SKOLLERCOASTER

VIKINGS 27

JAGUARS 24

OT

On the morning of November 1st the Vikings awoke, coming off their bye week sitting at a depressing 1-5 and having to play the Packers at Lambeau. On December 6th they go to sleep sitting in the last wild card spot after winning 5 of 6.

I do not know what the next 4 weeks hold. I do know that the last 6 weeks has been one of the strangest of all the many rollercoasters I have ridden in 30+ years of watching the Vikings. It has been a season unto itself, so full of wild twists and turns that really regardless of where this overall season ends up it has carved its own place in Vikings lore.

Fittingly this seemingly blah game against the 1-10 Jaguars became the weirdest of all. I felt almost angry as Dan Bailey hit his chip shot field goal late in overtime. This game should not have come down to that.

This was a game in which the Vikings had a 1st and goal at the 1 in the 4th quarter leading 19-16 and yet still needed 2 big turnovers and a missed field goal to escape with the win.

It was one of those games where things were bad right from the start. Actually even BEFORE the start it was bad, as Eric Kendricks got hurt in warmups and was a no go. It's hard to quantify just how crucial 54 is for our defense, especially this year. He covers for so much. With all due respect to Harrison Smith, Kendricks is the most irreplaceable player on this defense.

And his absence was damaging early, as the Jags cut right down the field on us. And then we got the Kris Boyd incompetence show. A terrible Mike Glennon throw deflected right off of Boyd's arm and into the waiting arms of a receiver in the endzone for a touchdown. Former Vikings legend Chase McLaughlin missed the PAT but that was the lone positivity early.

We started very slowly on offense, and the Jags drove on us again. And again Boyd helped them along. First he badly mis-timed a jump on a sideline catch. Then he had a chance at a pick in the endzone and just couldn't find the ball or something. It's really amazing how often Boyd finds himself in position to make the play, yet never ever does. Oh, he also had another penalty on special teams. And he botched a chance to pin the Jags deep on another punt. 

So anyway the Jags got a field goal and led 9-0. And while the defense started to lock it down a bit, our offense remained asleep. Bad OL play. Nothing open for Dalvin at all. A couple 3rd down drops. Very vanilla playcalling. We were well into the 2nd quarter before that side of the ball showed any life.

The Jags were driving again, but Cam Dantzler got his 1st career pick. That got us some sorely needed momentum and the offense capitalized with their 1st good drive. Kirk got in rhythm and hit Thielen for the TD. Naturally Bailey shanked the PAT, because of course.

That was it for 1st half positives. It was poor football all around, but the defense had settled and the offense was bound to at least figure things out a little bit.

And then on the very first play of the 2nd half, Kirk threw towards Dalvin, who for some reason wasn't looking back for the ball, and the pass was pick sixed. 2nd straight week we give up a defensive touchdown to open the 2nd half.

Thankfully, the offense immediately responded. Kirk hit JJ on a beautiful deep ball, then swung one out to CJ Ham for the touchdown. Then the next drive Kirk found JJ for the go ahead touchdown. Bailey missed the PAT again, but at this point I shrugged it off, cause of course the offense was going to see the endzone a couple more times and the defense had it locked down. We were going to win going away.

That looked even more certain moments later, when a player we apparently have named Jordan Brailford caused a Jags fumble. Our offense zipped down the field, setting up the aforementioned 1st and goal at the 1.

Dalvin fumbled. Jags recover. The box score shows 179 total yards, but Cook had a bad game. That fumble cannot happen. The pick six was his fault. He randomly fell down in open field on one play. He failed to get out of bounds on one play where he needed to.

Anyway, so we lost the certain touchdown, but a few plays later we got an Ifeadi Odenigbo safety.

But we still couldn't put the game away. We had 3 offensive possessions after the safety, but the only points we got came on a Bailey field goal after Dantzler ripped a fumble out and gave us great field position. The offense that was on fire was placed back into a shell by Kubiak's woefully safe playcalling. I know their formula is to focus on the run with a 2nd half lead, but the run was not there consistently and Kirk was humming and Kubiak just took the ball largely out of his hands.

And it burned the Vikings. I don't care who you are playing, if it is Jacksonville or Kansas City. If you keep giving a team chances over and over, eventually they are going to make you pay. And sure enough, the defense that hadn't allowed a point in over 3 quarters suddenly went soft at the most important moment. Glennon needed less than 3 minutes to drive 75 yards on us and tie the game on a TD run and 2 point pass.

