Minnesota Vikings Week 13 Game Recap
Post-game Review
A season that once showed great promise for the Minnesota Vikings now finds itself on life support. The Vikings fell to the first-place Dallas Cowboys 17-15 on Thursday Night Football, their six loss in seven games since their 5-0 start.
Despite another solid performance from the defense, the Vikings offense and special teams continued their post-bye struggles. Quarterback Sam Bradford went 32 for 45 on mostly quick, short passes for 247 yards and a touchdown. Bradford connected with running back, Jerick McKinnon, for the touchdown with 0:25 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 17-15, but the Vikings couldn’t finish the job as they failed to convert the tying two-point conversion.
The defense kept the rookie combo of Dak Prescott-Ezekiel Elliott in check for much of the game. Quarterback Dak Prescott went 12 for 18 for just 139 yards and a score while running back Ezekiel Elliott ran for 86 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. The Vikings held the Cowboys to 264 yards of offense, but 140 of them came on the ground. Aside from that, the Vikings defense still kept Dallas largely under control.
Special teams had their worst showing of the year at the worst time. Punter Jeff Locke struggled all night as he averaged just 32.0 yards on seven punts. Receiver Adam Thielen, playing in place of Marcus Sherels as the punt returner, fumbled a punt inside the Vikings eight-yard line that the Cowboys would capitalize on in the very next play to go up 14-9 in the fourth quarter.
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MVP
Danielle Hunter picked up two of the Vikings three sacks on Dak Prescott. The second-year defensive end has blossomed under head coach Mike Zimmer and now leads the team with 9.0 sacks. Hunter showed in this one that even the Cowboys vaunted offensive line may have a hard time dealing with this young man in future encounters.
LVP
Jeff Locke’s quietly solid year came to a screeching halt. In a game the Vikings needed to win, this was not the kind of game they needed from him. Time and again, Locke failed to pin the Cowboys deep enough inside their own territory for the Vikings defense to cut loose. A number of those kicks left the Cowboys with more than comfortable field position, forcing the Vikings defense to pick up the slack for not only the struggling offense, but now a bad game from their punter as well.
Play of the game
Brian Robison’s strip sack late in the third quarter set up the Vikings with a great opportunity to score a momentum-altering touchdown while expending little energy. He was able to get around his man and knock the ball from Dak Prescott’s hand before he could bring it forward to throw it. Everson Griffen was able to recover it on the Cowboy’s 19-yard line. Unfortunately the offense only managed to get a field goal after just three plays, something that would come back to cost them in the end.
Next up
The Vikings hit the road to visit the 2-9 Jacksonville Jaguars on December 11th. These two last played each other in their 2012 season openers. The Vikings won that encounter 26-23 in overtime. The Jaguars, much like the Vikings, entered 2016 with high expectations only to once again be dwelling at the bottom of their own division and essentially out of playoff contention. Despite that, this is still a team with young talent and the potential to all but extinguish the Vikings faint playoff chances.
The Vikings are in desperation mode and need to win out and get help to have a shot at returning to the postseason. They have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, with the Packers being the only team left that could be over .500 by the time they meet again. Unfortunately, aside from an elite defense, this Vikings team may be too injured and flawed to take full advantage this end-of-year gift.
— Clayton R. Brooks II writes for cover32 and covers the Minnesota Vikings. He can be followed on Twitter @ClaytonRBrooks2. Like and follow vikings32 on Facebook, and Twitter.
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