Vikings @ Bills Post-Game Wrap-Up

Welcome to Skoloholics! The Minnesota Vikings have put week 10 in the books, as they played a very tough Buffalo Bills on their home turf in Buffalo. Here are the stats, highlights, and a summary from CBS Sports. Wow, what a game. This was one of the best games I’ve ever watched. Lots of ups and downs, both teams had the game won at various points. In the end, the MInnesota Vikings took this game. The defense came through in so many ways. For those of you who didn’t see this game, you might have missed the best game in NFL history. Your Minnesota Vikings are 8-1 and are now officially among the best teams in the NFL. Wow. I’m speechless.

First Half

The Vikings started out strong, and actually had the lead for a few minutes in the first quarter. Buffalo is a team that will score points, and score points they did, putting putting up 24 in the first half. Kirk Cousins made some plays, and his stat sheet looked good for the half, but he was frustrating to watch at times. With the game tied at 7, Kirk threw a pass to KJ that sailed wide right like a Greg Joseph field goal and resulted in an interception. A key point in this half was when there was about 3 minutes left in the half, and the score was 17-10, Buffalo in the lead. The Vikings were driving and on the outskirts of field goal range. The series of events began I’m referring to began at 3rd and 1, and the Vikings called a pass play, Cousins threw a long incompletion to KJ. Then, on fourth and one, KOC decided to go for it. They called ANOTHER pass, Cousins attempted a short pass to Hockenson which was broken up. The Bills got the ball back at around the 40, and drove down the field and scored a touchdown. The half ended at 24-10. I question the decision to call 2 pass plays in a row against one of the better coverage teams in the NFL when you need one yard. I can see both sides of the argument on whether to go for it on fourth and one or kick the field goal. My wife is more risk averse than I am, and she wanted them to kick the field goal. If you do go for it, I question the decision to call another pass play. What a huge difference going into the half though. If you kick the field goal, you kick off and force the Bills to try to drive eighty-ish yards in a minute, and you very likely go into the half with the score 17-13. Huge swing point in the game.

Second Half

Kirk Cousins was awful for a chunk of this half. He threw a horrible, inexplicable pass directly to a Buffalo Bill defender in the 3rd quarter that I thought may have been the final nail in the Vikings’ coffin, but I must’ve forgotten the fact that this team’s Vikings refuse to die. The defense did their job in this half. The Vikings defense only allowed the Bills offense, one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, three six points in the second half. Kirk Cousins did do some good things in this game, as you can tell from looking at the stat sheet. Justin Jefferson is an absolute fucking beast. My God, that kid made what might be the best catch any of us have ever seen on 4th and 18 in the 4th quarter. Holy hell, that catch literally brought tears to my eyes. The offense almost won the game at the end of the half, but came up a half-yard short. The defense said screw that, this game ain’t ending on a loss, and they forced a turnover in the end zone, and put the team up by 3 (thank Greg Joseph that it wasn’t 4).

Overtime

As I wrote this, our defense decided to allow the Bills offense to drive for a comeback, and this reffing crew seeme hell bent on moving this to overtime. There was a long pass attempt that should have been an incompletion, but the refs called it a completion, and they didn’t review the call, even though they’re supposed to. Then, they called an absolute horseshit pass interference call on Booth after allowing the Bills defenders to molest our receivers all day. This forced overtime. Dalvin Cook carried most of the load on this drive, and Kirk Cousins found his groove before melting down slightly at the end by taking a sack then air mailing a pass on 3rd down, and the Vikings settled for 3. I put some of this meltdown on KOC as well. The Vikings should have scored a touchdown to win the game. Kirk threw a dagger to JJ to give them 1st and goal from the 2 yard line. The Vikings ran one of those stupid delayed running plays, which lost yards. Then, they put the ball in Kirk’s hands twice, with bad results. To me

Summary

The Minnesota Vikings played one of the elite teams in the NFL on that team’s home turf, and they fought hard, even though they were down by 3 scores, and came back to win it. Kirk Cousins was frustrating at times, but also helped the team to secure the W. Greg Joseph needs to go see a sports psychologist. To hell with anyone who says this team isn’t for real, because they just proved that they are. This Minnesota Vikings defense and Justin Jefferson get game balls for this game. Man, I loved this game, this was literally one of the best games in NFL history, I’m grateful that I watched it as a Vikings fan. Seriously, this is one of the ones to cherish. I’m sitting here, not being able to believe what just happened. Wow. That’s all I can say. What a day to be a Vikings fan.