The Minnesota Vikings improved to 4-0 after beating the Miami Dolphins 15-10 with the same successful but frustrating formula: top notch defense and special teams and just good enough offense. It came against one of the worst teams in the league, so the fact that the win wasn’t more decisive was disappointing, especially at home. But the Vikings still achieved the key weekly objective while Justin Jefferson recovered from his ankle injury.
The Vikings offense never really threatened to score a touchdown
until the end of the game, when TJ Hockenson opted to go down on his own accord on the 2 yard line so the Vikings could take the victory formation and secure the win rather than score a touchdown and give the Dolphins maybe a 1% chance of a comeback victory. That fits with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell’s new found philosophy of focusing on doing what it takes to get the win and not worry about stats.
The Vikings offense had its best outing in terms of total yards (336) and first downs (20), but went 0-3 in the red zone including Hockenson’s aforementioned slide to allow the Vikings offense to run out the clock in victory formation. But they did not turnover the ball either, allowing the Vikings to win the turnover battle which 90% of the time leads to a Vikings victory in the KOC era. And so it was.
Stock Up
T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson had what amounted to a post-knee-injury breakout game. He had 13 receptions (tying a career high) on 13 targets for 119 yards and looked more dialed in and dynamic than he has for a couple years. A rejuvenated Hockenson is the perfect underneath complement to Addison and Jefferson down the field and a way for Kyler Murray and the Vikings offense to win when the opposing defense is focused on taking away the deeper part of the field.
Kyler Murray. He wasn’t outstanding by any means, and sacks continue to be a problem, but he had his most productive outing as a passer with the Vikings while avoiding turnovers or turnover-worthy plays. He adapted to the Dolphins playing a lot of two high safety coverages (which they hadn’t previously this season) to take away deeper strikes to Jordan Addison by targeting Hockenson underneath. He finished 27/37 (73%) for 247 yards and a 90.7 passer rating. His adjusted completion percentage (accuracy) was 90.6% according to PFF, which is elite. It appeared that there were not receivers open downfield on several of Murray’s dropbacks, which led to four throwaways.
Dallas Turner. He led the charge against Malik Willis, racking up 2 sacks on 5 pressures. He also forced the only turnover of the game, which Blake Cashman recovered, and had a tackle-for-loss as well in run defense.
Will Reichard. Perfect once again, going 5-5 on field goal attempts and accounting for all of the Vikings points. He has now made 31 straight field goals without a miss, the longest active streak in the league. He also landed a couple kickoffs in the landing zone in such a way that it caused the Dolphins to muff the return on two occasions.
Myles Price. He had 121 yards on five kick/punt returns, averaging 35 yards per kickoff return an 17 per punt return, both excellent numbers.
Aaron Jones. He had 94 yards on 20 carries (4.7 ypc) which helped move the chains on many occasions. He also had three explosive (10+ yard) carries.
Stock Down
Jauan Jennings. He played all but four snaps on offense and had one reception for eight yards. His blocking wasn’t great either.
Harrison Smith. His tackling effort on the two biggest Dolphins plays (one negated by penalty) left much to be desired.
Johnny Hekker. He shanked a couple punts later in the game that gave the Dolphins significantly better starting field position.
Buy
The Vikings ability to play championship football consistently on defense and special teams over the first four games.
Sell
The Vikings ability to win a championship without the offense showing significant improvement.
Buy
The Vikings winning games over racking up stats.
Sell
The rise in Vikings penalties. After having just 3 penalties in each of their first two games, the Vikings have committed 20 penalties over their last two games.
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