The Minnesota Vikings won a game for the first time in the 2023 season on Sunday. The Vikes defeated the Carolina Panthers 21-13 in Charlotte. 

It was far from pretty, but the team made enough plays to emerge victorious. Kirk Cousins attempted just 19 passes and finished with 139 yards, both by far his lowest totals of the season. 

Turnovers continued to be a problem, but the Vikings' defense played much better. Let's get into our biggest takeaways from the win. 

The defense bounced back 

After allowing Justin Herbert to throw for over 400 yards and 3 touchdowns a week ago, the unit held Bryce Young to just 204 yards with no TDs. 

Perhaps the most encouraging development was the pass rush. Coming into the game, nobody other than Danielle Hunter had gotten any pressure this season. Against the Panthers, however, the team collected five sacks and Hunter had none of them. 

Harrison Smith had three sacks and a forced fumble, while DJ Wonnum and Marcus Davenport each contributed one in their own right. On one of Smith's sacks, Wonnum collected the fumble and rumbled for a 51-yard score. 

Just a solid defensive performance all around. 

The team wins despite Cousins' worst performance

If you just look at Cousins' stat line, you'd think there was no possible way the Vikings won this game. 

Cousins went 12/19 for 139 yards with two TDs and two INTs. Cousins also had a fumble but was able to recover it. This is by the far the worsr statistical performance of the season for Cousins but the team still won thanks to a great defensive performance and solid run game. 

The offensive line has its best game of the season

The Carolina Panthers have been able to get sacks all season. Coming into Sunday, the team was tied for 7th in the NFL with 3.3 sacks per game. 

Against Minnesota, however, the Panthers were only able to collect two sacks of Kirk Cousins. The run-blocking did its job as well, letting Alexander Mattison rush 17 times for 95 yards. Cam Akers also saw his first action as a Viking, taking five carries for 40 yards. 

Overall, it's hard to be mad about this performance. This easily could have been a game where Cousins is on his back constantly and the ground game gets nothing going. 

Vikings’ DJ Wonnum returns fumble for 51-yard TD

The Vikings got a much-needed defensive touchdown in the third quarter.

Featured image via © Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports