Aaron Jones fumbled on the Minnesota Vikings’ first play from scrimmage and lost another on the first play of their second drive. However, he also caught Sam Darnold’s game-winning pass in Minnesota’s 23-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
In between? Miasma.
The Vikings won on Sunday to advance to 10-2, but they played the reverse version of the Jacksonville Jaguars game. In Jacksonville, they dominated the time of possession (42:19 to 17:41), total yardage (402 to 143), and first downs (28 to 10). Conversely, the Cardinals dominated Minnesota in time of possession (35:49 to 24:11), total yardage (406 to 273), and first downs (25 to 19) and still lost.
“Good teams find a way to win, no matter if it’s pretty, no matter if it’s close, a blowout,” said Jones. “However it happens, good teams find a way to win.
“Good teams are resilient. We have a good team in this locker room. We’ll put it together.”
The Vikings took their first lead on Jones’ touchdown catch with 1:13 left in the game. Minnesota’s defense was on the field for 77 plays, while the offense only ran 51. Still, the Vikings held Kyler Murray to 31 for 45 for 260 yards and a touchdown while picking him off twice. The Cardinals had 154 rushing yards, and Trey McBride had 96 yards receiving, but they held Marvin Harrison to five catches for 60 yards.
“Another resilient win,” Darnold said with a knowing smile.
Will the Vikings start putting it together? It’s been a while since they played a complete game. Minnesota started the season 5-0, with blowout wins over the New York Giants (28-6) and Houston Texans (34-7). However, since losing two games out of the bye, they’ve snuck past three sub-.500 AFC South teams and nearly blew a game late to the Chicago Bears. Jacksonville has won three games, the Tennessee Titans have won two, and the Bears just fired their coach.
The Vikings surprised prognosticators with their 5-0 start and looked like they were winning more sustainably. However, Minnesota is starting to feel more like the 13-win team from two years ago.
There are some meaningful differences between the 2022 team and this year’s version. Brian Flores’ defense is among the league’s best, whereas Ed Donatell’s unit broke by this point. Minnesota also has a positive point differential, and their peripheral stats in some of their earlier wins indicate they’ve played better than the score suggests.
Still, the Vikings continue to stress-test John Parker Romo and their overhauled kicking unit. Romo went three for four, missing his first field goal with Minnesota, a 43-yarder with 13:28 left in the third quarter. The Vikings scored their first touchdown, a short pass from a scrambling Darnold to Johnny Mundt, with 1:17 left in the third.
More concerningly, Darnold first targeted Justin Jefferson six minutes into the second quarter, and Jefferson ended the first half with two catches for 32 yards. Jefferson finished the game with seven catches for 99 yards. Still, as brilliant as Darnold was on Minnesota’s eight-play, 70-yard drive to win the game, he missed Jefferson early and took three sacks on three-and-outs.
Jefferson became only the fourth receiver in NFL history to eclipse 1,000 yards in his first five seasons. However, he was upset that he fell one yard short of 100 on Sunday.
“I hate those games,” said Jefferson. “That one yard, it don’t count towards the 100-yard games that you have. But as long as we get the dub [and] we’re moving the ball at a very high pace, I’m fine with it.”
The Vikings must find ways to maximize Jefferson while allowing him to open up the offense. It’s the best way to create some margin of victory so they’re not playing close games every week.
Arizona had a 91% win probability when Murray hit McBride for first down at Minnesota’s five-yard line with a 19-16 lead and 4:17 left in the game. However, the Cardinals committed a false start and intentional grounding penalties on their next two plays, and Jonathan Gannon settled for a 23-yard field goal.
Jones scored three minutes later, erasing his early fumble from history. With the win, the Vikings advance to 10-2. Still, it feels like every game they play is precarious. Jones’ game felt fitting for a team that seems to tempt fate with sloppy play every week, only to emerge victorious.
