Matthew Coller: Vikings defense had to dig deep vs. Cardinals

Offensive struggles and Kyler Murray wizardry kept them on the field all day but the Vikings defense stepped up when they were needed most

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings cornerback Shaquill Griffin (1) celebrates his interception against the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

MINNEAPOLIS — If you go over all the different times the Minnesota Vikings defense got a key stop that kept them in the game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, it makes for quite a long list.

It started in the first quarter on Arizona’s first drive. On third-and-6 at the Vikings 17-yard line, quarterback Kyler Murray threw underneath to running back James Connor and linebacker Blake Cashman took him down short of the first down. Arizona got three points instead of seven.

When the Vikings fumbled on their second possession, the defense caught Murray on a scramble, then messed up his timing, causing a penalty for ineligible man down field and then stopped a short pass to force a field goal. The kick went wide.

“What a response by our defense to keep them out of the end zone and ultimately push them back far enough that they miss a field goal,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said.

The Vikings offense struggled to put drives together in the first half, only totaling 20 plays and 75 yards. A drive stalled out with 1:12 left in the opening half and the Vikings were only able to tie the score at 6-6 on the back of a 55-yard kick from Parker Romo. When Arizona got the ball back, Murray went to work completing five passes to get his team to the door step of the end zone. Again, the Vikings defense denied them, allowing just a field goal.

In the second half, a Romo missed field goal gave Arizona another shot at running away with the game. When the Cardinals got into Vikings territory, they attempted a surprise run on third down and Cashman and Patrick Jones stopped the ball carrier. Field goal.

When the Vikings offense finally got rolling and put a touchdown on the board to close the gap to 19-13 late in the third quarter, the Vikings pressured Murray and he tossed the ball up for grabs. Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. came down with it for his fifth interception of the year.

“That’s my guy, that’s my bro, I got [to Arizona] the same time he got there but I had to go out there and compete and show him not to come to my side,” Murphy Jr. said. “I talked a little stuff too.”

Late in the game with Arizona needing a touchdown to put things out of reach, the Vikings forced Murray to commit an intentional grounding penalty and then stopped tight end Trey McBride short of the goal line. Another field goal kept the score at 22-16.

After Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold led a go-ahead touchdown drive with just over one minute remaining, they needed one more stop. Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard chased down Murray on a scramble and then cornerback Shaq Griffin picked off the final heave by Murray to seal the victory.

O’Connell revealed that Greenard had been dealing with a cold throughout the week.

“He was gassed and just left everything out on the field today,” O’Connell said. “J.G. has been huge for us all season long. You can look at a lot of metrics and stats and all those things. I just know the guy's been an incredibly impactful player on our defense, on our organization, and very, very fortunate to have him here.”

There were plenty of bumps along the way for the defense. In the end, the Cardinals totaled 406 yards. They ran the ball effectively, worked the short passing game and Murray made magic on numerous occasions with his playmaking and scrambling ability. Plus rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. scored a brilliant touchdown against backup corner Fabian Moreau, who was in the game for injured Stephon Gilmore.

Watch KOC's postgame locker room speech after Cardinals win

“It’s crazy to go against that guy so many times…you can gameplan for it but he’s still going to do it,” Griffin said. “You can say, ‘hey man, Kyler is going to run around and we can’t let him out of the pocket but he’ll still get out of the pocket…But sooner or later we were going to have to figure it out and I’m glad we figured it out in the last couple drives.”

“I wish I could say we did that on purpose for the entertainment,” Griffin joked. “There are a lot of games that come down to the last seconds but the way we prepare those last minutes don’t scare us.”

Still the Vikings walked out of US Bank Stadium 10-2 because the defense repeatedly came through in had-to-have-it moments.

“It goes to show what type of defense [defensive coordinator Brian Flores] runs,” outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel said. “When things aren’t going your way, you have to dig deep and make a play.”

Flores’s defense was particularly proficient in the red zone, where Arizona scored just one touchdown on six opportunities.

There were different explanations for how they were able to slow down the Cards in that area.

For Van Ginkel, it was keeping RB James Conner out of the end zone.

“They are a physical team and they were going to try to run the ball in but we did a good job at not letting them run [in the red zone],” Van Ginkel said.

The Cardinals handed off five times and only gained 16 yards in the red zone in total.

Griffin felt that it was the coverage on key plays. Murray wasn’t able to find open receivers quickly and was forced to try to make plays out of structure over and over.

How the Minnesota Vikings can clinch a playoff spot this week

“Stopping them in the red zone was mainly communication,” Griffin said. “We ran a lot more man [coverage] but we had to be interchangeable parts. They were setting picks and running across the field so it was a little hectic in that area. The guys in that area were able to talk and pass things off to help each other out.”

For Murphy Jr., it was the pre-game prep. He said the Vikings knew that Murray liked to target his tight end Trey McBride when things got tight in the red zone.

“Red zone, we knew his targets, who he wanted to get the ball to,” Murphy Jr. said. “[Murray’s] scramble ability too, we knew we had to stay on the receivers a little bit longer. Keeping him in the pocket [in the red zone] was key, for sure.”

While the key stops were the highlight of the day for the Vikings defense, allowing 77 plays by the Cardinals on offense and 25 first downs one week after giving up 398 yards to the Bears does raise the question about whether the Vikings are doing too much bending-and-not-breaking.

But it has been a feature of the O’Connell era for his players to come through in the clutch. The Vikings are 24-9 under KOC in one-score games, which is the third best mark in NFL history by win percentage, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.