Vikings survive their own mistakes vs. Colts

It wasn't pretty but nobody said it had to be. The Vikings are now 6-2 after a win over Indy

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By Matthew Coller

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s very possible that someone got fired for choosing to flex this game to NBC’s Sunday Night Football. But, for the Minnesota Vikings, the messy display of football still resulted in a win over the Indianapolis Colts. No matter how it looked, they still ended the night with a 6-2 record as they head to Jacksonville and Tennessee the next two weeks. It didn’t have to be pretty, it just had to be a win for the Vikings to keep making their argument as an NFC contender.

Here’s how it went down….

The Vikings elected to defer to start the game, giving the defense a chance to get out on the field first and shake off the struggles of their last two games. The Colts certainly helped them with a confidence boost right from the start. After Joe Flacco completed a 22-yard pass to bring Indy into Viking territory, Jonathan Taylor fumbled a routine handoff and the Vikings jumped on the ball for an early turnover.

Sam Darnold started off his night with a quick first down throw to Josh Oliver on a quick play-action rollout. The Vikings talked all week about getting the ball out of his hands quicker and that certainly has to be a priority with the Colts’ D-line being menacing in the middle.

Aaron Jones followed up with a first down run to the outside and then TJ Hockenson got his first catch since tearing his ACL last December. The crowd had to be reminded to quiet down as they welcomed Hockenson back. The Vikings went no huddle on the drive, converting another first down on a short throw to Brandon Powell and then they grabbed another chunk of yards with a quick pass to Jordan Addison. They seemed to be getting out of the huddle and snapping the ball faster than in previous weeks.

On third-and-3 from the Indy 16-yard line, the New York Jets version of Sam Darnold arrived on the scene. Darnold failed to see Addison wide open over the middle and rolled to his left and tossed the ball right into linebacker Zaire Franklin’s hands. It was a carbon copy of his near INT against the Packers earlier in the year, except this time the guy caught it.

The Colts offense took over but couldn’t get a drive rolling. Flacco faded to his back foot and overthrew a checkdown that might have resulted in a first down. We can’t say no-harm-no-foul but crisis averted.

Kevin O’Connell continued his plan of making sure Jordan Addison doesn’t post anything cryptic online this week and gave him a jet sweep for nine yards. Justin Jefferson then arrived on Sunday Night Football with a Darnold rocket over the middle for 20 yards. Then O’Connell got cute. The Vikings ran a screen with a lot of moving parts and Indy blew it up in the backfield. Goodnight drive.

Back to the Vikings to start the second quarter. Cam Akers started the third drive of the night with a first down run. A sight for sore eyes after weeks of the Vikings struggling to use anyone other than Ty Chandler. On third-and-short, Darnold completed a pass to Hockenson for a first down but it was called back due to a holding called on new left tackle Cam Robinson.

Then a minor miracle happened. The Vikings pulled off a trick play. Justin Jefferson threw the ball to Aaron Jones for a first down conversion.

But disaster was right around the corner. Massive defensive tackle Grover Stewart absolutely demolished center Garrett Bradbury and strip-sacked Darnold. Cornerback Kenny Moore II picked the ball up and ran it for a touchdown. 7-0 Colts. Three drives, two Darnold turnovers. However, it couldn’t be without controversy. The referees originally threw a flag for a hit to the head and then picked up the flag after the play. There was no extended explanation by the refs.

Back for Drive No. 4, they got back to their methodical play style for the night, hitting back-to-back passes to Josh Oliver and then QB sneaking for a first down. An inaccurate pass from Darnold ended the drive and then the Vikings committed another miscue — this time of the rarest form. Will Reichard missed a field goal for the first time in his career.

Flacco then started to attack the middle of the field just like his predecessors. A pass over the middle to Josh Downs for 12 was followed up by a throw to Alec Pierce for 16 yards. Another pass for a dozen yards was negated by an illegal shift though as both teams tried to out-sloppy each other. The Colts went ultra conservative and threw a screen and ran the ball on third-and-19. Their field goal attempt also went wide. Ugly ballgame.

It took one play for the Vikings to get into Colts territory. Jefferson caught a pass for 22 yards. Then O’Connell tried another useless screen. And then Jefferson caught another pass for 24 yards. A trend! With the ball inside the Colts 15, Darnold got sacked again — this time by Buckner — killing the drive. It should have been a chip shot field goal for Reichard but he missed again.

Bizarrely, the Vikings racked up 194 yards to Indy’s 92 and went into the half (with plenty of boos) down 7-0.

The Vikings got the ball back to start the second half. Last time they played the Colts, it took a Patrick Peterson speech about scoring five touchdowns. Maybe this time they got a motivational talk from someone about scoring one.

Jefferson continued to be unstoppable, kicking things off with a 21-yard reception. Darnold finally got time to throw and hit Hockenson for a 19-yard pass. The proof was clear: If they could get throws off, the Colts couldn’t stop anything.

A penalty and Jones rush later and the Vikings were back inside the red zone. Gotta finish this time. Darnold nearly threw a touchdown but it was dropped in the end zone by Johnny Mundt. But the Vikings QB bounced back on third-and-9, completing a first down throw to Addison inside the 5-yard line. Darnold then decided to Free 3 with an absolutely insane touchdown pass. He rolled out to the right away from pressure and flipped the ball to the back of the end zone. Addison dove for it and made a circus grab to tie the game. Finally a dominant drive paid dividends.

Flacco got back on the field for his first drive of the second half, possibly feeling well rested because he had been out there so little in the first half. Under 10 minutes, in fact. He started the drive with no pressure and completed a 10-yard pass. Then Flores decided to send some pressure from Dallas Turner that threw the veteran QB off his game. Another blitz from Josh Metellus resulted in a QB hit and the ball was nearly intercepted by Jonathan Greenard. Colts punt. The Vikings defense was in the midst of the bounce-back game they needed.

With a chance to take command of the game, somehow, Darnold showed off his wheels with a 11-yard scramble to get the ball to mid-field. Jones then ripped off an 8-yard screen and then Darnold unleashed a throw for the highlight reels. He hurled a pass from the 50-yard line down the sideline to Jefferson and hit him flawlessly in stride for a 41-yard gain. This time the Vikings didn’t botch the opportunity as Darnold found Jalen Nailor running free to take a 14-7 lead.

With just over two minutes left in the third, the Vikings were up 23-7 in first downs and 334 to 126 in yards. Again, a strangely totally dominant performance outside of miscues (and possibly a missed roughing call vs. Darnold).

Flacco got something going on a third down when the Colts picked up a blitz and gave him time to complete a 16-yard pass to put Indy at mid-field. They got into field goal position on the next play with a screen. The Vikings defense appeared to be switching personnel a lot more in the game to stay fresh — possibly a tweak from last week.

The Colts’ drive got moved back 15 yards and then the crowd gained some momentum. They instantly committed a false start to begin the fourth quarter, going from first-and-10 at the Minnesota 37 to second-and-25 from their own 48 to second-and-30 at their own 43. Flacco rifled a 22-yard completion along the sideline and then quickly made a strong argument for Anthony Richardson to still be playing. The veteran QB floated a pass into the flat that was picked off by Byron Murphy Jr.

Of course, O’Connell and the Vikings can never make it easy on themselves. Rather than going back to running and quick game, they went for the throat. They missed the throat and Darnold threw a horrendous interception over the middle of the field. Why they were sending all the receivers deep when the Colts were foundering on offense and they were a slow drive or two away from game over…. I have no idea. And the game continued to be in white-knuckle mode.