Sam Darnold's resilience and Aaron Jones' struggles highlights Vikings' Studs and Duds in Week 13 win vs. Cardinals
The Minnesota Vikings did not play their best game on Sunday but it didn't end up mattering. They came from behind down 19-6 to the Arizona Cardinals to win the game 23-22. The first half made you want to pull your hair out, but they had resilience in droves as they pulled out the win […]
The Minnesota Vikings did not play their best game on Sunday but it didn't end up mattering. They came from behind down 19-6 to the Arizona Cardinals to win the game 23-22.
The first half made you want to pull your hair out, but they had resilience in droves as they pulled out the win after being handily whipped in the first half
The studs and duds from Sunday's game will get you both excited and also bring a lot of stress and anxiety for the remainder of the season.
Stud: ILB Blake Cashman
The Vikings struggled overall. They had major issues moving the football, and the defense consistently allowed sustained drives. There isn't a ton to be excited about from this game, but there were some good individual performances.
Cashman has been the catalyst for this defense this season with is ability to do a little bit of everything. What really was impressive was Cashman's consistency in tackling. He was making really impressive tackles in the open field and forced center Hjalte Froholdt to commit a holding penalty.
Dud: Pass protection
It's no secret that the loss of Christian Darrisaw to a torn ACL against the Los Angeles Rams has made a major impact on the offense. The offensive line hasn't protected nearly as well since his injury and it's manifesting in a big way against the Cardinals
Despite playing against a defensive front relatively void of talent, the Vikings struggled to protect quarterback Sam Darnold. Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis called up some aggressive blitzes throughout the game and it made a huge impact in getting to Darnold, as they confused the Vikings' offensive line. They were somewhat similar to the Bengal Hawk concepts that Brian Flores loved to run last season.
Stud: QB Sam Darnold
The Vikings offense couldn't get much going for the majority of the game. The Cardinals were getting a lot of penetration regularly and making things really difficult across the board. In the first half, the Vikings only had 75 yards of offense but they turned things on in the second half.
Darnold didn't get off on the right foot, but it wasn't all his fault. They struggled to pass protect him throughout the game but he didn't let things phase him. Darnold continued to stand tall in the pocket and attack down the field whether pressure was in his face or not
Dud: RB Aaron Jones
One of the things that drew the Vikings to Jones was his ball security. During his time with the Packers, Jones touched the ball 1,449 times in the regular season and fumbled the ball 15 times. During his time with the Vikings, he's now fumbled it five times on 219 touches.
On the first offensive play of the game, Jones fumbled it, then did so later on in the first quarter. Only the second was lost and the Cardinals didn't score on it, but it's now becoming a problem with Jones having four fumbles in the last three games.
All the credit in the world to Jones, as the Vikings had him in the game down six and he caught the go-ahead touchdown
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It’s arguably the most important thing the Vikings have done over the last three years
