Seeing as the Redskins entered the game with a single win and the Vikings entered it with thoughts of being among the best teams in a very competitive NFC, walking away with a 19-9 win might be viewed as somewhat underwhelming. Anything can happen in the NFL. That's especially true when a week of preparation is chopped in half in order to jam a Thursday night game into the schedule. The best things about this win for the Vikings is that it's a win, obviously, their obligatory Thursday night game is behind them, and they now have a mini-bye before the second half of the season kicks off with road games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys.
In reality, the only thing underwhelming about this 19-9 win is the score. Double-digit point spreads are rare in the NFL. Some had the Vikings as three-score favorites. If the Vikings had cared more about "appearances" than securing a win they would've been more interested in scoring a touchdown at the end of the game than chewing up nearly all of the final 8:42 of it. The Vikings control of this game is probably best seen in their final possession. With 8:42 to play, the Vikings got the ball at their own 34. The Redskins didn't possess the ball again until the Vikings gave it to them at their own five-yard line with 16 seconds on the clock. The Vikings ran 14 plays on their final possession. All 14 were runs by either Dalvin Cook or Alexander Mattison. Due to penalties, they had to game some of the 62 yards more than once. It was the sort of drive that the best teams often employ to take the soul from their opponent.
For the game, the Vikings dominated in the numbers that sit behind the final score.
Total yards:
Vikings 434
Redskins 216
Passing yards:
Vikings 273
Redskins 131
Rushing yards:
Vikings 161
Redskins 85
Time of Possession:
Vikings 36:36
Redskins 23:24
No punts!
Those numbers are much more saucy than the score. It happens.
Some Vikings had saucy individual numbers:
Kirk Cousins:
23/26, 285 yards, 112.3 rating
Dalvin Cook:
23 carries, 98 yards, 1 TD
5 catches, 73 yards
Stefon Diggs
7 catches, 143 yards
Speaking of individual numbers, congratulations to the great Adrian Peterson on climbing to #6 on the NFL's career rushing list. His hard-earned 76 yards pushed him past Hall of Famers Jerome Bettis and LaDanian Tomlinson. Best of luck on his quest to move even higher. Hopefully, further yardage isn't gained against the Vikings.
October has been a rebound month for the Minnesota Vikings. They ended September with a pathetic performance against the Chicago Bears and a 2-2 record. Since then, they have only won football games. The offense has hit it's stride and perhaps found it's identity. Cousins has played and thrown the football with confidence. Cook has been great since he showed up in the spring. Surprisingly, it's the defense, particularly the secondary, that can tighten things up a bit. The whole team can play better. Due to the early-season struggles, 6-2 is a strong first half. Home games against division foes and prime time games dominate the second half of the Vikings season. It's going to be fun. Hopefully as fun, as that game-controlling final drive against the Redskins.
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