The Minnesota Vikings are breathing easy after pulling out a 27-24 victory on the road over the Detroit Lions. Head coach Kevin O'Connell's team had lost five straight games to the Lions. The Vikings asserted themselves physically in this game and they avoided getting buried in the NFC North cellar.
The Vikings were relieved late in the game after they watched superstar wideout Justin Jefferson sat down on the field in obvious pain. After he got up, he made his way to the sidelines and it appeared he was battling some kind of lower-body injury. However, Jefferson said the problem was a sudden cramp and not a serious injury that would keep him out of the lineup.
Jefferson caught a 10-yard TD pass from Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy on the team's first possession of the first quarter. It came after the Lions had scored on the opening possession of the game and it demonstrated that the Vikings were not going to give in to the Lions. Detroit came into the game as 8 1/2-point favorites over their NFC North rivals
Jefferson was targeted 9 times in the game by McCarthy. He caught 6 passes for 47 yards. The quarterback overshot Jefferson on a couple of targets when the receiver was wide open.
Vikings show determination in McCarthy's return
Throughout the offseason, the Vikings had indicated that McCarthy would be the team's QB1 this season. However, he has been out of action since the team's Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He had missed the team's next five games with a high ankle sprain.
Coming back against the hard-hitting and physical Lions seemed to be a challenging assignment. McCarthy and his teammate were up to it. The Vikings played their most physical football game of the year against a very tough opponent and built a 10-point lead before they hung on for the much-needed triumph.
