Narrow escape in England

The Vikings got up 17 points and survived in the final moments to reach 5-0

© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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By Matthew Coller

The last two weeks have served as a reminder of what Minnesota Vikings football usually looks like: Tense to the final moments.

Against the New York Jets in London, the Vikings’ defense was forced to take the ball away from Aaron Rodgers three times and hit/sack/pressure him throughout the day in order to come away with a win as the offense struggled for nearly the entire game. Nonetheless, they can’t apologize for winning ugly. They came away with the victory and now head into the bye week undefeated.

Here’s how it went down…

The Jets opened the day looking a little nervous about the Vikings’ front seven. They handed off, then Rodgers threw a quick pass wide of his target and on third down the Jets called a quick pass that ended up short of the sticks when Garrett Wilson slipped. The British fans were probably thrilled to see the first punt of the day (which was a good one by Thomas Morstead, by the way).

Sam Darnold didn’t look like he had any cobwebs because of the time change, hitting a third-down pass to TE Johnny Mundt for a first down and then firing a pass over the middle to Justin Jefferson for 26 yards. On the New York side of the field, Darnold converted another first down by hitting Jefferson in rhythm. Then Kevin O’Connell discovered the magic of a CJ Ham surprise run, getting the Vikings nine more yards.

But they failed to take advantage as Darnold was sacked for a 12-yard loss on third down. Never fear, Will The Thrill made the flight. Will Reichard banged a 54-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Vikings the early lead. Overall a good tone-setting drive with an emphasis on Jefferson.

Rodgers took over looking like some other person than the Rodgers I remember. His throwing motion was the same but where the football went was not. He tried to rip a pass toward the back shoulder of Garrett Wilson but either the timing or accuracy was off and the ball knocked off Wilson’s hand incomplete.

After a near disaster on the Jets’ punt where the ball bounced off a Jets defender after initially looking like a fumble, Darnold got back to work and started Drive No. 2 with a scramble for first down. Two plays later Darnold got hammered in the mid-section on his next throw and had to leave the game. The collective breaths of Vikings fans were held.

Once thing we know is that backup Nick Mullens is always prepared and it’s always entertaining with him in the game. And we know that Kevin O’Connell always trusts his quarterback. The Vikings caught the Jets defense assuming that the Vikings would run and Mullens threw a pass that was good enough for Aaron Jones to go up and get it for a first down.

Darnold came back into the game. Whew. But on his first play back, he pitched the ball to Ty Chandler and the third-year running back had the ball bounce right off his hands and into the arms of a Jets defender. The Vikings lucked out because Sam Darnold got enough of a hand on LB Quincy Williams to avoid him returning the ball for a touchdown.

Oh, there would be a defensive touchdown though. When Rodgers came back on the field, he completed a short pass to one of his old buddies Allen Lazard and then had a pass broken up. On third-and-6, Brian Flores called all the defenders to line up at the line of scrimmage and then fooled the heck out of the veteran quarterback. Andrew Van Ginkel dropped back in coverage and Rodgers never saw him. It was like the pass was intended for Van Ginkel. He picked it off and then scampered 63 yards for a touchdown. 10-0. Another 10 point lead early.

Rodgers’s next drive didn’t go much better. The golden arm looked pretty rusty. The veteran quarterback overthrew his intended wide receiver — unless the intended receiver was Cam Bynum — for another interception. With under a minute left to go in the first quarter the Vikings got the ball with a chance to nearly put this one on ice from the jump.

Darnold took another sack but got a break when shutdown corner Sauce Gardner couldn’t help but grab Justin Jefferson on third down to give the Vikings another chance.

They couldn’t take advantage because their play caller absolutely refuses to run the ball in short yardage situations. On third-and-1, O’Connell called a pass. Incomplete. On fourth-and-1, pass. Incomplete. Turnover on downs.

New life for the Jets. Rodgers came out with back-to-back completions, including a rocket throw to former Viking Tyler Conklin for a big first down. On third-and-2 from the Vikings’ 25-yard line, the Vikings stuffed a run up the middle and set up fourth down. Another handoff, another stuff. Vikings ball.

Bad news for the Vikings though as Aaron Jones was shown on the sideline hobbling around. Chandler took a pitch for a huge gain that was negated by an illegal shift. Nothing the NFL loves more than enforcing rules that nobody wanted. Chandler came through though, gaining six yards on second-and-5 and then again for a 5-yard carry. When the ball isn’t popping off him or he isn’t struggling in pass protection, Chandler is really good.

