>>>ALL THINGS VIKINGS<<<

Booing JJ Watt was wrong IMO it was just one great player showing respect to another great player i was not offended or upset by it

 

Irv Smith Jr is hurt again he just can't avoid the injury bug now it's a high ankle so he will miss 8 to 10 weeks this guy can't stay on the field he never quite lived up to the hype

 

You guys have a better TE now, and you got him for a good price. Your team is improved with Hockinson

 

I like to think so. Irv Smith Jr cant stay healthy. T.J. Hockenson has knee issues, but that seems to be under somewhat of control.

I think the Vikings GM did a great job in getting him and he ought to compliment the Receivers quite well... definitely give defenses another weapon to guard against, which bodes well for guys like Thielen or whoever is the WR3 as they should be open a bit more. Jefferson will always draw a double coverage of sorts on most passing plays.

Hockenson also is highly ranked in YAC, which is going to be fun/interesting to see... I expect lots of TD's for him in the rezone, at least a bunch of targets.

Cousins having another viable checkdown is a great thing also.
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Vikings can now move their attention to defensive line and secondary. They are doing well, just not very deep.

 

One away from 500

Adam Thielen recorded six receptions last week to move ahead of Steve Jordan for third on the Vikings all-time list.

The next one will make him the third player in Vikings history to record 500-plus catches along with Pro Football Hall of Famers Cris Carter (1,004) and Randy Moss (587).

 

Pretty cool the iced video of Capt Kirk do you have any ice that you yourself own?

 

Clutch Vikings tote ample confidence at 7-1 into tough slate

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Vikings have owned the fourth quarter this season, with a plus-33 scoring differential that is the second best in the NFL.

Whether it's due to Kirk Cousins delivering clutch throws to Justin Jefferson and friends, Za'Darius Smith and the defense applying a fierce pass rush, late-game confidence or plain old good luck, the Vikings have reached the relative midpoint of their schedule on the strength of a series of steely performances in the closing minutes.

They're on a six-game winning streak, in first place in the NFC North by a stunningly wide margin for a team that doesn't rank particularly high in most of the basic statistics.

''It's complementary football that defines good teams in this league,'' first-year head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Monday. ''You don't always win with style, but when you're able to win football games and consistently win close games by winning the fourth quarter, that does matter. We hate to put ourselves in position where you need to come from behind and win, but at least we know we've kind of removed all doubt and have belief in ourselves that we can go get those wins when we have to.''

The latest rally was in a 20-17 victory at Washington on Sunday after the Vikings (7-1) fell behind by 10 points early in the fourth quarter.

O'Connell told the players in his postgame locker room address he believed they would win by three points even when they faced the double-digit-point deficit.

''It felt in a lot of ways like our other wins this season where you can't point to a perfectly played offensive game where everything clicked, but just defense picking us up, special teams picking us up, and then finding a way to make enough plays at the end and finding inches,'' Cousins said.

The Vikings, who matched their eight-game start since 2009, have five fewer losses than Chicago and Green Bay. Both the Bears and the Packers have a bye in Week 14, when the Vikings play at Detroit.

Even if they split this daunting four-game stretch that begins at Buffalo on Sunday, the Vikings could well be in position to clinch the division with a win over the Lions on Dec. 11.

''Everybody has been rooting for each other, having each other's back, and the chemistry on this team is very strong,'' Jefferson said.

''Wherever we go down in those tight positions, we count on the next person to help us out and get us downfield where we need to be. This whole year we've been stressing that, and we've been doing a good job.''

WHAT'S WORKING

The combination of rush and coverage in new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's scheme has been clicking. The Vikings have allowed the sixth-highest per-game average of passing yards (257) in the league, but in the past three games they have a total of five interceptions and 13 sacks. The secondary didn't miss a beat when cornerback Cameron Dantzler Sr. sprained his ankle and sat out the second half at Washington while rookie Akayleb Evans filled in. The fourth-round draft pick had two tackles for loss and a pass defensed.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

Cousins has been pressured a league-leading 85 times in eight games, according to Sportradar data, and while his sack total (16) has remained relatively low the Vikings must figure out how to reduce the heat he's often faced in the pocket.

Cousins has taken 59 hits this season, per Sportradar, the third most in the NFL. Eleven of those came from the Commanders, the highest single-game total against him in nearly two years.

STOCK UP

Smith didn't add to his NFC-leading total of 8+ sacks - Danielle Hunter had two from the other side - but was constantly in the backfield in the face of Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke. Smith was credited with five tackles, three quarterback hits and two passes defensed.

