Jefferson came up big again. He caught a 16-yard pass from Kirk Cousins on third-and-nine to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, he took a screen 17 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.
61
Sitting at the Giants’ 42-yard line following Jefferson’s reception, Minnesota sent out Greg Joseph for the 61-yard field goal with four seconds remaining. The previous record-long in Vikings history was 56 yards, which also was Joseph’s previous career high. Given Minnesota’s history with kickers, it was fair to assume that Joseph would miss the kick and send the game to overtime.
Joseph silenced the critics. He split the uprights and cleared the crossbar with at least three yards to spare, giving the Vikings the 27-24 victory. It was his fifth game-winning field goal of the season and his fourth consecutive game without any missed kicks.
