At halftime on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings nursed an underwhelming 9-0 lead against a Dolphins team that many consider to be the worst in the league. Despite being the home team, the Vikings were showered with boo’s after several punts in the second half. Then, with a chance to ice the game, Kyler Murray finally delivered with several well-placed passes to Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.
Just as the Vikings were about to finish the drive with a triumphant touchdown, Hockenson slid to the ground, allowing the Vikings to kneel the rest of the clock out and come out with a win. It wasn’t a triumphant exclamation mark, but considering the context, it could be a sneak preview of things to come. The play wasn’t always pretty, but the Vikings showed enough to give fans hope for the coming weeks, and it starts with the quarterback play of Kyler Murray.
Kyler Seems More Comfortable
One of the most baffling things about the first half against the Dolphins was how uncomfortable in the pocket Kyler appeared. Sure, he lost two of his best offensive linemen in Donovan Jackson and Christian Darrisaw, but even on the plays where he had time, everything felt just a bit late. After a few quarters of this, we began to see Kyler Murray start making faster decisions and delivering passes with more accuracy. That’s not to say that he’s figured it all out, and that everything will be smooth sailing. The ups and downs won’t go away completely, but now that we’ve seen what it can look like, there’s hope that the downs can come much less frequently.
T.J. Hockenson’s Resurrection
Since Kirk Cousins was with the Vikings, T.J. Hockenson arguably hasn’t gotten the spotlight that he deserves. He’s a sure-handed tight end who can find holes in the defense, but neither Sam Darnold nor J.J. McCarthy were able to utilize him to his full potential. Kyler Murray, who earlier established impressive chemistry with Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, relied heavily on Hockenson in the Dolphins game. I don’t expect that to change in the coming matchups, but there is the hope that Hockenson’s threat as a pass-catcher will also free up other receivers to make more plays downfield.
Aaron Jones Was Impressive
It felt as though Aaron Jones had given everything he had in the Bears game, but somehow, he manages to keep on giving. He rushed for 94 yards on 20 carries with an extra 34 yards added in the passing game. The 31-year-old back has received little help with Jordan Mason on IR, but his consistency has been big for the Vikings during this early stretch. The offensive line also opened up some huge gaps for Jones in the second half, which was also encouraging to see considering the injuries to Jackson and Darrisaw.
Justin Jefferson Will Return
Kyler Murray and Justin Jefferson have played very few snaps together, but that should change next Sunday in the game against the Saints. The Dolphins game was tough sledding, but I think a lot of fans overlook just how important Jefferson is to this offense. He’s a great pass-catcher. So good, in fact, that even the threat of Justin Jefferson draws the defense’s attention away from both the running game and other receivers like Jordan Addison. Kevin O’Connell has designed an offense around having the best player in the world lined up out wide, and it’s not easy to face that absence with so little time to adjust. I expect Jefferson’s return to provide the spark that the Vikings need to not only continue what they had going in the last drive, but improve upon it.
Going to New Orleans will be a great test for this Vikings’ offense. The Saints are a young and hungry team with a defense that can create havoc. How Murray handles the road environment will be telling, but we can already gather a lot from how he handled the last drive against the Dolphins. He was faced with boos and sacked four times, but when it was needed, he made enough plays to win the game. Time will tell if he can do it again and again for the rest of the season.
