30-20
It’s been a brutal season. Turnovers and injuries defined and derailed this season. It wasn’t too surprising that the final two possessions against the Lions ended with interceptions. The Vikings kept pace with the Lions through three-plus quarters partly because quarterback Nick Mullens avoided giving the ball away. Two weeks ago, he gave the ball to the Lions on four occasions. Those four interceptions were the difference in the 30-24 loss. The two late interceptions yesterday sealed yesterday’s 30-20 loss. When he wasn’t throwing the ball to the Lions, Mullens shredded the Lions secondary in the two games. He threw for 411 yards and two touchdowns two weeks ago. He threw for 396 yards and two touchdowns yesterday. If Jordan Addison hadn’t misjudged a 39-yard throw off a flea flicker, Mullens would’ve/could’ve thrown for 435 yards and three touchdowns. In both games against this year’s NFC North champs, Mullens and the Vikings pass-catchers took apart the Lions secondary. It’s a damn shame that Mullens threw six passes to the Lions. And, he literally threw six pass TO the Lions. They were horrible throws. And, he’s lucky that a couple others were dropped.
Mullens is good to great about 90% of the time. He’s terrible 10% of the time. Turnovers are killers. That’s never been more evident to this Vikings fan than this season. Just brutal.
Justin Jefferson.
What can be said that hasn’t been said about Justin Jefferson? He’s the best receiver in the league. And it isn’t close. He’s ripped up the Lions secondary.
Two weeks ago:
6 catches
141 yards
1 TD (26 yards)
Yesterday:
12 catches
192 yards
1 TD (38 yards)
Season against the Lions:
18 catches
333 yards
2 TDs
At that pace, if Jefferson could play a season of games against the Lions, he’d post the following:
153 catches
2,830 yards
17 TDs
Not bad.
Jefferson’s reality is still impressive. He’s said that this has been the most frustrating season of his football life. A hamstring injury in Week 5 against the Kansas City Chiefs put him on the sideline for seven games. He was forced to watch. For a person and player as competitive as Jefferson, that’s excruciating. Kirk Cousins was sidelined for the season with a snapped Achilles in Week 8. That opened a chaotic and unpredictable revolving door at quarterback. Jefferson caught passes from four quarterbacks. Through it all, Jefferson managed to catch 68 passes for 1,074 yards and five touchdowns. He appeared in ten games. He played in about 8.5 of those games. Jefferson gained 1,074 yards in half of a season.
It’s a lot easier and more enjoyable to think about the brilliance of Justin Jefferson than the end to this frustrating season. Perhaps only the brutal Les Steckel 1984 season rivals this one for sheer frustration. At least this Vikings team competed to the end.
The Minnesota Vikings finish the season with a 7-10 record. As has been the norm for the past two seasons, 14 of the 17 games were one-score games. Unlike last season, the Vikings lost most of the one-score games this season. The difference was the turnovers. And the injuries. This was the most injurious Vikings season of my six decades with the team.
Next up:
The offseason.
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