Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The latest power rankings have the Vikings moving both up and down
The Minnesota Vikings officially have the second-best record in the National Football League and the power rankings aren’t all the way there in reflecting that just yet.
The Vikings have been consistently in the top five across the power rankings but they aren’t getting the respect they deserve considering how good they have been this year.
This week, the Vikings saw some movement both up and down, including their highest ranking from their biggest critic.
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Kirk Cousins is doing a better job of giving Justin Jefferson a chance
The Minnesota Vikings have a top-five receiver on their team in Justin Jefferson and he hasn’t always been used as such.
What does that mean exactly? Well, quarterback Kirk Cousins hasn’t always been willing to throw the 50/50 balls to his receivers. They aren’t always the safest plays in the world and he has a history of preferring conditions that are close to perfect.
This season, he has changed his tune somewhat.
The addition of Kevin O’Connell has helped Cousins feel more comfortable in throwing those 50/50 balls. There were two instances against the Washington Commanders on Sunday and they display all sides of the spectrum.
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Benjamin St-Juste is having a breakout season for the Commanders.
Early in the season, it looked like one of the items on Washington’s shopping list in 2023 would be a No. 1 cornerback. William Jackson III was signed to be that guy, but he struggled badly and was traded.
Kendall Fuller remains a quality cornerback but does not often travel with the opposing team’s top wide receiver.
That left second-year cornerback Benjamin St-Juste.
The Commanders used the 6-foot-3 St-Juste in the slot throughout the summer and early in the season. However, Jackson’s struggles and injuries led Washington to move St-Juste back to the outside, and he’s quietly becoming a breakout star.
In Washington’s Week 9 game against the Minnesota Vikings, St-Juste lined up opposite star wide receiver Justin Jefferson for the entire game. Jefferson caught four passes for 49 yards and a touchdown on the first drive. On each of those catches, St-Juste had terrific coverage, but Jefferson won the battles, and Kirk Cousins had excellent ball placement.
From then on, the two went at one another all game long. Jefferson had only three receptions for the rest of the game; unfortunately for Washington, he beat St-Juste on a 47-yarder during Minnesota’s final scoring drive. But he also broke up passes in the end zone, one against Jefferson in the fourth quarter.
The most pivotal moment of their one-on-ones was early in the fourth quarter. Jefferson and St-Juste were jostling for position, both pushing off when Cousins fired a ball in Jefferson’s direction. St-Juste picks it off and returns it for a touchdown.
However, officials called pass interference on St-Juste, giving the Vikings a first down on a critical 3rd-and-11. It was undoubtedly a questionable call, as both were making contact. Head coach Ron Rivera strongly disagreed with the call.
On Monday, Rivera spoke to the media and discussed St-Juste’s development. He’s extremely pleased with the corner he once compared to former All-Pro Charles “Peanut” Tillman.
“Well, for the most part, it was the design,” when asked if it was by design for St-Juste to follow Jefferson. “It was to try and match him up on him. They had a really good matchup. They really did. Jefferson’s a special player, and we felt pretty good about Benjamin’s opportunities, and he made a couple of plays that helped us. Jefferson got a couple of plays that got us. I thought he fought and battled his butt off and did the best he could, and the truth of matters, we feel pretty comfortable and pretty good about him.”
Rivera was still upset about the pass interference penalty.
“I don’t agree necessarily agree with the pass interference called on him,” he said. “I’m asking for an explanation and interpretation just so we can go forward with it.”
Rivera then offered a detailed explanation of the pass interference.
“I struggle with the whole term hand fighting because we don’t have it in the glossary, in the rule book,” he said. “There’s no real true definition of it, so it’s all about interpretation. There were a couple of things. When you watch as the route develops, Jefferson tries to use his hands to get a little separation, and Benjamin reaches back and punches him with his, and then when they both stop and turn, they’ve both got their hands on each other. And then when the ball gets thrown, it’s thrown really toward Benjamin more than toward Jefferson. You know what I mean? Cause it hit Benjamin, I believe on the left side, which was away from, from Jefferson. So, again, it’s how the play is interpreted, and that’s kind of what I’m asking for in terms of the explanation.”
