The Minnesota Vikings entered Week 16 entrenched in a battle for the top seed in the NFC. With the win by the Lions earlier on Sunday, pressure was on the purple and gold to defeat the Seattle Seahawks on the road, something that has been a huge challenge for the team in the past.
The Vikings had some scares in this game, but emerged as 27-24 victors over Seattle. The win moved them to 13-2 on the season and keeps their destiny in their own hands. If they can defeat the Packers at home and Lions on the road in the next two weeks, they will win the NFC North and earn the top seed in the conference for the playoffs.
Minnesota played hard and some players made a huge impact on the game's outcome. Let's take a look at five players who stood out in Week 16 for the Minnesota Vikings.
3 winners (and 2 losers) from the Vikings in Week 16 win over the Seahawks
Vikings winner No. 1: Justin Jefferson, wide receiver
An exceptional football player, Justin Jefferson is an absolute game-changer as a wide receiver. Considering how good he is, it's not surprising he was the most targeted pass-catcher in the game and had as many as the next two top targets combined.
On 13 targets, Jefferson caught 10 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He did get one penalty for taunting when he stared down a Seahawks defender while celebrating a touchdown with a Griddy, but I'm sure Vikings fans already forgave him for that.
Vikings loser No. 1: Jonathan Bullard, defensive line
Minnesota was getting hurt badly in the trenches in this game. Although Jonathan Bullard was singled out in this article, the trio of Bullard, Harrison Phillips, and Jerry Tillery combined for seven total tackles and zero quarterback hits while allowing nearly four yards per carry.
Bullard had one tackle on the day but thankfully the Seahawks abandoned the run early and only had 12 rushing attempts from running backs in the game. Against teams with a stronger rushing attack, this defensive front will need to have a much better showing.
Vikings winner No. 2: Sam Darnold, quarterback
The hard conversation about Sam Darnold is getting more difficult every week. Against the Seahawks, fans got to see a bit of the toughness Minnesota's quarterback has when he threw an absolute dime to Justin Jefferson after being hurt on the previous play.
It's not just the gritty showing from Darnold that was impressive, he was solid all around on Sunday. He completed 22 of his 35 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns with no intercepts and made a great play to take a sack at the end of the game to keep the clock running instead of possibly throwing an incompletion that would have given Seattle more time.
Vikings loser No. 2: Garrett Bradbury, center
Minnesota's deficiency in the trenches is well documented in these winners and losers articles with the interior of the offensive line often getting a lot of criticism. The entire unit struggled against the Seahawks and uncharacteristic penalties and three Darnold sacks didn't help.
Garrett Bradbury gets singled out because he really struggled against Byron Murphy II and Jarran Reed up the middle. This isn't shocking, since he does tend to have a difficult time against bigger, stronger defenders.
Vikings winner No. 3: Ryan Wright, punter
It's time to give the punter some love. Whether he was booming punts deep or angling them perfectly to pin the opposition without allowing a return, Ryan Wright had an excellent game to give Minnesota a field position advantage.
Wright had six punts for a whopping 300 yards and four of those landed inside the 20. He opened eyes when he absolutely crushed a punt for 63 yards and the coverage team made some fantastic plays to limit return yards.