10 quick thoughts on the Vikings win over the Jets in Week 13

Even more rapid thoughts from Minnesota’s win over New York

Smith held sackless again: Vikings linebacker Za’Darius Smith was a sack machine during the month of October, as he racked up 6.5 sacks while making life miserable for opposing offensive lines.

Since then, however, Smith has gone sackless in four of his last five games, including Sunday against the Jets. Whether this slowdown in production is due to an injury or something else, Minnesota’s pass rush has definitely hasn’t been the same during his recent struggles.

Third quarter continues to be a disaster for Minnesota: For whatever reason, the Vikings have struggled during the third quarter in almost all of their games this season.

These struggles continued on Sunday as Minnesota gained just 10 yards on offense in the third quarter. Obviously, this lack of production resulted in no points for the Vikings in the third quarter, which allowed the Jets to cut their double-digit deficit.

Minnesota gets no help from Jacksonville: Entering Week 13, the Vikings had a chance to clinch the NFC North title with a win over the Jets and a loss or a tie by the Detroit Lions in their matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Unfortunately, clinching the division will have to wait at least another week for Minnesota, as the Jaguars lost 40-14 to the Lions on Sunday.

Division battle on the road up next: Since Jacksonville wasn’t any help, the Vikings will just have to take care of business themselves next week when they head out on the road to take on the Lions inside Ford Field. The NFC North crown is Minnesota’s if they are able to leave Detriot with a victory next weekend.