The Minnesota Vikings held on in an ugly game against the Miami Dolphins by a score of 24-16.
It was a game that saw the defense make a lot of plays to help the struggling offense. Their six sacks and three turnovers helped earn the entire defense game balls from head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Despite a game that didn’t leave a great taste in your mouth, there were plenty of individual performances that were good to great.
Let’s take a look at the week six studs and duds.
Stud: Za'Darius Smith
The Vikings’ pass rush came to play on Sunday in getting six sacks. Smith was involved with three of them, including getting two himself with the third being the one that broke Patrick Jones II free on a stunt. Smith has arguably been the Vikings’ MVP on defense this season and he now has 5.5 sacks on the season and over 20 pressures (18 going into the game) per PFF.
Stud: Patrick Peterson
The Vikings’ defense was a mixed bag but considering how much they gave up in terms of yards and time of possession, they only allowed 16 points from the Dolphins. A big reason for that is Peterson, who was excellent in this game. He had struggled on a couple of plays early on, but he came up big in the fourth quarter. Peterson had three passes defended and a late interception that the Vikings used to drain the clock so the Dolphins ran out of time in their comeback attempt.
Dud: Garrett Bradbury
Despite being much improved this season, Bradbury was not great against the Dolphins. He was poor in identifying where the blitz was coming from and he was allowing pressures up the middle consistently. The Dolphins’ defense was excellent in sending pressure in creative ways. Bradbury will need to work on this element for the Vikings to continue their sustained success.
Stud: Patrick Jones II
With D.J. Wonnum out with an illness, Jones II took his spot as the third pass rusher and he delivered. Jones II came up with two sacks and the first one came on a stunt in the first quarter. He was in position to make plays all game and did well in his role. The Vikings now have four capable pass rushers which will be massively beneficial moving forward.
Dud: Kevin O'Connell
Despite getting the win on Sunday, the Vikings did not play a good football game. They struggled to get anything going on offense consistently and even went three and out on 10 out of 15 drives. That’s not what you want to see from an offensive-minded coach that has a lot of weapons at his disposal. They struggled once again against the blitz without a lot of hot routes on those plays. The bye week is meant for self-scouting and the Vikings’ offense should be much-improved once they return against the Cardinals.
Studs: Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum
The Vikings’ safety duo did a great job on Sunday making sure that the dynamic duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle didn’t get open deep which is an easy way for them to do their damage. What was really impressive is that they each forced a turnover that the Vikings capitalized on with points. It’s always good to see your best players deliver and they did just that on Sunday.
Dud: Kirk Cousins
Cousins wasn’t necessarily bad against the Dolphins, but he also wasn’t very good. He didn’t have great composure in the pocket and didn’t make quick decisions. With the Dolphins in man coverage, Cousins and O’Connell should have been making reads and checks to have hot routes ready against the blitz. It wasn’t bad but a lot of missed opportunities were left on the field.
Stud: Justin Jefferson
Jefferson had one of the quietest 100-yard receiving games in recent memory He made plays when the offense needed it the most and set up the Vikings’ first touchdown to Irv Smith Jr. Jefferson also set the NFL record for most receiving yards in a player’s first three seasons in passing both Jerry Rice and Mike Evans. The records just keep coming for Jefferson.
WR @JJettas2 (3,670) passed WR's Jerry Rice (3,575) and Mike Evans (3,578) for most receiving yards through a players first three seasons in the NFL.
— Vikings Communications (@VikingsPR) October 16, 2022
