The Minnesota Vikings’ 40-3 debacle against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday couldn’t have come at a much better time. No team wants to be embarrassed with a 37-point loss at home with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo commentating, of course. Hell, most of the country was put out of its misery when CBS switched to a “more competitive matchup” on their broadcast.
But fortunately for the Vikings, they had a short turnaround for a Thanksgiving night matchup with the New England Patriots. “We’re on to Cincinnati,” to quote some famous old football coach.
It wasn’t the prettiest win ever, but the 33-26 victory showed that head coach Kevin O’Connell and his team wouldn’t let a lousy game compound into a losing streak. On Thursday, the Vikings fixed what ailed the offense. Kirk Cousins played a great game outside of a horrendous first-quarter interception. The defense wasn’t good, but they played well situationally to help the Vikings improve to 9-2 for the first time since 2017.
Coincidentally, Minnesota’s ninth win in 2017 also came on Thanksgiving. The Vikings have won seven times on Thanksgiving, and in four of those years (1987, 1998, 2000, 2017), they would advance to the NFC Championship game.
Here are five numbers that tell the story of the Vikings-Patriots Thanksgiving game.
1
After the Dallas Cowboys sacked Cousins seven times last week, the Vikings offensive line responded by allowing just one sack on Thursday night. With budding star left tackle Christian Darrisaw ruled out for the game with a concussion, Minnesota could gameplan around backup Blake Brandel.
Brandel posted a 62.9 pass-blocking grade, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). That was a vast improvement over last week when PFF gave him a 26.1. Altogether, Minnesota’s offensive line gave up only 13 pressures on Thursday, allowing Cousins to progress through his reads and find open receivers.
139
With Cousins playing more comfortably, the Vikings were able to get Justin Jefferson back on track to the tune of 139 yards receiving. Cousins targeted him 11 times, and he caught nine passes and a touchdown only four days after Dallas held him to three receptions for 33 yards.
Although Jefferson’s stats were down against the Cowboys, he was still getting open. Cousins just didn’t have time to throw him the ball. According to Next Gen Stats, Jefferson got 3.67 yards of separation on routes against the Cowboys. Against the Patriots, Jefferson still got 3.04 yards of separation. On top of Cousins having more time to throw, the Vikings also shortened Jefferson’s routes. After an Average Depth of Target (ADOT) of 13.0 yards against Dallas, Jefferson’s ADOT against the Patriots was 9.8.
97
Second-year returner Kene Nwangwu breathed life back into the Vikings early in the third quarter when he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 23-23. The Patriots had taken the lead after scoring 10 consecutive points to end the first half and begin the third quarter. Nwangwu returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2021 and showed again why he’s one of the most dangerous returners in the NFL. According to Next Gen Stats, Nwangwu hit 19.87 miles per hour on the return.
Opponents have previously held Nwangwu in check this season. He had returned 19 kickoffs and, outside of a 39-yard runback against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago, hadn’t been able to display his playmaking ability. The Patriots appeared confident that they could contain him, though. They kicked short and allowed him to return five kickoffs, tied for a season-high.
382
Unfortunately, as the offense got back on track, the Vikings’ pass defense delivered one of its worst performances of the year. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had one of the best games of his career, throwing for a career-high 382 yards. He completed 28/39 passes and two touchdowns, coming inches away from a third touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Worse yet? The Patriots’ passing offense had only eclipsed 200 yards passing three times in 10 games before Thursday. Jones had been in and out of the starting lineup due to poor performance. With the Vikings’ pass rush failing to get home most of the game, Jones picked apart a defense that was down to its fourth cornerback opposite Patrick Peterson.
3
Still, the Vikings’ pass rush generated pressure on Jones in key situations, garnering three sacks on the night. The first one came on the Patriots’ final possession of the first half as Jones fell in front of linebacker Jordan Hicks, forcing New England to burn a second timeout with 24 seconds remaining in the half. The Patriots would settle for a field goal to tie the game at 16-16.
The other two sacks came on the Patriots’ final two drives of the night. With a 33-26 lead, Danielle Hunter sacked Jones on third-and-seven, forcing a fourth-and-16 that would ultimately fall incomplete. On the game’s final drive, Vikings defensive tackle Ross Blacklock sacked Jones at New England’s two-yard line with 53 seconds remaining. With no timeouts left, the Patriots were in desperation mode and completed two passes that failed to get out of bounds, killing the clock and securing a 9-2 record for the Vikings.