Some agreed with the call; others didn’t. It’s like Rivera said; it’s open to interpretation.
Anyway, the Commanders are onto Philadelphia, and they may finally have their No. 1 corner in the 2021 third-round pick from Minnesota.
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The PFF grades look good for quite a few Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings beat the Washington Commanders by a score of 20-17 on Sunday afternoon.
Despite being down by 10 points less than a minute into the fourth quarter, quarterback Kirk Cousins led a come-from-behind victory by scoring the last 13 points.
The PFF grades are in and they view the Vikings favorably in some areas while being unfavorably in others.
Here are the best and worst of the Vikings PFF grades from Sunday.
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Benjamin St-Juste had a good day, and it could’ve been even better had he not been called for pass interference in the fourth quarter.
Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has quietly evolved as the team’s No. 1 cornerback. The 6-foot-3 St-Juste was playing in the slot earlier this year, but an injury to William Jackson III led coaches to move St-Juste back outside.
St-Juste has been so good that the Commanders shipped the high-priced Jackson to Pittsburgh.
On Sunday, St-Juste had a stiff test, matching up with Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson. While the final stat line reveals 115 yards for Jefferson, they weren’t easy yards.
St-Juste and Jefferson were locked in a battle the entire game. Jefferson won some. St-Juste won some. St-Juste allowed one touchdown but had perfect coverage on the play. Later in the game, St-Juste broke up a touchdown pass to Jefferson.
The most critical matchup between the two occurred with 13:46 remaining in the fourth quarter as Washington held a 17-7 lead over the Vikings. Minnesota faced a 3rd-and-11 when Jefferson ran his route at about 12 yards. St-Juste and Jefferson’s arms were locked as Kirk Cousins threw the ball to Jefferson. St-Juste broke free and intercepted Cousins, and FedEx Field went wild.
Hold the phone. Flags were thrown, and the officials called defensive pass interference on St-Juste.
St-Juste gets the pick-6, but wiped out by a DPI call pic.twitter.com/YxSR97WhL5
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) November 6, 2022
It’s clear why the officials threw the flag. However, was it the correct call? Every Minnesota fan will say yes, it was the right call, while Washington would say the opposite. The truth was the officials could’ve called the flag on either player; therefore, perhaps a penalty shouldn’t have been called.
That’s certainly how Washington head coach Ron Rivera felt when asked after the game.
“Well, a thing I struggle with is, you play the ball,” Rivera said. “You have two guys that are arm and arm. They clamp onto each other and are looking at the ball, and the ball gets thrown. I thought our guy played the ball. I got a chance to see that part of it, and our people replayed it again, and I saw it. It’s one of those things if two guys are battling for the ball and neither guy is given an advantage, you probably don’t throw that flag.”
Rivera was sticking up for his guy, but he’s not wrong. The call could’ve gone either way, so the officials should’ve kept the flag in his pocket.
Regardless, it doesn’t overshadow a terrific, confidence-building performance from St-Juste.
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From @jzulgad: Kirk Cousins is playing well and having more fun than ever
The shining example of how much different things are this season for Kirk Cousins occurred Sunday, but it wasn’t on the turf at FedEx Field or in the visiting locker room following the Vikings’ come-from-behind 20-17 victory over the Washington Commanders.
Instead, it happened approximately 35,000 feet in the air as the Vikings’ charter flight made its way home. There it was, captured by teammates on their cell phones: A shirtless Cousins, glasses on, pumping his arms up and down with a plethora of bling hanging around his neck as several Vikings danced with him in the aisle of the airplane. The joy on Cousins’ face was obvious as he looked into one of the cameras and cracked a wide smile.
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There were times during Cousins’ first four seasons in Minnesota in which players would make it clear they liked Cousins and that only getting to the playoffs once in that time wasn’t held against him. But, more often than not, what the public and media saw was a guy who had little interest in sharing much of his personality. He seemed to be playing the role of what he thought a highly-paid quarterback should be, thus leading to this label: The Corporate Quarterback.
