Week 14 Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings sure don't make things easy for themselves. But football isn't supposed to be easy.

The Vikings defeated the host Jacksonville Jaguars yesterday, 25-16. If they were even a little more productive in the red zone the Vikings might've won by a far more comfortable margin. Like 43-16 more comfortable. Three of their five ventures inside the Jaguars ten-yard line produced a total of three points.

Ripe opportunities spoiled:

1. reached the Jaguars 8-yard line and settled for a short field goal
2. turned over on downs after a 1st-and-goal from the 3
3. fumbled on the third attempt from the 1

That's not good.

The Jaguars came into the game sporting a top-5 pass defense. The Vikings had three passes of more than 40 yards in the first half. That's the good part. The bad part is that none of the three explosive plays led to touchdowns:

Vikings first possession of the game: Sam Bradford connected with tight end Kyle Rudolph for 44 yards on the first play of the game. Four plays later Kai Forbath kicked a field goal.

Vikings second possession: Bradford hit receiver Adam Thielen for a 41-yard gain. Four plays later Forbath kicked a field goal.

Vikings fifth possession: Receiver Stefon Diggs made a terrific, diving catch for a 45-yard gain. Six plays later the Vikings turned the ball over on downs at the Jaguars one-yard line.

The Vikings fourth possession was set up nicely by a 53-yard kick return by Cordarrelle Patterson. Six plays later Forbath kicked a field goals.

Four explosive plays, each covering about half the field led to nine points. The Vikings have to stop settling for field goals and start scoring touchdowns.

The Vikings finally scored a touchdown 47 seconds into the fourth quarter. That score answered a Jaguars touchdown that had given the home team a 16-12 lead. The Vikings continued to make things difficult for themselves by missing the extra point. That left them with a two-point lead. 18-16. Fortunately the Vikings defense preserved that lead by forcing consecutive three-and-outs.

The offense sealed the win with a second touchdown with just over two minutes to play. Forbath hit that extra point for a 25-16 lead.

It's only the fourth time in NFL history that a game ended with a 25-16 score. The third was the Vikings win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.

The Vikings had some pretty big special teams plays. It was good to see as special teams miscues played a significant role in their Week 13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Against the Jaguars the Vikings had a 53-yard kick return from Patterson, Jayron Kearse got a finger on a Jaguars punt, Tom Johnson got a finger or two on the ball to deflect a Jaguars field goal attempt, and Linval Joseph blocked a desperation 61-yard field goal to seal the win.

Speaking of special teams plays. The Jaguars were called for delay of game on a kickoff. I can't recall ever seeing that before. If my memory is doing me any favors it's far more common to see a 25-16 final score.

If it weren't for that terrible performance in the red zone it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that the Vikings offense played well. 377 total yards. 292 yards passing. 85 yards rushing. The offensive line protected Bradford well. He wasn't sacked. Not only that, he had time to survey the field and throw downfield. On a few occasions he even had a pocket into which he could safely step. Maybe this offensive line is finally coming together. Now, they just have to open up some holes for the running game.

All of the talking heads seem to think that Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley is gone at the end of the season. There were grand expectations in Jacksonville entering this season. Two wins through 13 games is far below those expectations so maybe a coaching change is the proper thing to do. It just feels like this team is close. There's a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Blake Bortles definitely has to get his grove back. His mechanics are a mess but the throwing talent is there. The defense has playmakers at each level. Bradley is a defensive guy and the players that the Jaguars sport look like his kind of players. Fast and athletic. The Jaguars can't keep churning through coaches.

Speaking of Jaguars defenders. Defensive back Jalen Ramsey was one of  my favorite players entering the 2016 NFL Draft. He has the talent to play anywhere in the secondary. Jacksonville happily grabbed him with the fifth pick in the draft. He's going to be a star if his extracurriculars don't get the better of him. He's often a jerk on the field. It's great to play with emotion but he has to know some boundaries. Is he another Vontaze Burfict? If his rookie season is any indication he might be. He had a personal foul against the Vikings. He also gave a little extra on a few tackles. And that was a mellow day for him.

The Minnesota Vikings started the fourth quarter of the 2016 season with a win. They have to win the next three for any shot at the postseason.

In their pregame show, NFL Network's GameDay crew danced out Aaron Rodgers' current 14-0 streak in December home games. It sounded fishy as soon as I heard it. The Vikings won the NFC North just last year by beating Rodgers' Packers in Green Bay in the season finale. Then it donned on me that the game was played in January. The GameDay researchers and talkers wanted to prop up the cold weather prowess of Rodgers in advance of their big game against the Seattle Seahawks. They like that 14-0 winning streak. They don't like the current 0-1 losing streak in such games. So, they make it all shiny again by tossing out that January game. That's a manufactured statistic.

The great Seattle Seahawks-Green Bay Packers game of the week wasn't so great. The Packers turned it into a one-sided affair as Aaron Rodgers boosted his December home winning streak to 15 games.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson made things easy for the Packers by throwing five interceptions. As poorly as Wilson played not all of the interceptions were entirely his doing. Three of them came off of tipped passes. At least two of which should've been caught by the Seahawks pass catchers that tipped them rather than caught them.

This was a sad Seaahwks performance that simply got worse as the game progressed.

There should be some concern in Green Bay as Rodgers was clearly hobbled by a leg injury through most of the game. It didn't seem to hinder his efficient play. 18/23 for 246 yards and three touchdowns.

The AFC South race could be one of most interesting as the season winds down. Everyone but the Jaguars is involved in it. The Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans stepped up this week. The Titans held off the Denver Broncos 13-10. The Texans took care of division foe Indianapolis Colts 22-17. The Titans and Texans are on top of the division at 7-6. The Colts are a game back at 6-7.

A brawl erupted in the Denver-Tennessee game after Titans receiver Harry Douglas went at the knees of Broncos corner Chris Harris. Douglas considered the play a legal block on a running play but nothing about it was decent. Shots like that end careers. Shots like that should get a player thrown out of the game.

I've never considered Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford a running threat but he's made some game-changing plays with his feet this season. If it weren't for some chain-moving runs against the Vikings in recent weeks the Lions might not be the NFC North division leaders. His seven-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter was the deciding score against the Chicago Bears yesterday.

Another terrific division race is shaping up in the NFC South. At the midpoint of the season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were sitting ugly at 3-5. Five straight wins and they are now sitting pretty at 8-5. The Buccaneers have muscled their way into a division-leading tie with the Atlanta Falcons. The only downside to this exciting race is that the division leaders don't play each other in the final three weeks.

The New York Jets edged the San Francisco 49ers in an overtime thriller.

Much like the AFC South it didn't look like any team really wanted to win the AFC North. Like the South, the North is getting interesting. The Pittsburgh Steelers got a dominating performance from Le'Veon Bell to hold off the Buffalo Bills 27-20. Bell carried the ball a whopping 38 times for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught four passes for another 62 yards. 298 total yards. The win pushed the Steelers to a division-leading 8-5. The Baltimore Ravens are 7-5. They have a tough game with the New England Patriots tonight to keep pace.

The NFL sure is a week-to-week league. It was only a couple of weeks ago that many in the media had the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys penciled in as the pair in the NFC Championship game. After being handled by the Buccaneers and Packers the last three weeks the Seahawks look suspect. The New York Giants handed the Cowboys their second loss of the season last night. They were also the team that handed the Cowboys their first loss in Week 1. After being outplayed by the Vikings in a Week 13 win and losing to the Giants last night the Cowboys look suspect as well. The talking heads should think about waiting until the games are played before crowning anyone.

The Patriots host the Ravens tonight to close out Week 14.