Minnesota Vikings Ride the Lightning to the Top of the NFC

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When asked if it was better to be lucky or good, the Vikings answered with a resounding “both.” What started out as a dominant showing with some potential cracks in the armor turned into a surprising thriller by the end of the game.

In the NFL, no lead is safe and the Vikings were treated to a lesson in that reality, thankfully wrapped in a win. With this win, the Vikings secured an undefeated record in the first quarter of the season, the only team with four wins in the NFC.

The only other undefeated team, the Seattle Seahawks, play the Detroit Lions on Monday night.

Minnesota was inarguably lucky in their 31-29 win over the Green Bay Packers. The game started with a dropped pick from Isaiah McDuffie on what would turn out to be an impressive drive from Sam Darnold to grab the first points of the game.  

Two near-incompletions in the second quarter were called incomplete (both on review) and the Vikings headed into the game with a measure of luck with top cornerback Jaire Alexander out and quarterback Jordan Love clearly playing injured.

The announcers mentioned that passes for Love often died, a product of his inability to completely and consistently transfer weight. He’d been fading his throws. He’s always been a back-foot thrower, but his apparent discomfort with movement made it clear that the Vikings were not playing against a quarterback who was at 100 percent.

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Kicker Brayden Narveson missed two kicks on the Packers’ only opportunities to score in the first half while the Vikings’ second pick of the day was a product of a (poorly thrown) ball going through two receivers’ hands first.

But the Vikings were also good, in ways that can’t be explained by a fortunate bounce of the ball – especially given the fact that not all unpredictable events broke in the Vikings’ favor. After all, a muffed punt at the end of the first half set up Green Bay’s first points to bring the score to 28-7.

At the same time, another review gave the Packers an interception that probably shouldn’t have been confirmed on review, with Xavier McKinney only securing the catch after leaving his feet and landing out of bounds.

It might be cathartic to list every lucky or unlucky events and attempt to divine where the Vikings landed when balancing out the scales, but that’s not really the point. The point is that a team that is both lucky and good gets out to a 28-point lead. When that luck runs out, they maintain that lead because they remain fundamentally good.

The Vikings did lose that four-score lead to end the half, with a touchdown cutting the lead to three possessions. That shouldn’t have meant much but after an eventful but scoreless third quarter, the Vikings allowed another score early in the fourth quarter – a miscommunication that allowed Dontayvion Wicks to get open as another receiver grabbed two defenders on his clear-out route – bringing their lead to 14.

The Packers cut that into dangerous single possession territory after a 27-second drive on the heels of a Darnold fumble. Securing the two-point conversion, the Packers would not afford the Vikings the luxury to rest on their laurels.

Were we enchanted by the concept of clutchness, we’d argue that Darnold finally clutched up and led a critical scoring drive for the Vikings. It’s not really that simple – the three-point field goal drive was important to re-establishing the two-possession nature of the game, but a touchdown would have been substantially more valuable.

More importantly, the follow-up drive would have been the real put-up-or-shut-up drive, following a fumble forced by Byron Murphy Jr. It was a good drive, but clutch narratives tend to ignore the level of play between the highlights and instead focus on end goals.

Darnold played well in the final drive and that helped the Vikings secure the win, but he didn’t score. Outstanding throws to Jefferson and Addison put the Vikings into the red zone and the Vikings opted, correctly, to attempt a conversion. Failing that, they forced the Packers into needing a long drive before repeating the task following an onside kick.

It worked out, but not without some sphincter-tightening along the way.

Reasons For Concern

There are some alarm bells worth noting.