If there’s one doctrine Minnesota Vikings fans believe in, it’s that good matchups on paper do not apply to the Purple. Riding on the heels of a needed get-right win last Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts, the victory this week came with even more baggage.
For starters, try this on for size:
With around 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Vikings offense had run 38 snaps inside Jacksonville Jaguars territory. That’s two more snaps than Jacksonville had run all game. However, the score during this lopsided anomaly was 7-6 Jaguars.
The numbers don’t stop there. Minnesota’s offense had 402 yards on the day to Jacksonville’s 143. The Vikings only punted the ball twice and held the longest time of possession of any offense this year. The final score was 12-7, with all 12 points coming off the leg of newly signed kicker John Parker Romo, who arrived at the team facility on Wednesday.
This team’s backbone held up in a game where the quarterback’s play was puzzling, and Blake Cashman proved to be the missing piece on defense.
Outside of Jacksonville’s lone touchdown drive, which lasted 70 yards, Minnesota’s defense held the Jaguars to 73 yards of offense, delivered three turnovers, and was only on the field for 17 minutes.
It doesn’t matter that Mac Jones was under center; that’s tough to do against anybody.
Sam Darnold and the Vikings were 0-5 in the red zone, and Brian Flores’ unit kept giving them the ball back. The grungy, punk rock defense with their bandleader, Cashman, back on the field was the takeaway we should all be celebrating heading into the second half of the season.
The two-game slide from October 20 to 24 was frustrating primarily because of the lapse in the defensive dominance Minnesota exerted to start the year. Pondering a reality where this defense had lost its juice was concerning. Alongside another game-saving performance last Sunday, it was clear they hadn’t lost all their juice; all they were missing was Cashman.
Cashman’s return eliminated completions in the middle of the field. The Vikings could send five comfortably when he dropped back because of his awareness and passing-lane IQ. That anchor in coverage is a threat when sending pressure, an element that this unit sorely missed during the two losses. Cashman makes the motor hum.
Minnesota’s final stat line of three sacks does not tell the whole story. The front four flushed Jones out of the pocket for the entire second half, leading to drive-ending incompletions. Jacksonville’s average of 3.5 yards per pass play provided no threat for extended drives.
Flores loves to drop back into quarters while sending five when Cashman is on the field. That allowed him to use Andrew Van Ginkel as a pure rusher. The Jaguars had no answer.
It was a simple yet effective overwhelming of a formerly struggling quarterback coming into the game cold off the bench. Whatever the circumstance, there’s no undermining the championship effort that was on display.
The defensive bailout ramped up when Harrison Phillips recovered a fumble at the Jacksonville 25-yard line. The offense could only turn that into another three points, which would be their last of the game. Byron Murphy intercepted Jones on the following Jaguars possession at their 47-yard line.
Minnesota’s offense turned that into a three-and-out, totaling one yard and punting the ball back to the Jaguars, who were still within six points of winning. The third and final takeaway came from a ball-tracking Cam Bynum on the final defensive series of the game.
It was a relentless denial of anything moving past midfield. Minnesota’s defense was the ultimate safeguard from an upset loss. These ugly wins are never fun to watch. Still, they prove beneficial down the stretch to test the fabric of the culture Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores have created.
Going into the game in Duval County, teams were a resounding 0-147 since 2010, when the offense had zero touchdowns and three or more turnovers. Thanks to this courageous Vikings defense, the win total for that number is now at one.
Had it not been for this bruising squad of defenders, the Vikings would be looking at a much bleaker Monday morning at 6-3, with another two road games out in front of them. Instead, they woke up 7-2. A win is always a win. Some are more aesthetically pleasing than others, but not all provide an extra layer of trust the team can lean into during the season’s second half and a playoff run.
