Despite going ahead by almost 30 points, the Minnesota Vikings had to escape to get a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.
Nothing is ever easy for the Minnesota Vikings this season. Except for their Week 3 win over the Seattle Seahawks, every game for the Vikings this year has basically come down to the final drive. This trend continued on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Minnesota jumped out to a monster 29-point lead in the third quarter and the matchup seemed heavily in their control. But as Vikings fans have learned all season long, no lead is safe when it comes to this year’s squad.
The Steelers climbed back into the contest in the second half, scoring 28 points in the final two quarters, and they had a chance to tie the game on the final offensive drive of the night.
Thankfully, Minnesota was able to escape the field on Thursday with the win by a final score of 36-28. Still, the result turned out to be much closer than it should have been, and the Vikings have plenty to work on before they face their next opponent.
Quick thoughts on the Vikings win over the Steelers
Cook sets the field on fire in return: Most didn’t even expect Dalvin Cook to be available for Thursday’s game, including the Vikings. But Cook’s recovery from his shoulder injury progressed fast enough in time for him to take the field against the Steelers and Minnesota was definitely happy to have him back.
The Vikings’ top running back embarrassed Pittsburgh’s defense on Thursday. In just the first half alone, Cook rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the matchup with 205 yards on the ground.
Defense looks dominant in first half: For what feels like the first time all season, Minnesota’s defense looked like it used to during the team’s first few years with Mike Zimmer as their head coach. Well, at least they did for the first two quarters
The Vikings’ defense has ranked near the bottom third of the NFL this season, but with the returns of Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr, and Patrick Peterson, the unit completely shut down the Steelers’ offense in the first half on Thursday night.
During the opening two quarters, Minnesota held Pittsburgh to just 66 yards and the Vikings were able to sack Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger four times.
Obviously, the second half was a different story.