That has changed this season and Cousins, who has done several postgame photoshoots while sporting expensive jewelry that belongs to his teammates, seems to be having as much fun as anyone during the Vikings’ 7-1 start.
The latest victory featured a comeback from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit as the Vikings tied it in a 3-minute period on Greg Joseph’s 25-yard field goal, and Cousins’ beautiful 12-yard pass to Dalvin Cook that came after safety Harrison Smith returned an interception of a Taylor Heinicke pass 35 yards to the Commanders 12-yard line. Joseph’s 28-yard field goal with 12 seconds left was the game-winner.
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Cousins, no surprise, revived his “You like that?!” catchphrase in the postgame locker room. That was a phrase the public first heard in 2015 after Cousins directed a comeback victory over Tampa Bay while he was playing for Washington. This was Cousins’ first game back in Washington since signing a rich free-agent contract with the Vikings in 2018.
While Cousins has since signed two extensions with the Vikings, and put up some impressive stats, his time in Minnesota has been anything but smooth sailing. He and former coach Mike Zimmer, who was fired after last season, never saw eye-to-eye and Zimmer expressed reservations about Cousins’ signing even before it happened.
But new coach Kevin O’Connell has empowered Cousins far more than Zimmer did and, even though Cousins’ stats have taken a step back this season, he has played an important role in the Vikings’ getting off to their best start since 2009.
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What’s clear is that O’Connell has no issue with Cousins being himself and that has been freeing for the veteran quarterback. Cousins isn’t a classic leader. He’s a quirky 34-year-old guy, who comes across as more of a dad than a quarterback. Cousins seemed to try to hide that during his first four years with the Vikings in part because he probably knew his words and actions would be dissected.
That’s no longer an issue.
Cousins led the Vikings on an impressive game-opening drive Sunday as they went 78 yards on nine plays before he found Justin Jefferson on a 9-yard pass for a touchdown that would give Minnesota its only points until the fourth quarter. Cousins completed 22 of 40 passes for 265 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and an 81.8 passer rating.
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Even the interception wasn’t a bad thing as it came near the end of the first half when Cousins took a shot to Jefferson in the back corner of the end zone. It’s the exact type of pass Cousins needs to throw more often because it will lead to points.
Cousins’ most impressive moment came on a third-and-7 play from the Vikings 41. He dropped back to pass and took a big hit as he launched the ball down field for Jefferson. Jefferson made the catch and took it to the Washington 12-yard line for a 47-yard gain. Cousins remained down on the field long enough that he had to leave for a play as Nick Mullens took over. Cousins quickly returned and three players later Joseph kicked a field goal.
Cousins’ toughness is nothing new but it is impressive. Since taking over as Washington’s starting quarterback in 2015, he has missed two games. One came at the end of the 2019 season, when Cousins sat out against the Bears because the Vikings had their playoff position locked up. The other was late last season when Cousins missed a game at Green Bay because he was in the COVID protocols.
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But Cousins never has missed a game because of injury, and even seeing him go out for a play is rare. Combine that with the fact that Cousins has become clutch the last two years and much of the criticisms directed his way start to disappear. Sunday marked the fourth game-winning drive Cousins has led in the fourth quarter this season and the eighth he has directed in the fourth quarter or overtime since the beginning of last season.
The job won’t get any easier now, although the Vikings’ six-game winning streak has given them a comfortable 4.5-game lead over the Packers and Bears in the NFC North. Minnesota will play at Buffalo (6-2) next Sunday before starting a three-game homestand against Dallas (6-2), New England (5-4, on a short week) and the Jets (6-3).
The old Cousins likely would have gone into this stretch nervous about messing up and worried about saying the wrong thing. This Cousins might not put up great stats and he might throw a few more picks, but he’s also delivering in the clutch and embracing that success like never before.
It’s clear that Cousins’ teammates, not to mention Vikings fans, would agree on this: They like that!
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
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The photos from Sunday were excellent
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting with a lead of 4.5 games in the NFC North after a 20-17 win over the Washington Commanders. The vibes are immaculate with this team right now and the camaraderie is excellent.