Again the Jets needed to grab Jefferson as DJ Reed wouldn’t allow JJ to come out of his break, resulting in an 18-yard penalty that set the Vikings up on the Jets 13-yard line. In the red zone, Darnold tried again to find Jefferson. Again, a flag. After a near disaster tipped ball fell to the ground, the Jets committed another penalty, this time on Jordan Addison. First-and-goal. Finally, a run. Ham scored his first touchdown of the year from the 1-yard line, 17-0 with 3:48 left in the first half.

The Vikings now have an opportunity to atone for their sins in Green Bay, where the almost gave away a 28-0 lead.

Can they run away with this one? What a question to ask about a team that never seemed to win a game by two scores for about…oh, the last six years.

The defense continued to look elite, elite. Harrison Smith came flying off the edge unblocked and drilled Rodgers for a third-down sack. He did Rodgers’s old celebration. Time comes for everybody, Aaron. Maybe you’ll discover that during the next darkness retreat.

With under two minutes, the sloppiness continued for the Vikings as they committed a penalty on the punt return and then took a delay of game penalty that pushed them back to the goal line.

Another mistake on the punt as the Jets returned it inside the Vikings’ 30 and Rodgers finally made them pay. On third down he stepped up in the pocket and found the only receiver who will still speak to him, Allen Lazard, for a touchdown. 17-7.

O’Connell’s commitment to “being aggressive” bit him again. Hunting for a big play, the Jets demolished Darnold in the backfield. Just what he didn’t need: To get smacked in the face.

If we’re being honest about the first half, it was mostly very badly executed for the Vikings except for on big plays defensively.

Starting the second half, the Vikings ruled out Aaron Jones. We got a look immediately how much Jones means to the offense as Chandler went for a short run and then was eliminated on a short screen. Three-and-out was not what they needed to start the half. The brain fog continued with another special teams miscue. Akayleb Evans bumped into the Jets returner for a 15-yard gain.

Luckily for the Vikings, Ivan Pace Jr. drilled Breece Hall in the backfield and Rodgers checked down for another three-and-out. Rodgers walked off the field muttering to himself, presumably about football and not about the illuminati or big foot.

Welcome to football in London, everyone.

To start the second drive of the half, O’Connell went back to his deep crossing routes, hitting Jordan Addison for a 26-yard gain. You would think that might get them to click back into gear but left guard Blake Brandel immediately jumped offside. And then Darnold got sacked again — this time on a three-man rush. The interior O-line strikes again. Zero run plays called up by 10 points with the defense crushing it.

Finally the Vikings executed a good punt, pinning the Jets inside the 5-yard line midway through the third quarter. Drizzle came down and the Vikings continued to chase Rodgers around. Blake Cashman hit Rodgers’s arm on a throw, nearly causing an interception and then the Vikings knocked him down on a Pat Jones rush. Another quick possession for the Jets as Rodgers walked off slowly.

The Vikings must have gotten far too excited about their one good punt because they botched the next one immediately by roughing the punter. Complete disaster in the punting game.

No matter how old or broken, you can’t give Rodgers 300 second chances. He completed three straight passes and had the Jets inside the Vikings’ 35-yard line in a jiffy. He converted a third down with a rocket throw and suddenly things went from feeling mostly in control to pretty wobbly. The Vikings lucked out though as two Rodgers throws went low and the Jets were forced to kick a field goal.

If this were 2020 Rodgers, the game might be 31-17 Jets by now.

By the way, the instant replay from the roughing the punter penalty was finally revealed about 15 minutes later in real time and it turns out that Ivan Pace Jr., who was flagged, did just about nothing wrong. On a bad day for the punt unit, they didn’t deserve that one.

The Vikings went back to their best strategy: Getting flags thrown on the Jets secondary. Jefferson drew a (questionable) penalty on corner DJ Reed and the Vikings picked up 24 yards. Within 10 yards of Will Reichard’s range, KOC decided to go full “aggressive” and Darnold threw an incomplete bomb toward Jefferson. On third-and-10, another pressure from the Jets caused a throw away. The offensive line has been truly destroyed for the first time and the Vikings lacked in a response.

However, the Vikings punted again without calamity.

The defense continued to play dominant football, forcing a three-and-out by getting after Rodgers. Ivan Pace Jr. sacked him and then they pressured the veteran QB in the end zone, forcing a throw away.

With 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, it felt like any points would be enough to close out the game.

And while O’Connell remained committed to incredibly frustrating play calling — a shot down the sideline incomplete, a second-down run by Myles Gaskin — the fact that they took over the drive in Will Reichard’s range was enough to put the Vikings up 20-10. Reichard made a 53-yarder look easy.