The Minnesota Vikings chose not to give the fanbase a breather on Christmas Eve, as Greg Joseph had to nail a 61-yarder to secure the win 27-24 to improve their record to 12-3.
The game was a very competitive battle throughout as the Vikings took an early 10-0 lead. The Giants had a lead at 13-10 for a short time before the Vikings threw their second touchdown to T.J. Hockenson and didn’t trail for the rest of the game.
The studs and duds for this game were pretty obvious but there were a couple that flew under the radar. Let’s break it down.
Stud: Brian Asamoah
The Vikings had spoken frequently about wanting to get the rookie from Oklahoma involved on defense and they have been living up to that over the last two games. Asamoah provides an element of speed and quickness that the Vikings don’t have on the second level. He stripped and recovered the ball from Daniel Bellinger and the Vikings ended up getting a field goal on the ensuing possession.
Stud: Danielle Hunter
The Vikings pass rusher has been criticized frequently this season due to not having the type of production that a player with his type of pedigree. Some of that has been him adjusting to a new style of defense and standing up. He made his presence felt consistently and early. He got a sack on the first drive and has continuously pressured Daniel Jones throughout the game. One thing that has helped Hunter is being able to put his hand in the dirt. It’s been a big factor in his success against the Giants.
Stud: Patrick Peterson
Peterson wasn’t necessarily bad against the Giants but he left himself susceptible to the double move. The Giants baited him early on by running a lot of in-breaking routes, specifically slants. Brian Daboll then called a double move which Isaiah Hodgins beat him with ease and capitalized with a 33-yard completion. The idea of having Peterson on the outside as your starter is to prevent those from happening.
Peterson flipped the script and made up for that with an interception as the Giants were driving down four points. It turned the momentum completely in the Vikings favor.
Dud: Kirk Cousins
Kirk hasn’t been bad against the Giants, but he’s definitely played better games. His pocket presence has been poor with most of that coming from his internal clock. Cousins has taken a lot of unnecessary hits and got bailed out on an awful throw where the interception by Cordale Flott was taken off the board when the ball hit the ground.
Dud: Harrison Phillips
After playing really well against the Colts last week and making some big plays, Phillips wasn’t on his A-game against the Giants. He got called with a defensive holding penalty in the first half to extend a drive and wasn’t making plays. He did make one in the fourth quarter by getting Saquon Barkley for a TFL but not getting one until seven minutes left in regulation isn’t a great look.
Stud: Josh Metellus
The Vikings have been starting to rotate in more backups on a regular basis to keep players at least a little fresher heading into the playoffs. One of those is Josh Metellus, as he was seeing snaps for Harrison Smith. His biggest play came in the fourth quarter where he blocked Jamie Gillan punt that set up a Justin Jefferson touchdown to extend the lead to eight points.
Stud: Greg Joseph
The Vikings know how to make things difficult, as they won their 11th one-score game on the season and that win was secured by Joseph. While there were multiple times throughout the season that many were asking for his release, he came up huge for the Vikings in hitting a 61-yard field goal to clinch a 27-24 win over the Giants. The Vikings might just have their kicker long-term.
