The Minnesota Vikings deserve plenty of credit for taking down Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, but there are still clear issues for the victors.
The plane trip from Buffalo to Minnesota will be a road trip. Perhaps even more remarkable than the Vikings’ 33-30 overtime win on Sunday, who knocked out the Bills in the most unimaginable way.
Consider this: From the two-minute warning until the end of the game, the following happened:
- On Days 4 and 18, trailing from 27 to 23, Justin Jefferson makes a standing hitch with one hand for 32 yards
- In the third and goal from the 6-yard line, Jefferson grabbed another pass from Kirk Cousins and scored the clear go-ahead for the touchdown. It was correctly reversed on replay, and placed within the 1-yard line.
- On the fourth down, the cousins sneak forward and are rejected.
- Josh Allen senses the snap and Minnesota recovers from the downturn.
- Now 30-27, Buffalo drives 69 yards in 39 seconds, sending the game into overtime on a 29-yard field goal.
- After winning the lottery, Minnesota heads to the first goal and target at the 2-yard line. The Vikings proceeded to run 13 yards back and settled into a field goal, now a 33-30 lead.
- Buffalo leads the red zone in Minnesota and Allen throws a gruesome objection.
- The Vikings won 33-30, improving to 8-1.
Those eight points happened within half an hour of actual time.
Looking at this rundown, there is no obvious characteristic of understanding Minnesota, unless you know what season it has been through so far.
All year long, the Vikings have been great late in tight matches. Minnesota has won seven straight games, all by one point. It’s no surprise that coach Kevin O’Connell needs his team to take on big tasks in attack and defense to ensure wins in every competition (as detailed here).
Every time that happens.
Of course, there are issues to be addressed here. The Vikings needed a miraculous stumble from Allen followed by a shocking read minutes later over Patrick Peterson’s objection. They also failed to execute at the goal line before Allen’s surprise strike. This wasn’t ideal, and on just about every normal afternoon, it would have resulted in a narrow defeat.
But this misses the biggest point. The Vikings were 27-17 behind Buffalo with less than 11 minutes to play on the list. From then until the end, Minnesota forced three turns of Allen. The defense allowed for 486 total yards, but collected four takeaways to beat Super Bowl favorites in most sportsbooks.
The Vikings will win their league and therefore have expectations of progress in January. Many will also suspect their problems, some of which were on display on Sunday including Cousins’ inability to land two late engines, and a defense giving up a lot of yards.
Still, the Vikings are 8-1 for a reason. They find the big plays in the biggest moments.
There will be time this week to discuss how Minnesota can brush up on issues and emphasize strengths.
That’s for another day. Right now, there’s a 1 hour and 50 minute flight time to enjoy.
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