Vikings On Track After Beating Browns In London … Not So Fast

The Minnesota Vikings came through on their final drive of their two-week sojourn in Great Britain and were able to salvage a 21-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns and now they return home and get a week off before they have to resume their season.

It might seem that a bye week after two consecutive weeks in Europe is a good idea, but they are likely to pay a big price when it comes to being jet lagged and stale when they return against the Philadelphia Eagles. That game begins a four-week test that also includes road games against the Chargers and the Lions before coming home to face the struggling but talented Baltimore Ravens.

The Vikings are 3-2 after five weeks, two games worse than they were at this point last year when they won their first five games. Kevin O’Connell’s team may not come close to the 14-3 record that they managed last season.

The win over the Browns saw backup quarterback Carson Wentz come through with a game-winning driving in the final moments. He made precise throws to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison on the 10-play, 80-yard drive that gave the Vikings the much-needed victory.

But overall, this was not an impressive performance. The Vikings could not produce one takeaway against Cleveland rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, while Minnesota lost two fumbles that gave the Browns life.

The most impressive aspects of the game for the Vikings was the play of wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Addison. Jefferson showed off his amazing skills – speed, leaping ability, hands and willingness to fight for the ball. His final catch was a 21-yard reception on the game-winning drive despite tight coverage from Cleveland’s outstanding Denzel Ward.

Jefferson caught 7 passes for 123 yards with a long reception of 38 yards. Jefferson demonstrated that he could make the key play whenever O’Connell decided to call his number.

Addison caught 5 passes for 41 yards, including the game-winning 12-yard TD reception with 25 seconds left in the game.

Addison faced discipline from O’Connell

Addison did not play in the first quarter as a result of O’Connell’s decision. While the Vikings head coach is not known as a disciplinarian, Addison had missed one of the team’s walk through practice sessions. O’Connell was not going to put up with it and decided to bench his explosive wideout.

He spoke to the media right after the game and was in a good mood after the Vikings came through in the final moments and won the game. Addison did not get a pass from his head coach.

“Those types of things aren’t in alignment with our standards,” O’Connell said. “I wanted to make sure he was held accountable for that, but at the same time he knows that. I thought he handled it professionally. He spoke to the team to let them know that whenever I gave him the opportunity to go in the game, they could count on him. And he made the game-winning catch.”

Addison took his punishment and then came through, but he was suspended for the first three games of the season after violating the NFL’s Substances of Abuse policy. Missing a walkthrough less than two weeks after coming back is not a great sign.

The bye week will help allow the Vikings’ injured players to get healthy. Defensive stars Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman were missed badly on the European trip. Van Ginkel is a big-play machine while Cashman is the team’s best tackler. Both could return to the lineup shortly.

The Vikings need to get healthy on offense where they have missed J.J. McCarthy, Aaron Jones and 60 percent of their offensive line.

The return of McCarthy from his high ankle sprain seems likely, as long as O’Connell still believes he is the best quarterback on the roster. Wentz has clearly done a solid job of filling in for him, but McCarthy is the better athlete and he is a skilled passer.

However, it takes time for any young quarterback to fully understand the O’Connell offense, and the head coach may want to go with Wentz when the Vikings host the Eagles in Week 7.