Dec 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) celebrates his interception for a touchdown during the second quarter against the New York Giants at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Overall Impressions
Football games don’t get much more fun to watch than this. First, our expectations were lowered by sloppy offense and trading punts with the Giants, but then the Minnesota Vikings exploded offensively and didn’t give up on the defensive side of the ball either.
The defense deserves extra credit, with interceptions by Captain Munnerlyn, Harrison Smith and Andrew Sendejo and four sacks. Eli Manning had a horrible day, completing only 15 of his 29 passes, but throwing a touchdown in process. Still, sometimes it’s easy to forget that Eli Manning is a quarterback that has won two Super Bowls and was the MVP of both games.
Offensively, it’s was slow getting going for the Minnesota Vikings. Short runs and incomplete passes made it look like the game was going to end with an extremely low score. However, it didn’t take long for momentum to take over, and the Vikings scored double-digit points in each of the last 3 quarters of the game to cap off a dominating performance.
Now, the focus shifts to next week, when the Vikings will travel to Green Bay with the NFC North division title on the line. Minnesota could host a playoff game with a win against the Packers, or they could find themselves headed to Green Bay again in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
It’s an exciting time to be a Vikings fan now that they’ve clinched a playoff spot after two years away and there is still a chance of hanging a 2015 NFC North banner in U.S. Bank Stadium when it opens.