STACKING W'S

VIKINGS 23

TITANS 13

The Vikings won 7 games last year. A whole lot of people, including me, picked them to win about 7 again this year.

They won their 8th game out of 10 on Sunday, a third straight triumph over an inferior opponent from the woeful AFC South.

The victims this time were the Tennessee Titans, bumbling their way to another losing season, with a rookie head coach and a young QB who looks like a bust.

And the Vikings got it done, behind good games by the quarterback and defense, and that rarest of help from the officials. 

The Vikings 1st series ended ominously, where Sam Darnold pitched the ball to Aaron Jones, who couldn't corral the ball, and the Titans recovered. It led to a field goal.

The offense quickly responded, as Darnold hit a wide open Jordan Addison on a crossing route for a long touchdown. The next drive was an 89-yard marathon. It concluded with a Darnold TD sneak, but this only came after the previous 4th and goal play, where Darnold fired incomplete to Addison. The Titans were flagged for a personal foul, but the hit on Addison was clean. We got one there. Parker Romo doinked the PAT, but we had kind of just stolen 6 points.

The Vikings tacked on another 3 points the next series, after an acrobatic Addison catch attempt wound up just incomplete.

The defense was dominating. Tennessee had barely 70 yards of offense at the break. The front was constantly making a push, hounding Will Levis and smothering the run.

But the Vikings are biologically incapable of just putting a team away early, so the offense began the 2nd half by going 3 and out, and then also quickly punting on the next drive too.

The only highlight of the quarter so far was us pinning the Titans down on the 2 with the punt. We even just missed a safety.

But then the lifeless Titans were granted a huge jolt of life, when Levis lofted a rainbow down the sideline into the hands of something called Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. For some reason we had loaded up in front, so there was nobody in the secondary to at least limit the damage. So just like that, the Titans had a 98-yard touchdown.

The Vikings' offense did respond, but needed another bad call to do it. Darnold was sacked, and it would have meant a 3 and out, but the Titans got flagged for a very soft illegal contact on Jefferson. Look, when we get screwed by calls we rightly bitch. It's only fair to admit it when we get big, bad calls our way. Darnold wound up tossing a short TD to Cam Akers and we had a 2 score lead again.

The Vikings had one more very fortuitous call go their way, as Levis had fired another long TD throw, only to have an illegal formation flag bring it back. Good call, but it probably didn't influence the play much, yet it wiped out a TD. The Titans got a field goal after that, but never really threatened in a major way again.

The Vikings struggled to totally put the game away. The run game was mostly ineffective, getting just 2 1/2 a carry. Darnold did take 1 sack that pushed them out of field goal range. Dalton Risner was a surprise starter replacement for Ed Ingram, but it's inconclusive if that was a net positive. 

But the defense again had a stellar closing quarter, turning the Titans over twice on downs and then Harrison Smith hauling in an interception. That unit had its 3rd straight banner game.

The Vikings just have to keep stacking wins. The Lions might never lose again at this point, but if you keep pace, you at least keep the division race open. And they are in ever-improving shape to make the playoffs. They gained a game on Washington this week and should have gained one on the Packers (stupid Bears). But the wild card race already has a lot of separation. The Vikings could clinch a playoff spot before Christmas if they just win the games they're favored in.