Vikings outlast Patriots as Justin Jefferson stars again
It wasn't pretty – most Thursday games aren't – but the Minnesota Vikings shook off the 37-point beating by the Cowboys and responded by putting up 33 points on what was the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense entering Week 12.
The 33-26 victory gets Minnesota to 9-2 this season. Detroit losing to the Bills has the Vikings' magic number in the NFC North down to two, meaning they could clinch the division as soon as Week 13.
The star was Justin Jefferson, whose nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown continued his surge into the NFL MVP conversation. He made two spectacular catches, both in double coverage, that set up a pair of Minnesota touchdowns.
It was his catch in the fourth quarter that gained 36 yards and set the stage for a Kirk Cousins-to-Adam Thielen 15-yard touchdown on the next play, which proved to be the game-winning score.
Special catch from a special player #skol
— NFL (@NFL) November 25, 2022
📺: #NEvsMIN on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/TePpxXTdES pic.twitter.com/EMTVTpOata
Jefferson's catch and Thielen's touchdown were only possible because New England was called for a running into the kicker penalty, erasing a defensive stop and keeping Minnesota's drive alive. It took Minnesota just three plays to take advantage and score.
New England's offense, which had two offensive touchdowns in its past three games, shredded Minnesota's defense the first three quarters but was then shut down in the fourth quarter. The Patriots scored on six of seven possessions to start the night but in the fourth quarter they punted twice, turned it over downs and then ran out of time on their final drive.
Adam Thielen caught a season-high nine passes for 61 yards and the aforementioned go-ahead touchdown. T.J. Hockenson had five catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.
Kirk Cousins, despite an overthrow for an interception in the first half, finished 30-of-37 for 299 yards and three touchdowns.
Minnesota's rushing attack did nothing but kill time. Dalvin Cook had 42 yards on 23 carries and the Vikings had just 57 yards on the ground as a team.
Minnesota took a 7-0 lead on an opening drive touchdown from Cousins to Jefferson and the game was tied 16-16 at the half before New England went 75 yards on their opening drive of the third quarter, with Mac Jones finding Hunter Henry for a 37-yard touchdown and a 23-16 lead.
It was all Vikings from there, outscoring the Patriots 17-3 over the final 25 minutes, 54 seconds.
Up next: Vikings vs. Jets, Sunday, Dec. 4 at 12 p.m.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.