The Vikings are becoming this season’s feelgood story in the NFL. The organisation was rocked by the death of rookie Khyree Jackson in the off-season before they lost rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy to a season-ending knee injury.
That meant that Sam Darnold would begin a season as the starting QB for the first time in three years and, according to the pre-season odds, 22 teams were deemed to have a better chance of reaching the Super Bowl.
But Kevin O’Connell’s team have used that adversity as inspiration, beating the San Francisco 49ers, who lost last season’s Super Bowl, as well as two more teams who reached last season’s play-offs – Houston and Green Bay.
Now they faced the Jets, who have gone ‘all in’ on reaching the Super Bowl after luring Rodgers from Green Bay in 2023 and building a young, dynamic roster around him.
They have had one of the best defences in the NFL yet the Vikings’ defence was on top during a dominant first half, intercepting Rodgers on back-to-back possessions for New York.
The first drew the biggest cheer of the day as the Vikings’ faithful roared on Andrew van Ginkel as the linebacker made a marauding run down the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown.
Darnold then led a 74-yard drive, which culminated in full-back CJ Ham punching the ball in from two yards.
The Vikings held off a second-half fightback by Green Bay last week and again they showed resilience to get the job done, with Will Reichard kicking his second and third field goals to keep them in front before cornerback Stephon Gilmore claimed the decisive interception.
After the game, linebacker Jonathan Greenard talked about proving the naysayers wrong and warned that “we haven’t even played our best ball yet”, and they now have a bye week before taking on another of last season’s play-off teams, Detroit.
