Vikings Film Review: Veteran leadership trickling down to younger players

The Minnesota Vikings beat the New York Jets 27-22 in Week 13 in familiar fashion, winning their ninth-straight one-score game.

The 2022 season for the Minnesota Vikings has looked a lot like the plot of Bill Murray’s movie “Groundhog Day”. While the team has been finding different ways to win, it feels like fans are watching the same game over and over again. A year after losing the most one-score games in the NFL, Minnesota has won the most one-score games in the league this season.

It’s a good thing football games are spaced out a week apart because that is how long it takes fans to recover from a Vikings game this year.

The leadership from the top down has been outstanding this year. Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell has the locker room tighter than it has ever been. The results of the locker room chemistry are shown on the field each week as the time pulls together to win time and time again.

Minnesota Vikings veteran leadership helping their younger players step up in key situations

Due to injuries, the Vikings have played a lot of younger players in a lot of different positions. This includes starting six-different corners across from Patrick Peterson, as well as some rotational players on the offensive and defensive lines.

There are also young players from last season, such as safety Camryn Bynum, who have taken a big step forward under new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

Last week, it seemed like the Vikings’ defensive strategy of “bend, don’t break” wasn’t sustainable. However, it proved to be enough to get Minnesota another close victory over another good football team, as that is exactly how the defensive game plan was again executed.

The Vikings bent as New York Jets quarterback Mike White threw for 369 yards, and the Jets rushed for another 120 yards as a team, but they had only one touchdown to show for it. Minnesota’s defense forced New York to settle for field goals on several key red zone possessions.

Common names called for the Vikings this year on the defensive side of the ball have been the veterans – Harrison Smith, Za’Darius Smith, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks, and Peterson. Their play this year has been outstanding, and it has kept Minnesota’s defense afloat, playing a big part in why the team is currently 10-2.

What is even more exciting is that their play and leadership is beginning to trickle down to some of the younger players on defense. Fans are beginning to see new names step up and make plays.

2021 third-round pick Patrick Jones II had his best game of the season against the Jets. Jones had three solo tackles, a sack, and a tackle for loss.

Adding in another pass rusher to pair with Hunter and Smith not only relieves the pressure on the two talented edge rushers, but it also allows the Vikings to be more creative with how they set up their pass rush.

We have seen Smith utilized off the edge, up the middle, and even as a delayed blitzer coming from depth. Hunter is a more natural 4-3 defensive end and is used to coming off the edge, but Minnesota has done a good job moving him around as well.

What is most impressive to me about the Jones sack is not that it was the only sack of the game for the Vikings, but that he was able to get home on his pass rush on a play where Smith and Hunter were not even on the field.

Jones was aligned wide to the field, and with an excellent get-off, he was able to use his speed to get around the New York offensive tackle and sack White on 2nd-and-10. Sacks on second down are absolute drive-killers.

Bynum also played his best game of the year on Sunday, as he deflected the first quarter pass that led to the Harrison Smith interception, and he sealed the game with an interception of his own on the goal line in the fourth quarter.

Bynum had his fingerprints all over the game and looked like Harrison Smith 2.0 himself, adding six solo tackles to go along with his great day in the secondary.

Where Bynum is showing signs of maturity and development on the field, his off-the-field preparation. It’s what has been putting him in positions to make these types of plays and have success.

Bynum shared this photo on his personal Instagram page that highlights the exact play where he intercepted White to end the game.

The Jets had been having success against Minnesota’s zone coverage scheme, throwing dig routes, which is an intermediate in-breaking route designed to get behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties in 2-high coverages such as Cover 2 and Cover 4.

New York receiver Garret Wilson made some big plays off of this route earlier in the game, including on a 4th-and-10 earlier in the drive. The Jets went right back to the dig route on their final drive, and the Vikings were ready for it. The first one on 3rd-and-10, getting nearly intercepted by Smith, and then the second one which actually did get intercepted by Bynum.

O’Connell said in the locker room after the game that every time the team was hit with adversity, they came together a bit closer each time. With the amount of adversity Minnesota has faced this year, they should be sticking together like glue.

They continuously overcome the odds and find a way to win each and every week. That all starts with leadership and the accountability taken from the top down to get this football team contending for a Super Bowl.