Charvarius Ward picked Kirk Cousins off on the third play of the Minnesota Vikings’ 22-17 Monday night win over the San Francisco 49ers. Here we go again; same old Vikings. Turnover machines. It felt like they were playing the same game on repeat. It looked like another missed opportunity a year after they went 11-1 in one-score games. Another loss in what was becoming a lost season.
That play stuck with Jordan Addison, Cousins’ target on the interception. “Just a bad rep by me,” said Addison, Cousins’ target on that pass. “Good rep by the defender. But after that play, all I was thinking about was I gotta kill the rest of the game.”
Addison did. He finished with seven receptions for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Addison stepped up in Justin Jefferson’s absence during a primetime game. “This is exactly what I envisioned,” he said. “Every time the ball came my way, I’m just making sure I’m making the play for Kirk.”
No play stands out more from Monday night’s game than Addison’s 60-yard touchdown with seven seconds left before halftime. On third-and-six on Minnesota’s 40-yard line, Kirk Cousins launched a pass to Addison, who was one-on-one with Ward. Addison got the better of Ward on this one. The Niners cornerback turned around and reeled in Cousins’ pass, but Addison wasn’t having it. The rookie out of USC wrestled the ball away from him and scored to put the Vikings up 16-7 at the half.
Welcome back, Miracle Vikings. We’ve missed you.
Last year, the Vikings routinely won games they shouldn’t have. Every game was an escape act. Cousins’ arm punt on fourth-and-18 in Buffalo? Jefferson snags it out of a defender’s hands for another set of downs. A 33-point deficit to the Indianapolis Colts? They had a historic comeback. The Vikings slunk out of DC with a comeback win over the Washington Commanders. They let a undermanned New Orleans Saints team hang around in London, and the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears back in the games they should have put away.
Fate or the law of averages caught up with them in the playoffs. Still, the Vikings rewarded anyone with an irrational belief that they would pull off an improbable victory. However, they couldn’t pull off their Houdini act against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1, which set the tone for this season. Minnesota couldn’t pull off a late comeback in Philadelphia. They lost a 50/50 game to the Los Angeles Chargers. They didn’t punish a Kansas City Chiefs team that seemed to be toying around with them. The road wins in Charlotte and Chicago were ugly, and they won an imperfect game against the Niners.
“Early on in the season, I talked a lot to you guys and our team about still chasing that performance that we feel like is inside that locker room,” O’Connell acknowledged, “that we feel like we can collectively do, regardless of circumstance, regardless of adversity. Like I said, I thought our team has grown. … We’re gifted with another opportunity, in front of our fans, getting our first home win, long overdue. Hopefully, we can build on this.”
Monday night’s win over the Niners wasn’t pretty by any means. Greg Joseph missed the extra point after Addison’s touchdown as well as a 50-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The Vikings opted to kick two short field goals on fourth-and-goal instead of trying to punch the ball in. With just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, they punted on fourth-and-four from San Francisco’s 42-yard line instead of going for it. Christian McCaffrey fumbled immediately after Ward’s pick on the first drive, San Francisco missed a 40-yard kick, and Brock Purdy gifted Minnesota two interceptions on the final two drives.
Despite how sloppy the game was, Week 7 might be Minnesota’s first victory that makes anyone think they can win another one. The Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears games were hardly inspiring. Monday’s game was imperfect, but it’s also how you win as a seven-point underdog to one of the NFC’s best teams. ESPN gave the Niners a 70% chance to win the game, and the Vikings didn’t flip the odds to their favor until early in the second quarter. Minnesota stole this game. And if they can beat the Niners, why couldn’t they beat an inferior opponent?
Looking forward, the Vikings absolutely must seize victory when they’re favored. And their next six games are winnable. They face the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons on the road, return home to face the New Orleans Saints, and then play the Denver Broncos at Mile High. Then they get the Chicago Bears at home, a bye week, and the Las Vegas Raiders in Sin City. The win over the Niners can be a launching pad for Minnesota in a vulnerable NFC. They can’t rely on miraculous play to win every game. They probably shouldn’t push their luck. But has to be reassuring that some of last year’s magic returned on Monday night.
