The 9-4 Vikings headed to the west coast for a game against the San Diego Chargers at (I kid you not) Dignity Health Sports Park (I realize that naming rights can be lucrative, but that moniker hardly rolls off the tongue, does it?). It’s a very small stadium (less than 26,000 seats), and visiting teams have often had nearly as many of their fans attend games in Los Angeles as the Chargers manage. You could say that the Chargers don’t really play any home games, based on fan support at the stadium.

The first quarter was relatively uneventful, but the end of the second quarter more than made up for that lack of excitement, as both teams notched interceptions and then the Chargers lost the ball on a pass attempt that was picked up by Vikings backup defensive tackle Ifeadi Odenigbo and run back for a touchdown. Up to that point, the Chargers were looking to take the lead on a strong passing game (with Xavier Rhodes out, Mike Hughes was matched up against a taller receiver (Mike Williams at 6’3″) and Philip Rivers was able to get passes over Hughes for consistent early gains). Matthew Coller:

To open the second quarter, future Hall of Fame quarterback Philip Rivers put on a clinic in anticipation and accuracy, hitting receivers all over the field and converting third down after third down on a 10-play, 75-yard drive to put the Chargers up 10-9.

Along the way, Rivers hit Keenan Allen for 19 yards on third-and-7, and then Allen again for 14 on third-and-8 and delivered a beautiful ball to running back Austin Ekeler for a 27-yard wheel route. The drive was capped off on a fade to 6-foot-3 Mike Williams, who jumped over cornerback Mike Hughes for a touchdown.

At that point you would have put your money on a shootout — maybe one that favored the future Hall of Famer.

But the next three Chargers drives would prove the game to be exactly the opposite — partly because of their own wild incompetence but equally because of the Vikings’ pure talent on defense.

Over the past three-and-a-half months we have not seen the type of stingy defense that the Vikings have normally brought to the table under Mike Zimmer especially against the pass but they still have Pro Bowlers and record setters on the defensive side along with some players who have been developing for a few years. All of them showed up and defined Sunday’s win.

After the Vikings took back the lead with a field goal, Rivers felt like his hot streak on third down would continue. He flung a ball up in the air on third-and-17 and Harrison Smith jumped in for his 23rd career interception.

Giving the offense the ball near mid-field gave the Vikings a shot at picking up a two-score lead but instead Kirk Cousins threw an interception on a screen pass, putting the Chargers in a spot to take back the lead with under a minute remaining in the first half.

An LA touchdown would have been huge considering they were set to get the ball back to start the second half. That’s when Danielle Hunter — who is making his case for defensive MVP — slapped the ball out of Rivers’ hands. It was picked up by improving young D-linemen Ifeadi Odenigbo, who used Hunter as a lead blocker to take the ball back 56 yards for a touchdown.

Early in the third quarter, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook re-aggravated the shoulder injury he’d been nursing for the last few weeks and was declared out for the rest of the game. Backup Alexander Mattison was inactive with an ankle injury, so running back duties devolved to Mike Boone, Ameer Abdullah, and C.J. Ham, who were certainly up to the task — Boone scored his first and second NFL touchdowns. Overall, the teams were far better matched than the final score indicated, but no team can win when you turn the ball over as often as San Diego Los Angeles did (seven … which is six more than the Vikings gave up).

At the Daily Norseman, Ted Glover describes it as not so much a game as a “MurderDeathKill”:

When the Minnesota Vikings took the field against the Los Angeles Chargers, they knew that any realistic hope of winning the NFC North was all but gone, as the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 21-13. They still controlled their playoff destiny with the sixth seed, but to ensure a playoff spot they needed to keep winning and keep one game clear of the other Los Angeles team, the Rams.

While the Vikings were taking care of business in Los Angeles, the other LA team was getting their collective ass handed to them by Dallas…

With the win, the Vikings move to 10-4 on the year and hold on to the sixth seed in the NFC. Combined with the Rams losing big to the Cowboys (they were down 34-7 in the fourth quarter at the time of this writing), Minnesota moves to the cusp of securing a playoff spot, as they would lead the Rams by two games with two to play, if that score holds up. A Minnesota win or a Los Angeles loss gives the Vikings the sixth seed, and they still have an outside chance at the NFC North with the Packers coming to town next week. The Rams will head to San Francisco.

In the longer-term view, we may have our future defensive co-ordinator picked out:

Andy Carlson offers his list of the game’s winners and looo-hooo-hooo-sers: