Week 4 game recap: Minnesota Vikings defeat New York Giants 24-10
By Adam Carlson
What happened when the New York Giants traveled to U.S. Bank Stadium to take on the Minnesota Vikings during the week 4 game on Monday Night Football?
The Minnesota Vikings entered week 4 of the NFL season undefeated. Despite losing several key players up to this point, the team has found a way to win with a blend of suffocating defense, big special teams plays, and an efficient offense that doesn’t turn the ball over.
However, they faced off against one of the most explosive teams in the National Football League on Monday Night Football when the New York Giants came to down to hopefully rain on the Vikings parade.
The Giants looked as though they’d get off to a quick start, but couldn’t take advantage of a great kick return. After pinning the Vikings deep on a punt, Minnesota had to punt the ball away from their own end zone. Patterson got right in the face of the return man, and Harris muffed the catch. Marcus Sherels dove on the ball to take possession.
The Minnesota Vikings capitalized on that opportunity, ending the drive with a 1 yard run from Matt Asiata.
After that, it was a battle of field position. A hard-fought battle in the trenches continued as Andre Smith and Larry Donnell both left the game with injuries. Finally, the Vikings put together a drive and landed in the red zone, where Sam Bradford found a mismatch on defense and hit Kyle Rudolph for a score.
Meanwhile, a battle was going on outside the hash marks, where Xavier Rhodes and Odell Beckham Jr. continued to have a physical, verbal, and mental battle with each other. Beckham drew a personal foul, but the Giants were still able to hit a field goal before halftime.
Minnesota got the ball to start the 3rd quarter. They opened with a big pass from Bradford to Charles Johnson, but then fizzled out before Blair Walsh missed a 46 yard field goal attempt wide left.
The Giants next possession wasn’t didn’t go as they had hoped. Manning floated a pass up to where he likely assumed Beckham would be, but instead Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes tracked the ball, caught it, and was able to get some yardage before going out-of-bounds.
This ended with Blair Walsh hitting a field goal to make the score 17-3, but a big screen pass from Eli Manning to Paul Perkins and a one yard run from Orleans Darkwa made it a one score game in the fourth quarter.
Another big throw to Charles Johnson set up an easy Jerick McKinnon touchdown where there wasn’t a defender anywhere near him. This 4 yard touchdown made it a two possession game again and forced the Giants to try to pick up the pace on offense.
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New York fought back, but couldn’t convert a much-needed 4th down to continue the drive. When the Minnesota Vikings took over control of the football, they continued to drain the clock to put the game out of reach for the Giants. Final score: 24-10 Vikings.