STOCK DOWN

Rookie right guard Ed Ingram Jr. has been responsible for more than his share of those hits and pressures. Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne used a simple swim move to leave Ingram in the dust for a sack in the first quarter and blew by him in the fourth quarter to flatten Cousins during a 47-yard completion to Jefferson that forced the quarterback to leave the game for one play because the wind was knocked out of him. Backup Chris Reed, who has 29 starts, has not yet been active for a game this season.

INJURY REPORT

After emerging from their Week 7 bye in remarkably good health, the Vikings have begun to have some key players get hurt. Defensive end Dalvin Tomlinson did not play at Washington because of a calf injury, and O'Connell sounded more cautious than optimistic when asked about his status for this week. Dantzler is ''probably a long shot'' to play against the Bills, O'Connell said.

KEY NUMBER

Minus-13: That's what Minnesota's fourth-quarter scoring differential was in 2021, ranking 19th in the league.

UP NEXT

After the trip to Buffalo (6-2), the Vikings have three straight home games. That's the good news. The flip side is they play Dallas (6-2), New England (5-4) and the New York Jets (6-3).

Those are four of the top eight defenses in the NFL in fewest points allowed.

AP

 

Kevin O'Connell on 7-1 start: Vikings 'don't always win with style' but find a way in close games

The Minnesota Vikings followed a similar script Sunday in Washington DC, getting off to a hot start, and allowing the opponent to storm back before Kirk Cousins & Co. make enough plays late to secure a win.

Sunday, the Vikes got down, 17-7, early in the fourth quarter but scored on three straight drives, and the defense smothered the Commanders to take a 20-17 victory.

"I think it's complementary football in the critical moments of games that define good teams in this league," coach Kevin O'Connell said Monday, via the official team transcript. "You don't always win with style, but when you're able to win football games and consistently win close games by winning in the fourth quarter, that does matter. Ultimately, you hate to continue to put yourselves in positions where you need to come from behind and win, but at least we know we've kind of removed all doubt and have a belief in ourselves that we can go get those wins when we have to."

The victory pushed the Vikings to 7-1, and a 4.5-game lead in the NFC North, the largest division lead a team has generated through Week 9 since the San Francisco 49ers had a 5-game lead in the NFC West in 2011.

All 20 of Minnesota's points came in the first and fourth quarters, scoring on their first possession and final three drives. They had five punts and a Cousins threw interceptions in the second and third quarters.

O'Connell's opening scripts have been solid, but the middle two frames have been wanting for most of the season. But, as they have throughout 2022 so far, Minnesota is able to kick it into gear in the fourth quarter.

"It felt in a lot of ways like our other wins this season where you can't point to a perfectly played offensive game where everything clicked, but just defense picking us up, special teams picking us up, and then finding a way to make enough plays at the end and finding inches," Cousins said.


The Vikings have their stiffest stretch of the season ahead with games against Buffalo, Dallas, New England and the upstart New York Jets on the docket. It will take more consistent play to keep their six-game win streak alive. Coming out of that four-game stretch ahead could have the Vikes clinching the division well before Christmas.

NFL.com

 

Thats interesting... The Vikings are fortunate to be better while the rest of the North are , well, unbetter, lol.

Id like to see more consistency in play calling, to nit pick. If you start out a game well on the first drive, stick to whats working and put the 'script' on the back-burner. The Vikings games seem to have a pattern of everything really clicking on the first drive and then the wheels fall off... this may just be the way luck or the football bounces, but when you drive right down the field and hit Jefferson in the endzone, dont come back out and try to fix what isnt broke. In other words, take what worked and ram it down the opponents throats till you are forced to go to 'plan B'. Anyway, just a thought from a fan having a nervous break-down.

Just a twilight-zone thing, but for what its worth. I was born in 1961, the Vikings were established in 1961, this month I will be 61... all I want is a SB, Dammitt!

 

Wins are wins. Close or blowouts still count the same on your record. The championship teams always have a lot of close wins. Good luck with the rest of the season. It would be nice to see the Vikings finally break through and get a championship.

 

Ed Ingram Jr is just bad don't know if he can get his sh*t together or not Capt Kirk is very tough,just like the new mindset the Vikings have maybe they can draft some other O-lineman

 

The talking heads are just amazing the excuses they give the Buffalo Bills for losing it just hurts them to see the Vikings win why is so hard for these guys to give the Vikings any credit..you play to win the game and they WON PERIOD

 

The Bills got one of the worst calls I’ve seen in a long time in their favor and still lost the game.

 

Justin Jefferson on one-handed catch: Unreal, it felt like a movie



Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has had a lot of highlights during his three-year NFL career, but he topped them all in Buffalo on Sunday.

