Vikings' Week 13 win vs. Cardinals showcased multiple unsustainable elements that could factor in race for NFC North
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting at 10-2 on the season. It's a pretty impressive feat for the Vikings when you consider their preseason win total was set at 6.5 wins. Already being 3.5 wins ahead of that mark with five games to go is a mark that should earn head coach Kevin O'Connell plenty of […]
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting at 10-2 on the season. It's a pretty impressive feat for the Vikings when you consider their preseason win total was set at 6.5 wins. Already being 3.5 wins ahead of that mark with five games to go is a mark that should earn head coach Kevin O'Connell plenty of Coach of the Year votes.
Being that much better than their win total brings a lot of questions about how they have accomplished that. Some are bringing up the 2022 season with their 11-0 record in one-score games to try and discredit the 10-2 Vikings. However, things are certainly different now than they were two years ago.
Even though the Vikings have the underlying metrics to back up their record much better than they did in 2022, there are still areas that aren't sustainable. Let's take a look at a few that resonated from the Cardinals' game.
Penalties
Going into the game, the Cardinals were the least penalized team in the National Football League. They were called for just 51 penalties in their first 11 games with a league-high 10 games where they had five or fewer penalties.
Against the Vikings, they had a whopping 10 penalties for 96 yards. It was a season-high for the Cardinals, but it also follows a trend for the Vikings.
This season, the Vikings have been called for 85 penalties (11 declined) for 607 penalty yards. Their opponents have been called for a whopping 108 penalties (14 declined) for 788 yards. The majority of those penalties have been false starts, where the Vikings' opponents have been called an astounding 24 times. That is something the Vikings can't count on in every game, but the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd is very impactful
Red Zone possessions
The Vikings have been great in preventing teams from getting to the red zone. Going into Sunday's game, they were second in the NFL with just 26 red zone possessions allowed and eighth in total touchdowns allowed with 17. After Sunday's game where they held the Cardinals to one touchdown on six attempts, they are tied for third in red zone possessions allowed with 32 and seventh in touchdowns allowed with 18.
Most importantly here, the Vikings went from 27th in the league in red zone touchdown percentage allowed to 18th in the league. It's quite the jump, but a 1-6 performance will do that.
Holding teams to that little of success won't be the norm for the Vikings all season, but the lack of red zone possessions allowed is relatively sustainable. They will be facing some lethal offenses down the stretch, meaning it will be paramount that their success continues.
Fumbles
Fumbles just cannot happen if you are the Vikings. Far too often, they turn the ball over. After Sunday's game, the Vikings are 27th in the NFL in drives that result in a turnover at 13.3%.
Just the last three weeks, the Vikings have had four first quarter fumbles, all of which were by Aaron Jones. He has developed a fumbling problem with five total fumbles across 219 touches whereas he had just 15 across 1,499 touches with the Green Bay Packers.
The Vikings rank tied for 16th in fumbles with 15 on the season but those turnovers have been their own worst enemy this season.
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