Minnesota Vikings studs and duds from a tight Week 13 win over the Jaguars.
The Minnesota Vikings entered Week 13 back at home looking to continue to climb into the NFC playoff picture with just a handful of games left in the regular season schedule. Having turned the season around over the last few weeks, Minnesota returned home to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to host the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday afternoon.
The Vikings came into the contest on Sunday having won four of their last five games to climb back near the .500 mark on the season at 5-6 overall and within a game of the final playoff spot in the NFC.
At the end of the contest, Minnesota kept things a little too close for comfort but was able to come away with an overtime win at home behind a 27-24 victory.
In the opening half of the game, Jacksonville stormed onto the scene on the road and took an early lead in Minneapolis. The Jaguars jumped out to a 9-0 lead, before the Vikings battled back into things a bit with six points in the second quarter with the game landing at 9-6 at halftime.
To round out the second half in the final two quarters, Minnesota completed a comeback to even things up and eventually force overtime. The Vikings outscored the Jaguars 18-15 in the second half to even the game up at 24-24, ending with Minnesota sinking a field goal in overtime to win by three.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 6-6 overall and are still right in the heart of the NFC playoff picture going into an important Week 14 matchup. In the loss, the Jaguars dropped to 1-11 on the year and have now lost 10 straight games.
Minnesota returns to the field in Week 14 when it is faced with a tough road test against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay. Jacksonville gets back to action in Week 14 when it returns home to Jacksonville to play host to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon.
With the cross-conference contest between the Vikings and Jaguars now in the books, let’s take a look back at some studs and duds from Minnesota in Week 13.
Stud: Vikings receiving game
In Adam Thielen‘s first game back after coming off the Reserve/COVID-19 list, he and Justin Jefferson led the way for the Vikings receiving group to provide a nice balance to the offensive unit.
In the contest, Jefferson finished with a team-best nine catches for 121 yards and one touchdown, surpassing the 1,000-yard receiving mark on the season. Thielen added eight catches for 75 yards and one touchdown, while Dalvin Cook added six catches for 59 yards out of the backfield.
The passing game has taken a step up as of late, serving as a nice option to counter the running game in Minnesota. Sunday was just another example of that.
Dud: Defending James Robinson
The first dud was Minnesota defending Jacksonville running back James Robinson, who was one of the keys to the game for the Vikings defense and the Jaguars offense.
In the game, Robinson continued to lead the way of things for Jacksonville’s offensive unit, finishing the game with a team-best 18 rushes for 78 yards and one touchdown. He recorded a game-long run of 15 yards along the way. He also notched six catches for 30 yards in the passing game.
For the most part, Robinson didn’t go off terribly in the game in Minnesota, but the Vikings defense could have done a bit better of a job in containing him out of the backfield.