Minnesota Vikings Best and Worst: Week 13 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
By Adam Carlson
More Bad Things
For a little while, it looked as though the Minnesota Vikings were going to go into halftime being held to zero points by the Jaguars. This was exceptionally frustrating since the purple and gold gave up a bit of a fluke touchdown on a deflected pass that should have been intercepted as well as a field goal to be trailing early.
It’s almost as if the Vikings like playing from behind and use that as motivation to play better. That’s odd though since their biggest strength is running the football and that can be taken out of a game when the opposing team can build a lead.
Other bad things from Week 13
- Give it away now. Possibly the most frustrating play of the entire game came just after halftime. Once again, the start of the third quarter of play signaled a turnover that was returned for a score. This time, it was Kirk Cousins who gave away a pick-six. Meanwhile, there was a miscue between Cousins and Dalvin Cook resulting in another giveaway.
- A lack of pressure. The Vikings shouldn’t have had nearly this much trouble with Mike Glennon in this game. His success was the result of a lack of pressure from the defensive line, who only registered two sacks but somehow got seven hits on the Jacksonville quarterback.
- Pass protection. Kirk Cousins was rushed on many of his pass attempts because the Jacksonville defense had him scrambling and uncomfortable in the pocket. He was sacked four times for a total loss of 30 yards and was Jacksonville was credited for FOURTEEN HITS by defenders.
- Held in check. Dalvin Cook may have ended the game with 120 rushing yards, but it was done on many small runs to add up to that number. The running back only averaged 3.8 yards per carry as Jacksonville forced the Vikings to beat them through the air rather than on the ground.
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What do you think were the best and worst things to come from the game between the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars? And what else deserves to be mentioned from this game? Let us know in the comments.