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The game was an ugly one that was marred by miscues throughout. Despite the miscues, the pictures from the game came out fantastic. Here are the best of the best from Sunday’s game.
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Washington’s defense was lights out Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a lackluster effort from the offense.
The Washington Commanders fell to 4-5 on the season after a heartbreaking 20-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday.
In what was a very winnable game, Washington took control early in the third quarterback when quarterback Taylor Heinicke found wide receiver Curtis Samuel for a 49-yard touchdown to give the Commanders a 10-7 lead. It wasn’t one of Heinicke’s better decisions, throwing into triple coverage, but somehow Samuel came away with the football and landed in the end zone.
The Commanders defense was outstanding, hitting Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins over and over. Washington took complete control at the start of the fourth quarter when Heinicke ended a drive with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Dax Milne.
Unfortunately for Washington, that’s where the fun ended. A Taylor Heinicke interception and a couple of critical penalties ended any chance of extending their three-game winning streak.
Let’s examine our five takeaways from a disappointing loss.
News and notes from Washington’s heartbreaking 20-17 loss to the Vikings.
Early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, it looked like the Washington Commanders were heading to their fourth consecutive win to improve to 5-4 on the season.
Quarterback Taylor Heinicke just threw his second touchdown pass of the day to wide receiver Dax Milne, and the Commanders took a 17-7 lead over Minnesota.
That’s where the fun ended for Washington.
Heinicke was intercepted on the Commanders’ next possession when he overthrew tight end Logan Thomas on what should’ve been an easy completion. Vikings safety Harrison Smith returned the interception deep into Washington territory. Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to running back Dalvin Cook, and suddenly the game was tied.
Washington’s offense stalled again, giving Minnesota a chance to win the game. The Commanders defense seemingly held the Vikings to a field goal with two minutes remaining in the game, but Washington defensive tackle John Ridgeway was flagged for making contact with the center on the field goal, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty, giving Minnesota a first down.
The rest is history.
Here is everything we know from Washington’s loss.
The Vikings found another way to win, this time at Washington
The Vikings overcame a referee knocking over Camryn Bynum on what looked like a sure interception, a poor face mask penalty and a rough offensive line performance to come from 10 points down to beat the Washington Commanders 20-17 on Sunday afternoon at FedEx Field.
The Vikings’ first drive of the game was excellent. They drove 78 yards on nine plays and capped it off with a Justin Jefferson touchdown catch. Kirk Cousins was 5-5 for 67 yards and the touchdown pass to Jefferson.
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Throughout the next 40 minutes, the Vikings’ offense struggled. The offensive line couldn’t pick up stunts and the duo of Jonathan Allen and Montez Sweat wreaked havoc all day on the Vikings’ offensive line.
In those two quarters, Cousins threw an interception to Jefferson in the back of the end zone with just 14 seconds left. It’s difficult to fault Cousins on that, as he did what we have been asking him to do his entire Minnesota career: trust his receivers to come down with the football.
Cousins finished 22/40 for 265 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while Jefferson topped 100 yards for the fifth game this season with seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Bradbury also got hurt at the end of the first half but he did return to the game. Cameron Dantzler, however, was ruled out with an ankle injury, opening the door for Akayleb Evans. He was great in relief of Dantzer, including forcing a pass breakup on Terry McLaurin on a key fourth down play.
The defense came up big when they needed too against the Commanders. Taylor Heinicke struggled finding open receivers down the field. He only threw for 149 yards on 15-28 passing. Danelle Hunter had two sacks on the day and finally saw production to pair with his great season thus far.
The big play came in the first minute of the second half. Curtis Samuel ran a deep post route and Heinicke threw it into triple coverage but the back judge ran into Camryn Bynum who was in great position to get an interception. Instead, Samuel catches the pass and scores a 49-yard touchdown.
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The game was ugly and the Vikings’ offensive line couldn’t pick up a stunt to save their lives. What was good, however, was seeing the Vikings find a way to come from behind and win another one-score game. The Vikings are now 6-0 in one-score games this season after being 6-8 all of 2021.
Up next for the Vikings are the 6-2 Buffalo Bills who are coming off of a 20-17 upset loss to the New York Jets.
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