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The Vikings’ PFF grades looked pretty good from Sunday’s game
The Minnesota Vikings emerged from the depths of Miami with a 24-16 win over an injury-depleted Dolphins squad. That win puts the Vikings at 5-1 and has fans riding high going into the bye week.
Unlike previous weeks, the Vikings’ PFF grades were close to average. The offense couldn’t move the ball with any form of consistency but the defense stepped up in a huge way.
Here are the Vikings’ PFF grades from Sunday’s win in Miami.
The photos from Sunday’s game against the Dolphins were electric
The Minnesota Vikings held on in an ugly game against the Miami Dolphins by a score of 24-16.
It was a game that saw the defense make a lot of plays to help the struggling offense. Their six sacks and three turnovers helped earn the entire defense game balls from head coach Kevin O’Connell.
The Dolphins were able to move the football but couldn’t convert when it mattered the most, going 4-14 on third down.
The atmosphere was rocking on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium, including a SKOL chant from the large Vikings contingent before the Dolphins took the field.
We found the best pictures to epitomize Sunday’s game in Miami.
The Vikings allowed 458 yards, but come up big in big moments in first win in Miami since 1976
The Minnesota Vikings made this game more difficult than it had to be. They ended up finding a way to beat the Miami Dolphins in Miami for the first time since 1976 with a 24-17 victory.
Kirk Cousins had a lot of struggles on the day with some of those being attributed to the offensive line and others to the Dolphins playing good man coverage on the Vikings receivers. He finished the day 20-30 for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Dalvin Cook had a lot of success playing in his home state of Florida against teams that reside there but he arguably had his worst game. He only had 13 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown with the score coming on a 53-yard scamper that ended up being the dagger in putting the Vikings up by 14.
The Vikings’ offense showed a lot of struggles in this game, including a three-drive stretch where they started in great field position and had all three result in punts. The offense has massively stalled on numerous drives including the first three drives of the second half.
Vikings have started their last three drives at the …
MIA 33
MIN 41
MIN 49… and scored 0 points.
It's still 10-3 with 5:46 left in the third quarter.
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 16, 2022
The offense also had six drives result in three and outs, raising that total to 15 on the season.
The defense has been stout when they have had to be. Only allowing three points, the pass rush has gotten home with six sacks. Patrick Jones II stepped up in a big way with D.J. Wonnum out in getting his first two sacks of the season.
Harrison Smith also had a good game highlighted by one of the best interceptions you will see this year. That set up a Vikings field goal for the Vikings to go up 10-3 at halftime.
The Dolphins, who are dealing with a rash of injuries, found ways to move the ball. Tyreek Hill was in his bag. He did an excellent job finding holes in the Vikings’ soft zone. He racked up 12 catches for 177 yards
Rookie Skylar Thompson left the game in the first half with a thumb injury and did not return leaving it to Teddy Bridgewater. Against his old team, Bridgewater had an up-and-down game. He was able to find Mike Gesicki for a touchdown twice in this game 23-34 for 329 yards, two touchdowns and two costly interceptions.
Patrick Peterson came up with a nice interception in the fourth quarter that set up the Cook touchdown to seal the deal.
The Vikings now enter the bye week at 5-1 with a lot of work needing to be done, especially on the defensive side of the football. They allowed 491 yards on the day and will be using the week to self-scout and try and fix the issues on both sides. Their next game will be against the Arizona Cardinals at home on Sunday, October 30th.
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The Vikings’ studs & duds are loaded with stars after Sunday’s win
The Minnesota Vikings held on in an ugly game against the Miami Dolphins by a score of 24-16.
It was a game that saw the defense make a lot of plays to help the struggling offense. Their six sacks and three turnovers helped earn the entire defense game balls from head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Despite a game that didn’leave a great taste in your mouth, there were plenty of individual performances that were good to great.
Let’s take a look at the week six studs and duds.
Highlighting 5 player prop bet picks and predictions for NFL Week 6
As we hit the 1st week of 8 weeks where some teams will be on their bye week, the landscape changes – especially when we have rested teams returning from byes. For now, everyone is still on the grind.
This week, we offer up 1 quarterback, 2 running backs and 2 wide receivers – 4 of which we think the number is too low and 1 that we need proof before taking the Over.
Below, we break down Tipico Sportsbook‘s NFL odds and lines, and tab the best NFL Week 6 player prop bets to cash in on among SportsbookWire’s NFL expert picks and predictions.
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Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The Packers are stinging from their loss in London and get a second New York team (the Jets) at home to exact a little revenge.
If the Packers get a lead early, considering what happened last week, they won’t take their foot off the gas. It should be noted that, in his last 2 games against the Jets, Rodgers has thrown for 788 yards.
While the entire Jets defense is different, history has a tendency to repeat itself in the NFL and Rodgers only needs 242 to hit this number.
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It’s becoming clearer all the time that Pollard is the more explosive back in the Cowboys backfield. It’s one thing to have loyalty to Ezekiel Elliott, but against the Philadelphia Eagles – the last unbeaten team in the NFL, loyalty goes out the window.
The Cowboys have had a running back go off for 80 or more yards twice this season and both have been Pollard – and they’ve come in the last 3 games.
