The penalties.
Titans
13 accepted penalties
91 yards lost
Vikings
3 accepted penalties
35 yards lost
That’s a one-sided penalty ledger. Even more one-sided is that seven of those 13 penalties gave the Vikings a first down. One in particular was quite painful for the Titans. On fourth-and-goal from the one, Titans safety Mike Brown launched into the facemask of Vikings receiver Jordan Addison. This looked like a momentum-changing and score-altering play by the Titans. Instead, the personal foul gave the Vikings a new set of downs from inside the one. After Titans head coach Brian Callahan threw a tantrum and earned another personal foul penalty, the ball was inched even closer to the goal. Sam Darnold dove over for the score on the next play. The game’s commentators debated the initial personal foul but Brown did launch into the neck-facemask-head area of Addison. That’s a penalty. If the teams were reversed, Callahan would’ve been arguing for the penalty.
The penalties were a significant factor in this game. It was a two-score game in part because of them. The Titans were horribly undisciplined in this game. That’s on Callahan. He should be looking in a mirror rather than railing on the officials. Offensive tackle Isaiah Prince was called for lining up off the line on three occasions. One of which took a Titans touchdown off the board. Three times! It’s a mental error on the player but it’s also horrible coaching. Vikings fans notoriously rail about being on the wrong side of the official’s calls. It feels a little odd to be on this side of them.
Enough with the penalties.
After a week of settling for four field goals against the Jaguars, it was refreshing to see the Vikings offense get in the end zone. They did so on three occasions. Darnold threw a beauty to Addison for 47 yards to open the scoring. Darnold dove in for #2 and tossed a short and easy one to Cam Akers for #3. Darnold should’ve had a third touchdown throw. He threw another beauty from midfield. It should’ve been caught by Jalen Nailor in the end zone. Instead it went through his hands. This was an opportunity that shouldn’t have been missed.
Replacement kicker John Parker Romo added a 40-yard field goal to go with his two of three extra points.
The 23 points, and three touchdowns, was definitely an improvement over last week’s four field goal offensive performance. It was still a sputtering performance. The first Vikings punt didn’t come until the second half. They proceeded to punt four more times in the second half. They had seven possessions over the final 30 minutes. All but two went for only 3-5 plays. One of the two “productive” possessions was the final touchdown drive. The other was eight plays and a punt. That sputtering offense gave the Titans some hope that they really never should’ve had.
The Vikings defense has been mostly terrific all season. Other than the stunning 98-yard touchdown throw from Will Levis to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, the Vikings defense dominated the Titans offense. That stunning play was an outlier and it skews the final statistics. Other than that single play, the Titans rarely threatened the Vikings end zone. That play. Vikings punter Ryan Wright put a wonderful punt inside the five-yard line and Trent Sherfield Sr. downed it at the two-yard line. First play, the Vikings nearly tackled Tony Pollard in the end zone. Second play, Will Levis dove back to the two-yard line. Third play, the Vikings loaded up on a blitz. Stephon Gilmore left Westbrook-Ikhine for the safety. Joshua Metellus’ angle was a little off and the Titans had a stunning 98-yard score. That lone play gave the Titans hope in an otherwise one-sided game. With that play, they have hope and momentum in a 16-10 game.
Fortunately, the Vikings lone productive possession of the second half followed that stunning play. A nice 35-yard kick return by Ty Chandler gave the offense decent starting position. Darnold guided the offense the remaining 65 yards. The short 3-yard catch and run by Akers put the much-needed touchdown on the board and bumped the Vikings lead to 23-10 with about three minutes left in the third quarter. The pesky Titans could only add a field goal over the final 18 minutes.
A win is a win. The Vikings are now 8-2 on the season. They visit the Chicago Bears next week. The offense must play better as the Vikings enter the final stretch of the season. There are too many empty possessions. Against better teams, that can’t happen. The defense just has to keep doing what they’ve been doing. I feel like they’ll get even better with better offensive efficiency leading to hopefully bigger leads. 8-2 is a very good place to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment