Jets at Vikings (London)

[Cliff]

Huge getting that FG. Reichard will end his career as one of the best Kickers to ever play the game.

Some of us are in the chat: mchat

[VikingsVictorious]

Time consuming drive leading to some points now. That will wrap up the game

[VikingsVictorious]

Huge getting that FG. Reichard will end his career as one of the best Kickers to ever play the game.

Some of us are in the chat: mchat

I'll give it a look.

[chicagopurple]

I think Darnold is concussed. Really seems off

[VikingsVictorious]

A win is a win. Remember how we were supposed to 1-4 or 0-5 after our brutal opening 5 games.

[Tommy TarkenKapp]

.

[VikingsVictorious]

A win is a win. Remember how we were supposed to 1-4 or 0-5 after our brutal opening 5 games.

You are correct. I'll take it. But, a lot of Vikings' fans have seen this movie before. An improbable fast start before the wheels started to come off. 1996, 2003, 2004 & 2016 come to mind. Maybe the talking heads can start to temper the Sam Darnold revival a little bit now. The offense has looked less than stellar for the last six quarters now. And our special teams on punts & punt returns needs some work. Penalties & miscues from those units are going to cost us a game eventually.

Yep, but our defense keeps bringing it.

[CharVike]

That was a great win. Both teams made mistakes but that interception returned TD for us was a key play. This kid we have making the FGs is basically automatic. Huge upgrade over Peg who couldn't hit a kick if there was any hint of pressure. Seemed like our best play in the 1st half was PI against Jefferson. Losing Jones was a tough break for us and I hope it's not a long deal. It's a hip and they are always weird. I'll give the Jets credit because I thought it was going to be a blowout. They never gave up and we provided some help. Nice int by Gilmore to seal it. We all have seen those dropped. Punts on both sides are becoming stressful plays. When you don't play good winning is almost impossible. Not this morning.

[CharVike]

You are correct. I'll take it. But, a lot of Vikings' fans have seen this movie before. An improbable fast start before the wheels started to come off. 1996, 2003, 2004 & 2016 come to mind. Maybe the talking heads can start to temper the Sam Darnold revival a little bit now. The offense has looked less than stellar for the last six quarters now. And our special teams on punts & punt returns needs some work. Penalties & miscues from those units are going to cost us a game eventually.

Yep, but our defense keeps bringing it.

Isn't it good to see a defense that can actually play some ball for a change? As for Sammy anybody that thinks he wasn't going to be off eventually hasn't watched much football. They all have off days. He got us the FG at the end to force a TD for the win. That's a nice recovery.

[makila]

Defense won the game. That's nice to say.

Darnold wasn't the same after the hit he had to leave the game for. And then Mullens with a high throw puts Jones in a bad spot during the 1 play. Concerned Darnold has a rib problem. He moved very poor after that hit, and balls were consistently sailing high or were out in front. He did pull it together in the last drive and made some great throws to get them downfield for the final FG.

And what is that? Do we have a kicker? Whaaaaaaa. I'm trying not to be optimistic about a kicker. He's been great so far.

Defense won the game.

Punt return group was not good. Chandler is not an every down back. Stop dancing at times and get up field. KOC (or Sam) have to understand not every throw needs to be a long developing, 40 yd, attempt. Line held up well for about 2-2.5 sec consistently, use that and short hitters. Also didn't look past JJ or Addison much. What happened to the supposed depth?

Ugly game. Offense was bad. Defense won the game.

5-0 headed into the bye. Glad we have it right now. Probably will hurt later in the year, but oh well. Hopefully Darnold and Jones can get right.

[VikingLord]

Well, that was an interesting game. The Vikings offense continues to struggle. Yes, the Jets have a good defense, but there were many times when Darnold had time to survey the field and set his feet. Too many of his passes were nowhere near the mark. It could be he was feeling the after-effects of the earlier hit where he was down for a period of time, but if he's not healthy and can't throw it Mullens should be out there. This is 6 quarters now of really sub-par offensive football, and it won't get any easier after the bye week. The offense added way too many unforced errors in there as well. False starts. Illegal shifts. Blocks in the back to negate nice runs. Delay of game. If the refs weren't feeling generous on some of those PI calls I'm not sure what the outcome would have been.

The defense definitely came up big in this game (yet again), but one has to wonder if this is sustainable. The offense is not giving them much rest, and it does seem like the defense is getting gassed towards the end. Also, as good as the defense has been, especially in key moments, I hope I never see them rush 3 again and drop everyone back into coverage. Seems like every time they do that the opposing offense finds a wide open guy down the field.

