Very few prognosticators gave the Vikings a chance to win this matchup with the defending NFC champion Carolina Panthers (the oddsmakers had the Vikings as seven-point underdogs), and for much of the first half, it looked like the bookies were right as Carolina ran up a 10 point lead. Then things started to go right for the Vikings, beginning with a safety for defensive end Danielle Hunter who sacked Cam Newton in the end zone and followed by a punt return touchdown by cornerback Marcus Sherels. Kicker Blair Walsh missed the conversion attempt, so the teams went into the locker room at halftime with the Panthers leading 10-8.
While the Panthers had looked unstoppable for the first two drives in the game, a combination of penalties and improved play by the Vikings defensive line and secondary soon had Newton under pressure and unable to consistently gain yards and keep the chains moving. It took rather longer for the Vikings to show signs of life on offense, however. Cornerback Trae Waynes snagged his second interception in as many games to snuff out Carolina’s attempt to score late in the half and the Vikings took a knee to run out the clock.
In the second half, it was almost as if they’d just been sandbagging the Panthers and waiting to spring the trap, as the Vikings suddenly discovered that they could get the ball to Kyle Rudolph, Stefon Diggs, and Adam Thielen and took the lead on a Sam Bradford pass to Rudolph. Rather than risk another missed PAT, Jerick McKinnon ran in the two-point conversion to make the score 16-10. Two Blair Walsh field goals (with every Viking fan holding their breath during the kick) added six more points to finish the game.
As the game wore on, the Panthers offensive line wore down, exposing Newton to heavy pressure and ended up taking eight sacks on the day. Newton was also intercepted by cornerback Terence Newman and defensive tackle Tom Johnson, in addition to the first half pick by Waynes.
It seems like no game report is complete without yet another Viking injury and today’s feature was guard Alex Boone who had to be carted to the locker room with a hip injury. The good news is that he was able to return to the sideline, but did not get back into the game. He’ll get a full evaluation tomorrow, and hopefully won’t miss much more time. His replacement on the line, Jeremiah Sirles, wasn’t mentioned by the TV commentators … which is a very good thing for an offensive lineman. Also not drawing any attention during the broadcast was T.J. Clemmings who was playing at left tackle in place of Matt Kalil who was placed on IR earlier this week.
USA Today‘s Tom Pelissero reported on the game:
A week ago, the Minnesota Vikings defense stifled the Green Bay Packers, and all anyone seemed to talk about was what had gone wrong with Aaron Rodgers.
Instead of doing the same thing this week to Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, whose 14-game home winning streak ended with a 22-10 upset at the hands of the Vikings on Sunday, how about focusing on what’s been apparent since the tail end of last season: This Vikings defense is good — really good and trending towards great. So many ascending young playmakers were all seemingly involved on a day when Minnesota posted eight sacks, three interceptions and its first 3-0 start since Brett Favre was under center in 2009.
Dating to last December, the Vikings have held seven consecutive opponents to 17 points or fewer, and they’ve faced some excellent quarterbacks in that stretch: Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Rodgers twice and now Newton, the reigning NFL MVP who seemed beat up and beaten down once coach Mike Zimmer’s crew was done with him.
Who knows if the Vikings can keep this up for another 13 games and perhaps the playoffs with their growing injury list? Star running back Adrian Peterson (knee), left tackle Matt Kalil (hip) and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd (knee) had surgery last week. Left guard Alex Boone will have an MRI on his hip Monday.
“Coach Zimmer always says it: Let everybody count us out,” second-year end Danielle Hunter told USA TODAY Sports. “We want to be the underdog that’ll just shock everybody.”
But nobody should be surprised anymore when the Vikings defense gives them a chance and a spark against any offense, even a high-powered one like Carolina’s that gave them trouble on two early scoring drives Sunday.
