Vikings 27, Jets 22
The Vikings hadn’t achieved an impressive victory in quite some time, but they changed that with a dominating performance of the Jets. Their defense swarmed Mike White and the Jets’ attack, creating two free possessions in the first half via an interception and a turnover on downs, while their offense had great success considering that they were battling a dominant Jets defense. The result was a 20-3 lead just prior to halftime in what was a surprisingly lopsided affair.
The Jets eventually tightened the margin, but that shouldn’t erase what Minnesota accomplished before it took its foot off the gas. That said, New York was one yard away from taking the lead on the penultimate drive of the game, but the Jets foolishly had White line up in a shotgun formation on third-and-goal and fourth-and-goal at the Minnesota 1-yard line. White lofted a horrible fade on third down, then hit Braxton Berrios for what appeared to be the decisive score on the next play, but Berrios dropped the ball when a Minnesota defender punched it out of his hands. The Jets obtained another possession with less than two minutes remaining, but White’s desperate heave was intercepted in the red zone.
White posted some quality fantasy numbers by the end of the afternoon, going 31-of-57 for 369 yards and two interceptions with one rushing score on a sneak. However, almost all of this occurred in garbage time, which turned into a potential improbable comeback by the end. White was just 14-of-26 for 121 yards and a pick at halftime.
Garrett Wilson was also able to benefit from garbage time. He had just three receptions for 43 yards in the opening half, but exploded after intermission. He finished with eight grabs for 162 yards. The crazy thing is that Wilson could have enjoyed an even better performance. He was targeted on the penultimate play that finished at the 1-yard line, but the pass was overthrown. White also overthrew Wilson for a potential 70-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter when Wilson broke free from the opposing cornerback. Wilson had a 60-yard completion, which would have been a longer touchdown had his foot not been barely out of bounds.
Elsewhere in the Jets receiving corps, Corey Davis caught five passes for 85 yards, while Elijah Moore was very inefficient on his six targets, snatching just two of them for seven yards.
Zonovan Knight had a strong showing in his first start. He dashed for 90 yards on 15 carries, and he also caught all five of his targets for 28 receiving yards.
Knight was able to barely outgain Dalvin Cook, who rushed for 86 yards on 20 carries. Cook scored a touchdown, but was vultured by Alexander Mattison (3-14) later in the game. The Jets had more success defending Cook in the second half, as he was limited to just 30 yards following the break.