Lastly, I feel like KOC is maybe going a little too far with his "trust the offense" approach. There are times when you take the points, like in the first half where the team was in field goal range and KOC decided to go for it on 4th-and-short. He was saved only when his counterpart with the Jets did the same thing when the Jets were in field goal range on 4th-and-short and also failed to convert. Had the Jets decided to kick a field goal there, they'd only need a field goal to tie late. I know it's now in vogue apparently to go for it on 4th-and-short, but take points when points are there, especially given how poorly the offense was playing today.

Vikings get their bye at a good time. 5-0 over a stretch of the season where I thought they'd likely be 1-4. The Vikings next game against the Lions will be tough, but after that the schedule eases up a bit. Not that any opponent in the NFL is easy, but they've really faced some of the best teams in the league to this point and if they can get out of that at worst 5-1, that bodes very well for their chances this season. Hopefully the offense can get Hock back soon and can get out of their funk.

[Cliff]

[40for60]

Not that I see many other teams locker room celebrations, but I think KOC is the best coach in these victory speeches. I love the way this team genuinely seems to be together, how all of them went crazy over Reichert’s game ball, and also for Gilmore. Not sure how this season will go, but I am encouraged for this season and the future.

[halfgiz]

Who would have thought we would be 5-0 at the bye.
Now if KOC is the coach they are saying he is. Hopefully over the bye he will work on addressing some of our shortcomings. We need consistency for a whole game on offense, just not a half.
I’m also not sold on Ingram as guard. Why we haven’t addressed that is somewhat puzzling.
Special Teams also needs better play! To many mistakes that need correction.

[J. Kapp 11]

I squirmed in my chair watching this game (OK, that's a lie ... I paced the entire second half).

At the same time, I loved it.

Why? Because the Vikings played C+ football ... and won.

Some observations.

• The Defense is Legit
As some of you have said, last year felt like BFlo smoke and mirrors. They played like their hair was on fire for about a month, and then things began to catch up. Our lack of overall talent did us in.

This year, the talent is there. Every single free agent signing has been a hit. Van Ginkel is in the early conversation for DPOY. Just ... wow. Greenard has a higher pressure rate than Danielle Hunter. Blake Cashman is really, really good, and a coach on the field. Gilmore and Griffin have shored up our cornerback room. Grugier-Hill has outperformed anything I could've imagined. Tillery has been good. Point is, there's talent, and there's depth. Give BFlo talent and depth, and he's freaking Leonardo DaVinci. Rodgers was in over his head. When he tried to throw anything but quick hitters, he was toast. We're talking Aaron Rodgers. Three picks. Three sacks. And the Jets got NOTHING on the ground. Just like Green Bay. Just like Houston. Just like San Fran. Just like the Giants. It's been a LONG time since the Vikings' run defense was stout.

• Will Reichard can flat-out boot it
This kid ... my goodness. Without his big, accurate leg, we probably lose this game. He hasn't missed a kick yet. It's only been five games, but it's looking like our kicker curse is at least suspended ... if not over. Here's hoping this kid keeps it up and is still ripping field goals 15 years from now.

• We need Aaron Jones
When he was a Packer, I really had no idea how impactful this guy was. I know now. What an influence, both in what he does on the field and who he is off it. The team absolutely LOVES Aaron Jones. So do I. His impact on this offense almost can't be measured. The offense went flat when he went down. Here's hoping the extra healing time during the bye week yields a healthy Jones.

• Sam Darnold will be just fine
It's easy to forget that the Jets probably have the two best cover corners in the entire NFL. They played press coverage the entire game and completely took away the short passing game. Here is Sam Darnold, with very few options less than 10 yards downfield, with the O-line trying desperately to hold up as Sam waited for guys to come open downfield. The Jets' defense is no joke, yet Darnold hung in there on a day that he didn't have his best stuff. And for the second straight week, when the team needed a late drive, he delivered. The Vikings were disappointed not to get the late TD, but a field goal was huge, causing the Jets to need a TD ... and Rodgers to force it.

Also, did his play fall off after he got dinged? I thought so, but I'm not sure.

OK. That's all I got. I'm stunned at how good this team is. I never dreamed they could be this good this year.

We're gonna find out a lot about HOW good they are after the bye. Detroit comes to town. Win that game, and the lead is essentially 3 games, since the Vikings would have tiebreakers over both Green Bay and Detroit.

If the NFL has any sense at all, they'll flex the game to prime time.