The Minnesota Vikings got a huge win last Monday, October 23rd against the #1 ranked team in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams have had very different starts to the season with the Vikings going into the game with a 2-4 record, with wins against the 0-6 Carolina Panthers and the 2-5 Chicago Bears. The 49ers went into the game with a 5-1 record with their only loss coming against the Cleveland Browns, where they lost both WR1 Deebo Samuel and arguably the best running back in the league, Christian McCaffrey throughout the game. Samuel was unavailable for the game against the Vikings, but McCaffrey was able to play and went into the game scoring a touchdown in 15 straight games. He was able to find the end zone twice on Monday with his first being a 3-yard run and his second being a 35-yard catch-and-run to extend his record to 16 straight games with a touchdown. McCaffrey played every single offensive snap despite being questionable with an oblique injury that kept him out of the remainder of the game against the Browns the week prior.
What got the Vikings this important win was because of many great individual performances. First off, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had a rough start to the game throwing an interception in the first drive of the game, bouncing back and throwing for 378 yards with 2 touchdowns. With big shoes to fill with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson being injured, Jordan Addison had some big shoes to fill and filled them with 7 receptions for 123 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. TJ Hockenson had a rough couple of weeks but showed up for National Tight End Day being Kirk Cousins’s most targeted guy with 11 receptions for 86 yards and being targeted 12 times. Kirk Cousins went into the game being sacked 15 times in 6 games, but the offensive line was able to keep the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, Nick Bosa, and the 49ers defensive line quiet with no sacks on the night. The Vikings have struggled on defense this season, but they turned the ball over 3 times against a lethal 49ers offense. The standout performer on the defense was Camryn Bynum who had 2 interceptions on Brock Purdy in the fourth quarter, one of them being the game-sealing interception with the Vikings leading by five.
Minnesota has struggled during the start of his season, but this win could be the start of a turnaround for them especially since they were able to win without Justin Jefferson who is their best player and arguably the best wide receiver in the league. Jordan Addison was able to step up and head coach, Kevin O’Connell said as quoted in Sports Illustrated, “We ask him to do a lot, and he did a lot for us tonight in the game plan,” regarding Addison’s performance.
Minnesota will look to hopefully earn another win next week to bring them to .500 against NFC North rivals, The Green Bay Packers.
