Subscribe
Follow Us
The Minnesota Vikings have gotten off to something of a dream start in 2024. They have won all four of their September games, and they are starting to make believers of many NFL observers who have seen them combine an explosive offense with a defense that has been dominating at times.
The Vikings opened the season with a relatively easy and expected win over the New York Giants, but the ensuing three games have been upsets. They beat the San Francisco 49ers and and Houston Texans — both with Super Bowl aspirations — when they came to U.S. Bank Stadium. They traveled to Lambeau Field in Week 4 and defeated the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings played almost pristine football for 3 1/2 games. In the 31-29 victory over the Packers, they built a 28-0 lead in the first half. The Packers would turn things around shortly thereafter, outscoring the Vikings 29-3 the rest of the way.
The Vikings are clearly a team that is off to a great start, but are they a team that can dominate the opposition? A 4-0 record may allow them to make a strong argument, but there are still 13 games to go in the season and they did not look like a championship team in the final 30 minutes against the Packers.
Here are two key overreactions that have emerged from the Week 4 win over the Packers.
The Vikings have a championship-caliber offense
The start of the game was brilliant for head coach Kevin O'Connell's offense. They scored four first half touchdowns as Sam Darnold continued his brilliant play as the team's QB1. He found superstar wideout Justin Jefferson with a well-thrown TD pass and he also hit speedster Jordan Addison with another scoring pass.
Addison also added a touchdown when the took the ball on a jet sweep and darted through Green Bay's attempted tackles. The Vikings also got a huge contribution from ex-Packer running back Aaron Jones. He rushed for 93 yards on 22 carries and also caught 4 passes for 46 yards. While he did not get into the end zone and did not perform a Lambeau Leap, he was happy to contribute to his new team.
“This is what I came here for,” Jones said, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. “If someone had told me, ‘Hey, you'll go in and have a good game. You won't score but you'll get the [win],' I'd say that's what I'm here for. At the end of the day, as long as we win, it doesn't matter who is putting the points on the board, as long as they're being put up.”
The Vikings offense could look even more dangerous when tight end T.J. Hockenson returns from a knee injury. That is expected in the coming weeks.
However, Darnold has never been more than a quarterback who could deliver occasional good games prior to this season. The assumption that will play consistent football on a week-in, week-out basis is not realistic.
The other area of concern is the Vikings offensive line. At the start of the year, starting tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill looked excellent, but the interior portion of the line was not as talented. Major issues have not surfaced yet, but they could in the future.
Vikings have a dominant defense
The Minnesota defense certainly has been impressive at the start of the season. That unit also looked dominant in the first half against the Packers. However, the second half was not a positive showing.
Perhaps the big lead enticed the Vikings to bend-but-don't-break defense in the second half. If that was the choice, defensive coordinator Brian Flores' charges did not perform in impressive fashion.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love demonstrated the Vikings defense could be vulnerable. Love missed the last two games for Green Bay due to a sprained MCL, but he returned against the Vikings. He completed 32 of 54 passes for 389 yards with 4 TDs and 3 interceptions.
Love did nearly all of his damage in the second half. The Vikings defensive players looked a step slower than the Packers receivers and the Minnesota pass rush took a step back. They were held to one sack against Love. They put quite a bit of pressure on Love in the first half, but Love seemed to have more time on most plays in the final 30 minutes.
The performance of the Green Bay quarterback could encourage upcoming signal callers to attack the Minnesota pass defense.
It will be up to Flores and players like Blake Cashman, Andrew Van Ginkel, Pat Jones II, Harrison Smith, Shaq Griffin and Byron Murphy to display more resilience in the upcoming weeks.
If not, the Vikings may not be able to keep stacking wins.
