Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter impressed during the week 1 game against the Titans, recovering a fumble and returning it for a touchdown.
Too often, simple things in the NFL are taken for granted. Something as seemingly simple as an angled punt, extra point attempt, or handing the ball off to the running back can go completely wrong and end up costing the team in a big way. And that’s exactly what happened in the week 1 game between the Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans.
Minnesota was coming off the momentum a huge play from Eric Kendricks and had just taken the lead for the first time in the contest. However, a mental lapse from the Titans opened things up for the Vikings to take advantage.
That play came in the early portion of the 4th quarter when the Titans were looking to reclaim the lead. However, a botched handoff kept that from happening.
Here is the play in full, as shared by the official Minnesota Vikings twitter account:
.@DHunt94_TX will take that all the way home. pic.twitter.com/mTIvazZUz7
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 11, 2016
As you can see from the video, Mariota is looking to give Murray the ball on this play. But Murray doesn’t seem to be running the same play, as he continues through as if it were a play-action fake and sneaks out for a pass. Hearing the reaction of the crowd and seeing the frenzy of the players, he turned around to see the football laying on the ground.
By then, it was too late. Highly athletic and lightning quick defensive end Danielle Hunter was right there to scoop it up. After bouncing off a couple of his own teammates, he got into high gear and made his way to the end zone for 6 points.
After this play, the Titans were left scrambling. They were forced to try to pick up yardage in a hurry, and couldn’t quite recover from these two game-changing plays back-to-back.
Next: Vikings game-by-game 2016 season preview
Congratulations to Danielle Hunter for the great heads-up play to scoop up the ball and bring it to the end zone. If not for the play of this stingy Minnesota Vikings defense, the game against Tennessee could have gone a much more different way. Thankfully, young guys like Kendricks and Hunter and turning into bona fide playmakers in the NFL