Vikings used all their weapons in the win over Colts

MINNEAPOLIS – In the locker room after the Minnesota Vikings’ victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Kevin O’Connell had to secure a lot of game balls to give to all the pass catchers who played a big role in the successful passing game. A video posted by the team showed the head coach handing them out to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson and Josh Oliver. Those four did most of the damage, but in Sam Darnold’s 290-yard performance, the Vikings finished with nine different players getting at least one grab.

It was an evening when the vision of the Viking game came to life. Darnold led longer drives and mixed underneath and deep passes. When they needed their playmakers to step up in the second half, it was clear that there were simply too many good players on the field for the Colts to cover them.

The success of the offense always starts with Jefferson and that was the case in the 21-13 win over the Colts. Jefferson finished with seven receptions for 137 yards on nine targets. At halftime, the Vikings star receiver became frustrated with his team’s failure to finish drives. He said he talked to his teammates about raising their energy for the second half, and he put his energy on display right away.

To kick off the first drive of the second half, Jefferson caught a 21-yard pass that got his team rolling. When they arrived at the Indy 14-yard line on third-and-9, Darnold hit Addison for a 10-yard gain and then threw a touchdown on the next play. But not just any touchdown: a one-handed highlight reel for the best four-yard touchdown you’ll ever see.

It was a big run for Addison, who seemed to express some frustration with his lack of goals this past week.

“He’s a great player, that’s no surprise to us,” Jefferson said of Addison. “He’s had to deal with injuries and fewer targets, but that didn’t affect him at all. He still steps up and makes plays when they come, and that’s what I try to preach to him every game. Even if the targets aren’t coming to you right now, they will come.”

Also heading for Addison’s touchdown was a 19-yard catch from Hockenson, who made his season debut Sunday night after nine months of rehabilitation from an ACL tear. It was one of three catches for a total of 27 yards.

“It was fun, it was just good to be back in action,” Hockenson said. “I’ve done a lot of routes in the air, a lot of (physiotherapy), so to be able to compete there and see defenses – and they’re zone droppers, to be able to feel where they are and be able to sit in that zone and find spaces was very nice.”

The biggest of Jefferson’s catches came in the third quarter when the game was tied at 7-7 and the Vikings faced third-and-2 at the Colts 42-yard line. Needing to jump ahead on Indy’s side of the field, Darnold ripped a pass down the sideline to Jefferson, who was covered one-on-one, and No. 18 caught the pass ahead to move the Vikings to the 1-yard line . They scored a touchdown a few plays later to go up 14-7.

“It was a pivotal moment for him and Sam to throw and catch that long throw and get us out there and ultimately get 7 (points),” O’Connell said. “Justin was phenomenal, and I really felt him the whole game from a leadership standpoint, which is phenomenal to see.”

When the Vikings got the ball back at 14-10 with 5:20 left, they knew a touchdown would end the game. Darnold hit Addison for 21 yards and then went into grind mode, running Aaron Jones five straight times before deciding to execute a play-action pass on second-and-11 from the Colts 14-yard line. Darnold rolled to his left and found Oliver wide open for a touchdown. It was Oliver’s fifth catch of the evening.

“We did a great job running the rock the whole last drive and the safety was used up against the run action…Sam gave me a chance to catch it,” Oliver said.

Darnold was extremely efficient all night, averaging 8.5 yards per pass attempt and completing 28 of 34 attempts. By getting the ball into the hands of its receivers, the Vikings were able to consistently do something they had previously struggled to do: stay on the field. They racked up 29 first downs and crushed the Colts in possession with 36:54 running the football.

O’Connell kept going back to the Darnold source, despite some glaring mistakes. He was sacked four times, including one time he was picked up and running back for a touchdown. He also threw two interceptions, one coming in the red zone and another when the Vikings had just taken the lead and got a key stop on defense.

“My confidence in Sam is something that I think will be a winning edge for our football team, and if we win a football game if we lose the turnover battle, that means your quarterback played well,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings also solved a major problem that had plagued them through the first seven offense games: penalties. The entire team only had three penalties and the offense did not have the typical delay of play or false start issues that caused problems in sustaining the drive.

“I felt like besides my turnovers, we played a really clean game as an offense, which was good,” Darnold said. “I felt like we were really good without doing anything to ourselves, all those things; In terms of punishment, I felt like we were coming in and out of the huddle before the snap. The pace was very good all day. So we were really efficient as an offense in that way. I just have to take care of the football.”

One of the reasons the Vikings were able to move the ball through the air was that they got plenty of protection from left tackle Cam Robinson, who arrived midweek and played the entire game. He was another game ball recipient.

“Just an unwavering confidence in the way he could go out there and execute a game plan,” Darnold said. “I haven’t watched the tape yet, but it seemed like he had a lot of confidence in going out and executing, and I felt like he did a really good job.”

The Vikings now have the opportunity to build on their full arsenal of weapons and a modified approach to play with better tempo and a smoother attack. Next week they face the Jaguars, who rank second in the NFL in yards allowed.

“Offensively, the execution improved,” O’Connell said. “I think we can get a lot out of this and that we still have a lot to improve as a team. If we can limit our turnovers and still have that kind of performance in certain aspects of our offense.”