We had time to score, but our now cooled offense could only get far enough for a 51 yard field goal try by Bailey which he pushed left and short. Even worse, the Jags had some time left, ran a quick draw, clocking it with 1 second left and had their own field goal shot. Fortunately it was a 62 yard prayer, and missed (although came closer than Bailey's).

So it was off to overtime, oddly the 2nd straight time the Jags have come here and it's gone to OT. I was at that 2012 opener, with Adrian coming back off the ACL tear and Blair Walsh being the hero in his debut. Fwiw that Vikings team won its last 4 games after starting 6-6 to make the playoffs.

Whether or not this team's playoff hopes would survive hung in the balance. Our 1st offensive series was a fiasco. Kirk was immediately sacked, then Rudy dropped a pass. Then Kirk just chucked one deep, which JJ hauled in miraculously...but of course miracles achieved through OPI don't count. I was deliriously excited before I saw the flag.

So at this point I knew we were fucked. But...for once...the special teams came through. Colquitt bombed a punt. Dan Chisena made a hell of an open field tackle to limit the return to basically nothing, AND the Jags took a penalty. It was a 62 yard swing of field position. And it could not have come at a better time.

The Jags never had a chance to win in OT, and only ran 3 plays, the last of them a Harrison Smith pick near midfield. The offense, clearly with the plan being to never have it come down to a field goal try, just kept ramming Dalvin. The last 8 plays were all Cook runs, the last down to the half yard line. Then dumbass Dakota Dozier false started, and at that point yeah you trot Bailey out there for the chip shot.

When Bailey nailed the kick and won the game, I felt no exhilaration, just relief mixed with frustration.

This homestand was not what I hoped it would be. This team looked so sharp and so good in the previous 3 games. Then they largely looked like, well, a total mediocrity these last 3 games. They were dangerously close to losing all 3 of these home games. Honestly I think they played their overall best game of the 3 in the one they lost. They just made so many mistakes. Huge ones that most often lead to sure defeats. There is just a lot of chaos with everything.

It's just never going to be what you want on defense this year. I will never bash Zimmer if the defense struggles. It's frankly Herculean to be able to win any game with a defense already so depleted and then losing Kendricks. The issue today was the offense not carrying the load enough. This was a bad Kubiak game. This was a bad OL game, even with the return of Ezra Cleveland. Cook was not his usual self, at least until the OT drive. Kirk was excellent, but even he was more misfire prone.

You just barely survived Carolina and Jacksonville making all these mistakes. You will NOT survive Tampa next week. That game will be a humbling blowout if the Vikings don't clean this shit up fast.

But you know what? All the complaints don't take away the win. Ugly wins beat beautiful losses 100%.

And now, thanks to the Rams taking down the collapsing Cardinals, our 6-6 record has us in that last wild card spot. I would have done unspeakable things on November 1st if you told me it would have us in a playoff spot entering week 14. Now it is as simple as you win out you're in. You may not even have to given Arizona's remaining schedule and the fact that only a hail mary has them not on a 5 game losing streak. 9-7 probably gets them in.

But we know it can't possibly be that simple. Not this year. The rollercoaster still has to make us puke a few more times. 

Other Sunday thoughts...

For the Vikings fans irate.about this ugly win, I offer you the Raiders and Seahawks. The Raiders needed a hail mary in the final seconds to beat the winless Jets. And Seattle somehow found a way to lose at home to the Colt McCoy-led Giants. Even the Chiefs are being pushed at home by Denver as I do this blog. All that matters is the win. 

The Saints beat Atlanta to clinch the 1st playoff spot. Green Bay had it pretty easy against Philly, who finally benched Wentz. 

The surprise of the day was Cleveland going into Tennessee and putting up 38 in the 1st half (and damn near blowing it) just as the Titans looked to have asserted themselves as an AFC power. Cleveland has their 1st winning season in 13 years.

Colts and Dolphins won to keep pace. The Patriots blew the Chargers away 45-0. That has to be the death blow to Anthony Lynn's coaching tenure.

Detroit rallied to beat Da Bears, with Adrian getting the winning touchdown.

We still got 2 MNF games and a Tuesday game. The Monday games are interesting, with Bills-49ers and Steelers-ExSkins. Tuesday has Ravens-Dallas.