Behind Three Takeaways and Timely Offense, Vikings Beat Dolphins to Move to 5-1

The Vikings made plays when they needed to in a 24-16 victory in Miami.

It doesn't feel like luck anymore. Maybe this is just who the Vikings are.

Kevin O'Connell's team didn't play particularly well on offense or defense for much of Sunday's game under the Miami sun. In fact, they were out-gained in the yardage department 458 to 234. And yet, they made plays when they needed to on both sides of the ball and emerged with a 24-16 victory over the Dolphins, sending them to 5-1 as they head into the bye week.

In some ways, it's hard to figure out how the Vikings won this game. They went three and out ten times on offense, which is a ridiculous number. If you count a series where they took over with great field position and ran three plays before kicking a field goal, that number goes up to 11. Defensively, they let the Dolphins march up and down the field, surrendering nearly 420 passing yards to Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson.

But football games typically come down to which team makes more critical plays in the big moments. And on Sunday, the Vikings were the team that rose to the occasion when it mattered most.

Sure, they didn't gain a single first down on 11 of their 14 offensive possessions. But the other three went for touchdowns. There was a seven-play, 75-yard drive to put the Vikings up 7-3 in the second quarter. There was a seven-play, 75-yard drive to extend the lead to 16-3 early in the fourth. And with the Dolphins still hanging around late in the game, Dalvin Cook finally ripped off a big run, darting 53 yards to put the Vikings up by two scores again.

On the other side of the ball, the Vikings have been a bend-don't-break unit under coordinator Ed Donatell this season, and never has that been exemplified better than in this game. Sure, they gave up close to 400 receiving yards and two touchdowns to Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Mike Gesicki. But they also won the turnover battle 3-0 and recorded a season-high six sacks on the afternoon.

The takeaways came at opportune times for the Vikings. Late in the first half, Harrison Smith grabbed his 31st career interception while laying on his back, bringing in a bouncing ball that Eric Kendricks also helped keep off the grass. That set up a Greg Joseph field goal to make it 10-3 at the half.

The defining play of the game came with just over four minutes on the clock. The Dolphins, trailing 16-10, were driving to potentially take the lead. Bridgewater — who came in for an injured Thompson in the second quarter — hit Waddle for a first down inside the Vikings' 30. But Smith managed to get a hand on the football and knock it loose, and Camryn Bynum scooped it up for a massive turning point in the game.

Following Cook's touchdown run, the other veteran in the Vikings' secondary came up with a big play. Patrick Peterson baited Bridgewater into an ill-advised throw and picked it off for the 30th interception of his career. The Dolphins still scored another touchdown after that point and had a chance at an onside kick to stay alive, but the Peterson interception helped buy the Vikings time.

It's never ideal when you give up over 450 yards. But so many players on the Vikings' defense came up with big plays in this game. Za'Darius Smith had two sacks, bringing him up to 5.5 in a sensational six-game start to his season. Patrick Jones II, bumped up to the No. 3 outside linebacker role with D.J. Wonnum out, had the first two sacks of his career. Jordan Hicks and Danielle Hunter also had sacks for the Vikings, who were excellent up front.

It wasn't a good overall game for the secondary, but Peterson and Harrison Smith came up huge all day. In addition to the fumble recovery, Bynum had a big pass breakup and fell on the Dolphins' onside kick to seal the game.

As we've said for several weeks now, the Vikings have a lot to continue working on. The defense gave up too many easy completions. The offense was mostly uninspiring and had way, way too many three and outs.

But none of that really matters. What matters is that the Vikings are 5-1, marking their best start to a season since 2016. What matters is that their victory on Sunday, combined with a Packers loss to the Jets, means the Vikings have a two-game lead in the NFC North in addition to their head-to-head advantage over Green Bay.

The Vikings still haven't put together a complete four-quarter performance, and that'll remain the goal moving forward. But as they head into the bye week, they're right where they want to be — with all of their goals in front of them.

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