Vikings - Commanders

Whew.

The Minnesota Vikings got out of their own way in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 20-17 win over the Washington Commanders. The Vikings scored the final 13 points of the game and that was the difference. 

Another one-score game. It’d sure be a nice change if the Vikings could get some comfortable distance between themselves and an opponent. At least the Vikings are winning these close games. It’s their sixth consecutive one-score win. 

The Vikings offense has had a maddening pattern of starting fast and then slipping into some sort of hibernation for a quarter or more. Against the Commanders, they took the opening kickoff and sailed down the field. Nine plays, 78 yards. The final play was a nine-yard toss from Kirk Cousins to Justin Jefferson. On the drive, Jefferson accounted for 48 of the 78 yards. The Vikings followed that beautiful opening drive with four first half punts. The third quarter was just as ineffective. The Vikings offense ran only nine plays in the third. The middle 45 minutes of the game was mostly offensive futility. They must put an end to these long stretches of doing nothing. A reason for these stretches is a stunning inability to get the ball to Jefferson. A reason for that inability against the Commanders was a very handsy Benjamin St.-Juste. The big corner grabbed, pulled, and pushed his way through his tough assignment. For some reason, the officials allowed it. The Vikings briefly broke out of their offensive funk and managed a terrific scoring opportunity at the end of the first half. 2nd-and-15 from the Commanders 25-yard line with seconds to play, Cousins gave Jefferson an opportunity in the end zone. St.-Juste grabbed, pulled, and pushed his way to a pass break-up. The deflection ended up in the hands of Commander corner Danny Johnson for an interception. The Vikings came up empty when they should’ve had at least a field goal. 

The officials? The officiating crew showed a great reluctance to throw flags, especially for pass interference. One official even went out of his way to hand the Commanders their first touchdown. On the opening drive of the second half, Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke tossed the ball fifty yards into triple coverage. A clueless official ambled into the path of Camryn Bynum. The Vikings safety had an easy interception headed his way. Instead, the official knocked Bynum to the ground and the ball somehow ended up in the hands of Commanders receiver Curtis Samuel. He stumbled past Harrison Smith and Patrick Peterson into the end zone. Instead of a Vikings takeaway, an official that lost his place on the field handed the Commanders a seven-point gift. I get that officials are part of the field but they have to realize their place on it. It was a ridiculous play. It should forever be part of official tutorials on what not to do on a football field. 

While the Vikings offense spent most of the game not doing much, their defense played well. Excluding the touchdown gifted by the officials, the Vikings defense gave up 10 points. The biggest play of the game was probably Harrison Smith’s interception in the fourth quarter. That takeaway triggered the comeback. The Vikings had just scored a field goal, cutting Washington’s lead to 17-10. Smith intercepted the ball at the Commanders 47-yard line and returned it to the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Cousins found Dalvin Cook in the end zone for a touchdown. In three minutes of game time, the Vikings scored 10 points and tied the game at 17-17. They had successfully come back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit. 

Then came the final six minutes and a really stupid penalty that changed the game. 

The Vikings defense followed up Smith’s interception with a three-and-out. With 6:12 to play the Vikings offense had the ball. 15 plays, 44 yards, and six minutes later, Greg Joseph kicked a 28-yard field goal. With 12 seconds to play, the Vikings had a 20-17 lead. It was the second field that Joseph made on the drive. The first one made it 20-17 with 1:52 to play. The Commanders should’ve had a decent opportunity to tie or win the game. Instead, John Ridgeway made the stupid mistake on the field goal attempt of roughing up Vikings long snapper Andrew DePaola.This penalty took away the Commanders opportunity to respond. Instead of the Commanders offense getting the ball, the Vikings offense returned to the field and drained most of the remaining time on the clock. Thankfully, Joseph was successful once again when he returned to the field. 

The Vikings still had to survive one desperation play. They did. 

The new guy. 

On Tuesday, the Vikings made a trade deadline deal with the Detroit Lions to acquire tight end T.J. Hockenson. From Tuesday night to game time, he had a crash course on the Vikings offense. Apparently his book and field work was effective, Hockenson made a difference in this game. He had nine catches on nine targets for 70 yards. His day would’ve been even more efficient if it weren’t for some very ineffective screen plays. The Vikings offense would’ve been much better off if they’d scrapped all screen plays before the game. Tight ends, running backs, didn’t matter. The Commanders wrecked every screen play the Vikings attempted. In his first game, Hockenson presented a terrific intermediate target for Cousins. His role is only going to grow. I still can’t believe that the Vikings were able to add a player like him in the middle of the season. Hockenson made a difference in this game and should make an ever bigger difference moving forward. 

I hoped that this game would be an easy one but I doubted that it would be. The Commanders defense is a problem. Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen is a beast and he spent most of the game in the Vikings backfield. He was probably the best, most impactful player of the game. Fellow defensive tackle DaRon Payne can also be a problem. Defensive end Montez Sweat, linebacker Jamin Davis, safety Kamren Curl. All are problems. The corners can be effective if the officials allow them to assault receivers like St.-Juste repeatedly did to Jefferson. Defensive end Chase Young is close to returning from last season’s ACL injury. The Commanders have a formidable defense. On offense, they have a load of playmakers. I knew this game was going to be difficult. It was probably even more difficult than I anticipated. 

The Vikings win streak continues. Six games. The record climbs to 7-1. Next week is a big one. Next week brings a trip to Buffalo and a game with the Bills. The Vikings offense can not sleep through half a game against the Bills.