Daily Norseman
LOOKING BACK: SEE RAKE, STEP ON RAKE
The Vikings came back to U.S. Bank Stadium and immediately did their trademark move of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
If you had told me we’d hold Lamar Jackson to 212 total yards and a single touchdown, and Derrick Henry to 75 yards on the ground at 3.8 yards per carry, I’d confidently say that we’d be sitting at 5-4 right now.
Then someone would remind me that I’m indeed a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, and calmer heads would prevail. I’d default to the usual skepticism and wonder how we could manage to screw it up this time.
Let’s break it down.
THE GOOD
First Drive J.J. McCarthy. Oh man, after that beautiful pass to Jalen Nailor and Aaron Jones’s ensuing touchdown, I was feeling it. “It’s happening!!!” Visions of the offense dropping 30+ points on the day felt like destiny. The positive vibes from the Lions game carried over and seemed like they would last. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The realities of a promising but raw quarterback in only his fourth NFL start began to crash the party on the very next drive.
The Defense, Mostly. They wore down a bit at the end, which was understandable given the game flow, but overall, this was a winning effort against an elite opponent. In addition to the numbers highlighted above, the Ravens were held to 6-of-15 on third down (40%). Not fantastic, but not terrible either, given the offensive weapons they were facing. And while the Vikings only sacked Lamar Jackson once, they did hold him to 5.6 yards per pass. Brian Flores’s unit did even better in terms of yards per play (4.9) over a manageable 321 total yards. The continued lack of takeaways (9 – tied, 22nd) is an issue, and at some point, this needs to improve. However, given the circumstances (i.e., offensive turnovers, time of possession, etc.), it was good enough to secure the victory on Sunday.
Will Reichard, Team MVP. I enjoy joking around with our hero, and it’s all out of love and respect. There’s a solid case that he is indeed the Vikings’ MVP after nine games. Why? He’s been the only consistent performer amid a wave of inconsistency that characterizes nearly everything about this team. He’s only missed one non-controversial field goal this year and is perfect on PATs. He added two more – from 49 and 43 yards, respectively – on Sunday. It’s great not to have to worry about the kicking game for a change.
**THE BAD
J.J. McCarthy, Outside of the First Drive. Yes, it wasn’t pretty. Yes, there does seem to be a pattern of declining accuracy as the game goes on. A 7/9 start turned into a 13/33 finish. Yes, some improved decision-making is clearly needed. Should this have been surprising? Probably not. I’m guilty of falling in love with the idea of immediate success, which has been somewhat common for first-time starting quarterbacks over the...
