Vikings Offense Moves Past Jaguars, Survives 3 Picks
The Vikings offense dominated in every stat category except two.
But those two – turnovers and penalties – created a rocky path to Minnesota's eventual 12-7 defeat of Jacksonville on the road.
The Vikings are thankful for big-time outings by the defense and field goal unit after an afternoon slowed down by six penalties committed and three takeaways by Jacksonville's defense. John Parker Romo, who signed this week after rookie kicker Will Reichard landed on Injured Reserve, scored Minnesota's only points of the afternoon.
Sam Darnold was intercepted three times inside the Jaguars 30, including one takeaway that appeared as if it would be called back. Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown picked off Darnold in the paint but never seemed to have control of the ball. After official review, however, the ruling was upheld.
"To me, he didn't have firm control before the ball touched the ground. Really, just trapping it," FOX Sports rules analyst Dean Blandino said on the broadcast.
But whether or not they agreed with the ultimate call, Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and Darnold know a cleaner performance by the offense must be a focus.
"We moved it, but it's not good enough offensively if we're not scoring points," O'Connell said. "And even then, to turn it over the way we did, we've got to find a way to execute and find a way to end [the play with the ball] in our hands. I know we will rectify that problem and go back to putting points on the board."
Darnold had been picked off earlier, as well, after leading Minnesota on an effective drive to the Jaguars 30. On first-and-10, the QB attempted a pass to Justin Jefferson on a slant route; the catch was broken up by corner Tyson Campbell, who knocked it into the hands of Foyesade Oluokun.
"The first interception, ball gets tipped up – he was trying to throw Justin a slant and the defender does a nice job popping in there," O'Connell said. "I just think there's times [Sam's] confidence in guys is [at the max] to take some chances on some of those close plays."
Minnesota's third turnover of the game occurred early in the third quarter from the Jaguars 18. On third-and-4, Darnold again tried to get the ball to Jefferson but was intercepted by safety Darnell Savage in the end zone. Savage took the ball out to the 29.
Darnold actually was picked off a fourth time on a deep ball intended for Jordan Addison, but the play was called back thanks to a hands-to-the-face penalty on Campbell.
Darnold acknowledged he should have executed better ball placement, especially on the second and third interceptions, to not even give the defense a shot at it.
"I think the one to Jets (Jefferson) in the right corner, kind of giving him – if I am going to throw it, give him a chance and, if he doesn't get the ball, have the ball hit the ground," Darnold said. "We can't put the ball at risk, especially on second down like that.
"We've got to continue to manage those situations and be better that way," he added.
Darnold finished the day 24-of-38 passing for 241 yards and the three interceptions with a 48.2 passer rating. He was sacked once for a loss of 7.
"Whenever you turn the ball over," he said, "you have to have a 'next-play' mentality. Being able to understand what happened and just moving on. It's as simple as that. When those things do happen [during] a game, I have full faith our defense is going to go out there and get a stop, and we'll get the ball right back and go down and score."
O'Connell stressed that turnovers, of course, cannot happen; but he also reiterated continued confidence in Darnold.
Asked if he had considered at any point making a change at QB, O'Connell responded, "Not one. Not one [moment] all day long."
"Listen … Sam made a lot of plays, too," he said. "Ran the offense, got us into some and out of some plays, into the right runs. You know, execution was really gonna come down to the three plays when you look at the whole day. Really, I thought the last two interceptions are more so him just trying to make a play, and he's a competitive guy, but when you're in the scoring zone, I think one of them was on a second down and then we had one on a third down and a little bit farther out – as space shrinks, you either have to anticipate and put the ball in a place where you want to, or you've gotta protect the football and progress in rhythm.
"He knows that," O'Connell added. "We'll go back to just emphasizing those things throughout, but you can't have 400 yards of offense without your quarterback moving the ball and making some throws and some plays and running the show so we can improve as an offense."
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As noted earlier, the Vikings controlled every other statistical category, including the below especially notable numbers:
Minnesota total net yards: 402 Jacksonville total net yards: 143
Minnesota pass attempts: 38
Jacksonville pass attempts: 22
Minnesota total first downs: 28
Jacksonville total first downs: 10
Minnesota time of possession: 42:19
Jacksonville time of possession: 17:41
"It's interesting; I don't know if I've been a part of these stat lines, with that kind of time of possession, 82 plays, getting that many attempts off," O'Connell said. "But I was proud of the way the guys just kept playing. The defense picked them up, and then [Romo] shows up on Tuesday with [long snapper Jake] McQuaide and Ryan Wright had a couple nice holds in there, as well.
"Execution of the team around [the offense] when you don't have the performance that you want in any other aspect, that's a team win, and these guys can have a lot of confidence moving forward from that," O'Connell added.
T.J. Hockenson came up big in his second game back since recovering from a torn ACL. The tight end made tough catches in crucial moments, with four of his grabs converting third downs.
Hockenson played a significant role in the Vikings opening drive of the fourth quarter, making a 26-yard catch and then a little later in the series logging catches of 4 and 5 yards, respectively. The latter set up a fourth-and-1 that Minnesota converted en route to a Romo 34-yard field goal.
"T.J. was great today," Darnold said. "Just his presence out there, being able to run the routes he's able to run, find those zones … if they do want to play zone coverage on third down. T.J.'s a great football player, and I'm glad to have him back."
Hockenson led the team in receiving with eight catches for 72 yards, followed by Jefferson with five catches for 48 yards. Josh Oliver once again showed off his abilities in the pass game, racking up 52 yards on just four receptions.
The Vikings worked in the run quite a bit, as well. They kept Jacksonville's defense honest, despite averaging just 3.9 yards per carry thanks to a few tackles for loss.
Aaron Jones took the lead with 17 carries for 88 yards (5.2 average). He did at one point leave the game with a chest injury but returned after being evaluated for injuries to his ribs, per O'Connell.
"We did an X-ray, a little sore now, but not near as bad as I thought it was gonna be from the initial hit," Jones said. "I thought it might've cracked something. But I'm good. God's good. He had his protection on me.
"It's not the prettiest [win], but we got it done," Jones added.
Cam Akers had 13 carries for 38 yards, and Ty Chandler added four for 18. Darnold also contributed to the run on several scrambles, recording 28 yards on seven attempts.
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