The Vikings had to convert a 4th-and-18 while down four points in the fourth quarter and quarterback Kirk Cousins looked Jefferson’s way while he was well guarded by Bills defensive back Cam Davis. Jefferson grabbed the ball with one hand to take it away from Davis for a 32-yard gain that kept the Vikings alive in one of the most entertaining games of this and any other season.


After the Vikings finished off their 33-30 overtime win, wideout K.J. Osborn called Jefferson’s catch “one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen” and head coach Kevin O’Connell said it was “one of the more remarkable catches I’ve ever seen.” Jefferson’s own take was that a catch like that was a sign of things to come for him and the Vikings.

“It felt like it was unreal, felt like a movie,” Jefferson said, via Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I told everybody this means, this is our season, for us to win out, go to the Super Bowl. We just got to keep working.”

If the Vikings do make that kind of run, Jefferson, who had 10 catches for 193 yards on Sunday, is likely going to be adding a lot more clips to his highlight reel before the year is out.

PFT

 

Patrick Peterson: Vikings expected, and wanted, to face Josh Allen



The Bills were trying to play a Jedi mind trick on the Vikings regarding the identity of their starting quarterback on Sunday. The Vikings ultimately got the droid they were looking for.

After the crazy, insane, insane, crazy showdown in Buffalo, which resulted in a 33-30 overtime win for Minnesota, I asked cornerback Patrick Peterson if the Vikings expected to see quarterback Josh Allen, given the mystery the Bills tried to construct.


“We knew he was playing,” Peterson said. “That’s who we wanted to play. We wanted to play this team at their full strength because we’ve been hearing enough about we haven’t played good teams, we haven’t played good quarterbacks. Well, we just did it today and we won from coming back, you know, so what you gonna say now?”

There’s no much left to say. The Vikings keep finding ways to win. They hadn’t beaten a great team on the road — in years.

They did it on Monday. It was perhaps their biggest regular-season win as the visiting team since 1998, when they beat the Packers on a Monday night at Lambeau Field, it what was the national coming-out party for rookie Randy Moss.

For third-year receiver Justin Jefferson, it was a day to make a stream of clutch catches — and for quarterback Kirk Cousins to make one clutch throw after another. And for someone else to step up when the team needs someone else to step up.

There’s still a long way to go this season. But the Vikings are altering perceptions and realities by doing what they haven’t done in a long time. They took the show on the road and stuck it to an elite team. And they wanted that elite team to be at its most elite.

PFT

 

Justin Jefferson racks up record number of 100-, 150-yard games in first three seasons



Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson had the catch of a lifetime on Sunday, a one-handed snag in traffic on fourth and 18. He also racked up 193 receiving yards.

Per the league, it was Jefferson’s 20th career 100-yard game. He now owns the record for the most such efforts in the first three years of a player’s career.


The two players with 19 were Randy Moss and Odell Beckham, who had 19 each.

Jefferson also passed Moss and Lance Alworth for the most 150-yard games in the first three years of a career. Jefferson has seven; Moss and Alworth have six.

And Jefferson still has eight games to play.

There’s more. Jefferson now has 4,076 receiving yards in 42 games, matching Beckham and Alworth for the fastest to 4,000.

Despite a tradition of great receivers, from John Gilliam to SammyWhite to Ahmad Rashad to Anthony Carter to Cris Carter to Randy Moss to Percy Harvin to Stefon Diggs, Jefferson turned in a performance for the ages that rivals if not surpasses anything any of the others ever achieved.

PFT

 

It is really something all these livestreams and podcasts on YouTube why the Buffalo Bills lost I'm watching some of them its kind of sad they just can't believe they lost

 

They lost because they got beat, period, by the Minnesota Vikings!

 

Best three-year start in NFL history?

Speaking of special Vikings, Justin Jefferson had a career-high 193 receiving yards in Week 10, the most by any player in any game this season. He also may have had the catch of the century:





Week 10 marked Jefferson's 20th career game with 100-plus receiving yards and his seventh with at least 150 -- both of which set NFL records for a player's first three seasons. Cousins averaged 12.1 pass yards per attempt targeting his No. 1 wide receiver and 4.8 pass yards per attempt targeting every one else.

Jefferson joined Hall of Famer Randy Moss and Odell Beckham Jr. as the only players in NFL history with at least 4,000 receiving yards in their first three NFL seasons. Jefferson needs 47 receiving yards to pass Beckham and 88 to pass Moss for the most all time.

NFL.com
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Safe to say... He's got this.

 

There’s an old expression, don’t count your fortunes before you open your cookie. Wait that’s not it. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.