Matthew Coller: Everything that went right and wrong for Vikings vs. Jets

The Vikings came away with the win and plenty of areas for improvement.

Oct 6, 2024; Tottenham, ENG; Minnesota Vikings Defensive Back Josh Metellus (44) celebrates the interception from Defensive Back Stephon Gilmore (2) in the 4th Quarter against New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images / Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images

The 5-0 Minnesota Vikings came the closest they have all year to letting a game slip through their fingers in London against the New York Jets, which means a lot of things went right and wrong during their fifth victory of the season. Let’s take a closer look at all of it….

What went right

Everything relating to Andrew Van Ginkel

Unsurprisingly, the Vikings’ star outside linebacker had the highest PFF grade on the defense in the 23-17 victory, picking off an Aaron Rodgers pass and running it for a 63-yard touchdown, scoring high marks as a run defender and picking up three pressures.

On a defense that has put together a lot of strong performances so far, Van Ginkel has a good case for the MVP of the defense. He has 3.0 sacks, 14 pressures and two pick-sixes.

Jonathan Greenard’s pressure rate

Greenard has led the Vikings in QB pressures each week this season and Sunday was his highest mark with seven against Rodgers. Greenard ranks second in the NFL in total QB pressures, only trailing former No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson.

Greenard’s pressures have often come at opportune times, too. On the final drive of the game, the former Texan got to Rodgers on second-and-10 with 54 seconds remaining, forcing the veteran QB to throw the ball away. Rodgers threw the game-ending pick on the next play.

Ivan Pace Jr.’s return and Blake Cashman, run stuffer

After missing the last two weeks, Pace Jr. had a limited snap count of 26 plays but made an impact. He graded 79.2 (second highest on the defense) and picked up a sack, five run stops and only one pass was completed into his coverage for five yards.

Interestingly, the Vikings mixed in Kamu Grugier-Hill for 13 snaps as well. It’s plausible that they will continue to use Grugier-Hill to spell Pace Jr. because the veteran made impact plays against the Texans and Packers in fill-in duty.

Cashman continued to be an iron man, playing 72 snaps. He was a major part of the Vikings’ stout run defense that completely shut down a potentially dangerous Jets backfield. Cashman graded 87.6 vs. the run and had eight total tackles. Cashman is grading as the eighth best linebacker in the NFL by PFF.

Cornerback play

Rodgers attacked the Vikings’ corners often during Sunday’s win, throwing a total of 29 passes at either Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr. The results: Not that great. He completed 15 of those throws for 127 yards and an interception.

Last week Murphy Jr. got picked on by the Packers in coverage but he was up for a similar challenge this week, giving up only 53 yards on 11 times targeted.

The offensive tackle’s did it again

On the offensive side, there weren’t a lot of highlights but the best tackle combination in the NFL continued their run of dominance. This time Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill gave up two pressures combined, zero hits, zero sacks. On the year both players are grading in the top 20 tackles, which is remarkable considering the defensive lines and pass rushers they have gone against. O’Neill has only allowed six pressures in five games.

Ham

Along the same lines of the larger fellas succeeding, CJ Ham played a season-high 23 snaps, scored a touchdown and graded exceptionally in run and pass blocking. Through five games, Ham has the highest run blocking grade of his career.

Will Reichard from deep

Will The Thrill remained unscathed as an NFL kicker, going 3-for-3, including two from 50-plus. He has now kicked the ball 25 times between field goals and extra points and has made all 25 kicks.

What went wrong

Darnold’s time-to-throw

The Vikings’ quarterback was under pressure on 14 drop-backs and the results were miserable. He went 1-for-9 passing with 5 yards, four sacks and one scramble. His average time to throw when he was pressured was 3.86 seconds. On throws where he was not pressured, the ball came out of his hands in 2.89 seconds. Certainly play-actions and extended plays result in holding the ball longer but the concern is Darnold getting hit and sacked because he’s not throwing on time.

Darnold is 11th by PFF in the percentage of pressures attributed to the quarterback. He’s also in the top 10 in terms of the time to throw on pressures.

Intermediate and deep passing

When Darnold threw the ball over 10 yards in the air, he went 5-for-15 for 124 yards. The hits were big hits but the misses were rough. He was graded 55.8 on throws from 10-19 and 49.9 on deep shots. For the season that is quite a divergence from his passes that travel over 20 yards (78.9 grade) but it’s not much different on intermediate passes (61.5).

The biggest difference between previous weeks and the win over the Jets was the screen game. Darnold threw just two screens for a total of one yard. Aaron Jones’s injury certainly seemed to impact that area of the game.

Getting Addison and Nailor involved

Jalen Nailor has been an effective weapon for the Vikings this season, catching eight passes for 137 yards in the first four games. But he left London without a single catch or target. He is too explosive to be left off the stat sheet entirely, no matter the circumstances, particularly with the defense focused so much on Jefferson.

Jordan Addison got eight targets to his name, they just did not connect. He caught three passes for 36 yards and went 0-for-3 on contested catches. His average depth of target was 18.6 yards downfield, which is wacky. In his breakout rookie season, Addison only had three games with ADOT’s that high. Addison needs to be an underneath focus of the passing game as much as a deep threat.

Interior pass protection

Hello pressures, my old friend. Right guard Ed Ingram had a 19.8 pass blocking grade and allowed five pressures. Both stats were the second worst among all guards for Week 5. Between Garrett Bradbury and Blake Brandel, they allowed three pressures on Darnold and graded around average.

The backfield’s response after Aaron Jones went out

While Ty Chandler did have two quality runs taken away by penalties, his production at the end of the day was not effective following Jones’s injury. He fumbled a routine pitch from Darnold and finished the day with 30 yards on 14 carries and gained only 1.9 yards after contact. Chandler also caught two passes for nine yards and allowed one pressure in pass protection.

Outside of Week 2 in which Chandler allowed 8.2 yards per attempt, he has not been an impact player. They likely will need more from the RB2 spot going forward.

Punt returning / coverage

Four penalties and six total yards in the return game significantly impacted the game. The Vikings are graded by PFF as 25th in special teams this year. Considering how good the kicker has been, the rest of the units need serious improvement.