Also see: All Week 6 odds and lines
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Walker is getting his first start and is getting a solid number to work with if he gets the number of carries needed to surpass it.
However, the Arizona Cardinals have kept 5 of 6 featured backs under this number – Clyde Edwards-Helaire (42 yards), Cam Akers (61), Christian McCaffrey (27) and Miles Sanders (58).
The only one who went Over was Josh Jacobs, and he needed 19 carries to gain 69 yards. Walker hasn’t had more than 8 carries in a game. Is he ready for prime time? We’ll see, but the Cardinals are thinking not yet.
The Vikings are a smoke-and-mirrors 4-1, but one constant has been head coach Kevin O’Connell making Jefferson his version of Cooper Kupp. He puts him in motion and targets him 12 or more times a game after learning from the Eagles game.
The Miami Dolphins have allowed 4 100-yard receivers this season, and none of them are as accomplished as Jefferson, especially with Minnesota targeting Jefferson short to set up the long pass. Let’s make that 5 100-yard receivers in 6 weeks when all is said and done.
The hideous nature of the Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense isn’t getting the attention it deserves. It ranks 30th in the league and has allowed 7 receivers to pile up 89 more receiving yards – more than 20 above the number Evans needs to surpass. S Minkah Fitzpatrick (knee) is also out.
In his last 2 games since returning from his 1-game suspension, he has 184 receiving yards, and the Buccaneers have made the decision that it’s in their best interests offensively to throw their way to success. That plan starts with Evans.
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The Dolphins star receiver heaps praise onto Justin Jefferson
With the Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins facing each other on Sunday afternoon, it’s hard not to look at the star receivers on both sides of the football.
The Dolphins spent the last two offseasons building up their arsenal of weapons. They selected Jaylen Waddle with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and traded a boatload of picks, including last year’s first-round pick to the Chiefs for Tyreek Hill. The trade gave them a dynamic duo built around speed and explosiveness.
On the Vikings side, it’s all about Justin Jefferson. While he isn’t the dynamic speed threat that Hill is, he is explosive in his own right. Hill spoke glowingly about Jefferson when he was asked about what impresses him about the Vikings’ third-year wide receiver.
“Oh, Justin Jefferson? Bro, he’s like a real sneaky – he’s sneaky fast and the way he’s able to get in and out of his breaks as a route runner. I’m really impressed with his game as far as him being so young. I believe he was like a two-star recruit coming out, so I really applaud him for working hard and getting to the level he’s at now. So man, shout out to him. I know he’s going to keep working hard. The receiver market is steady going up, man, so I’m very happy for that. I hope by the time my son is able to play football in the NFL, it’s like at $40 (million) or something like that. (laughter) So Justin Jefferson, keep raising the market brother.”
Really nice words between colleagues, but it’s all business come Sunday afternoon.
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Analysts believe the Vikings are legit in the latest power rankings
After the Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears by a score of 29-22, there were a lot of mixed opinions on the outcome.
The Vikings did jump out to a 21-3 lead but allowed the Bears to score 19 consecutive points before shutting the door with a late touchdown.
As we move forward into week six, the various power rankings across the league have the Vikings ranked with a wide margin, including two that have them in the top five.
The Vikings’ star receiver sits atop the league in one category
The Minnesota Vikings have rocketed off to a 4-1 start and that has to do with the success of the offense.
New head coach Kevin O’Connell has the offense humming. He is using creativity in getting the ball to his best players, including wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Having come from the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, O’Connell helped craft the offense that had Cooper Kupp running loose winning the triple crown for receivers.
After five games, Jefferson is well on his way to achieving similar success. Through the first five games, the star receiver has the NFLs lead in receiving yards.
Jefferson sitting 20 yards more than Kupp while thriving in the offense that made Kupp the player that he is today. Jefferson is also second in receptions with 40 but his two touchdown receptions sit five behind the NFL leader Travis Kelce.
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Brian Baldinger believes O’Connell has this offense humming
When the Minnesota Vikings hired Kevin O’Connell to replace Mike Zimmer as their head coach, the idea was for him to fix the offense. So far this season, the offense is performing well averaging 23 points per game and making things easier for quarterback Kirk Cousins.
It hasn’t been without its flaws. They have had periods where the unit has stalled and not been able to deliver results in the middle part of the game.
Despite the flaws, the positive aspects of the offense and scheme have caught the attention of national analysts, including NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger.
.@Vikings HC Kevin OC has this offense humming! These are only 4 but it might as well be 40. The level of execution Is almost unparalleled #skol #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/kndwkclXqi
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 11, 2022
The four plays that Baldinger broke down, which he said might have been 40 for how well they are executing this offense, were as follows.
All four plays had excellent precision and great execution. In the words of Baldinger, “O’Connell has this team humming.”
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There were a lot more studs than duds this week for the Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings 29-22 victory over the Chicago Bears elicited a number of great performances from the victors.
The Vikings were the heavy favorites but the way this game played out was inherently surprising, especially considering the Vikings held an 18-point lead in the first half.
The game itself displayed a lot more positive performances than negative ones. Let’s take a look at the studs and duds from week five.
