The Minnesota Vikings were in trouble in the middle of the second quarter. Unjustifiably in a position they would rather not be in, the Vikings were sitting on their two-yard line after Harrison Smith’s pass breakup stopped a 15-play, 88-yard drive by the San Francisco 49ers offense. A run on first down only provided slight breathing room, and a familiar thought crept into the minds of 66,000 fans at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Let’s play it safe here. Let’s not get too risky.
While many were starting to think about the punt, Kevin O’Connell was thinking about points. He called a shot play where Justin Jefferson ran a post downfield, and Jalen Nailor streaked up the sideline. With time to throw, Darnold stepped up in the pocket and launched a bomb over two 49ers defenders and into Jefferson’s hands for a 97-yard touchdown.
The play was a turning point in the Vikings’ 23-17 win over the 49ers and a microcosm of how this season has gone over the first two games. Things didn’t go perfectly against one of the best teams in the NFC, but it didn’t matter, signaling that the Vikings have built a team that can win under less-than-ideal circumstances.
Let’s look at the past six years of Vikings football. They were coming off a trip to the NFC Championship in 2017 and felt they were a quarterback away from reaching the Super Bowl. Minnesota was too far down the draft order to select a QB, so it paid Kirk Cousins $84 million in the first fully guaranteed contract in NFL history.
By now, Vikings fans know what happened. They won one playoff game, and the Cousins got even more money. Minnesota floated around .500, and Mike Zimmer and Cousins looked like they were going to do mixed martial arts on the sidelines.
However, while Zimmer and Cousins had their differences, they shared one similar quality: They fell apart under adverse conditions.
Everyone knew Zimmer could build a defense, but his first order of business was finding his guys on that side of the ball. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph was Minnesota’s first free-agent signing in 2014. Anthony Barr was Zimmer’s first draft pick. The Vikings landed Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, and Danielle Hunter in the 2015 draft class. Mix in Harrison Smith and Xavier Rhodes from previous draft classes, and Zimmer had what he needed to produce the league’s No. 1 defense in 2017.
The defense remained solid as the core stayed together in 2018 and 2019, but the Vikings needed to evolve thanks to the nature of Cousins’ contract and the salary cap. Joseph and Rhodes were the first players to go in 2019, and Zimmer couldn’t get through to the new players that Rick Spielman was giving him.
Zimmer’s beloved unit eroded to the point where he walked out of the war room during the 2021 draft and the tension bled onto the field. When the Vikings could jump on a team early, they could ride Dalvin Cook and the defense to the finish line. When the other team jumped ahead, the Vikings resembled a turtle on its back.
When the Vikings fired Zimmer, some people welcomed it like the death of the Wicked Witch of the West. A few months later, when they hired O’Connell, people focused on Cousins. He had to be the reason the Vikings won games.
Cousins led eight fourth-quarter comebacks in O’Connell’s first season, showing the Vikings could fight through adversity. After mounting the largest comeback in NFL history against the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota felt bulletproof, even with the warning signs that manifested throughout the year.
Think of the games where the Vikings didn’t come back. In Week 2, they lost 24-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Dallas Cowboys routed them 40-3 at home. There was a 34-23 loss in Detroit that wasn’t as competitive as the score indicates. It might be best not to remember the 41-17 loss in Green Bay, where Jaire Alexander did The Griddy with a safety looming over each shoulder.
The warning signs came to the forefront during the playoff game against the New York Giants. Ed Donatell’s defense couldn’t hold water in a paper cup, and Cousins was asked to overcome a leaking defense. On fourth-and-eight, the Vikings needed to make a play, but Jefferson was double-covered downfield. Cousins felt the throw was too risky and checked down to T.J. Hockenson. New York’s defense stopped Hockenson short, ending Minnesota’s season.
Fast forward to what we saw on Sunday afternoon. Darnold’s touchdown may have been the turning point, but other moments raised the blood pressure of Vikings fans.
An interception in the red zone prevented the Vikings from going up 17-0 in the second quarter. Aaron Jones fumbled at the goal line for a touchdown that would have effectively ended the game. Jefferson joined Jordan Addison on the sidelines after suffering a quad contusion in the fourth quarter.
Nobody will confuse Darnold for Minnesota’s long-term quarterback of the future. However, he channeled Case Keenum‘s mantra of making plays at the right time. There was the third-and-seven completion to Brandon Powell. He had a third-and-eight laser to Nailor. Another third-down conversion to Brandon Powell kept the clock moving. When Will Reichard lined up for the game-winning field goal, the Vikings had taken nearly seven minutes off the clock.
Part of this refers back to what general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said about stacking good things together as opposed to going for “a 33-point play.” But it’s harder to do that when things aren’t going your way.
In their first test of the season, the Vikings could do what Zimmer and Cousins couldn’t during their tenure, and it could help lead Minnesota to exceed expectations in 2024.
