The Vikings Week 7 win over the 49ers was a must-win in every way. Coming in at 2-4, having lost their first three games at home, they couldn’t feasibly drop another game and remain in serious playoff contention. On paper, the Vikings were better than their record but still weren’t expected to pull off the upset over the consensus best team in the NFC. Minnesota managed to do so despite missing Justin Jefferson and sustaining various injuries to skill position players throughout the game. It was a team win in almost every way. But one player led the charge, and that was the guy who “can’t win in primetime”, Kirk Cousins.
Kirk Cousins Played his Best Primetime Game
Kirk Cousins’ record on Monday Night Football has been a source of ridicule for a long time. It’s largely what’s fed into the narrative that he can’t play if it’s not an afternoon kick-off. On Monday night, with everything on the line, Kirk finally delivered. He looked comfortable distributing to every member of his receiving cast, including guys like Brandon Powell and Tristan Jackson. That’s what the Vikings were down to at one point with Jefferson out and Jordan Addison cramping for a quarter.
Cousins has always been good when hanging in the pocket and delivering the football with a hit imminent. That was very much the case again Monday night. The throw that stands out the most is the side arm ball Cousins delivered to Powell around pressure for a huge first down. Cousins hit Addison on a similar ball to keep the final offensive drive moving and killing an extra two minutes off the clock. Without those two throws, the end of the game could have looked completely different.
Most fans watching Cousins were likely waiting for him to turn back into a pumpkin at some point. However, he managed to avoid the backbreaking gaffes he’s been prone to late in games. If anything, he played his best football down the stretch playing keep away from the 49ers. For the Vikings to continue to work their way back into the playoff picture, Cousins will have to continue generating efficient offense. If the Vikings can win their next matchup against Green Bay, they’ll be back to .500 on the season. With Justin Jefferson due back in a few weeks, Minnesota could make some noise down the stretch.
Other Vikings Week 7 Performers
The Entire Offensive Line
The Vikings certainly have an offensive line that isn’t talked about enough, with star bookend tackles. Despite that, nobody was reasonably expecting the Vikings to dominate the line of scrimmage against the vaunted 49ers defense. That’s exactly what they did for the majority of the game Monday. In the first half, the Vikings were blowing the 49ers off the ball consistently in the run game. For whatever reason, Kevin O’Connell got away from the run game a bit in the second half. However, it was still one of the best showings this year for the Vikings running the ball.
In pass protection, the Vikings offensive line completely shut down the 49ers allowing no sacks on Cousins. Brian O’Neill, in particular, deserves recognition for his play against Nick Bosa. He was blocking him one-on-one most of the night, and Bosa was essentially a non-factor. With the Vikings not needing to double-team Bosa, it freed up the rest of the offensive line to routinely pick up extra rushers all night. It was the first truly dominant performance put together by the offensive line all season. Now finally getting healthy, they can hopefully continue building on their latest effort.
Camryn Bynum
On the defensive side of the ball, there were many players worthy of shouting out. However, it’s hard not to give the game ball to Camryn Bynum who put the game away with two crucial interceptions. One fell right into his lap, but the last was a difficult play and a perfect read by Bynum. For a defense that has struggled to consistently make plays, Bynum making both that presented themselves was huge.
Bynum has been a revelation all season. He has been a tackling machine and sideline-to-sideline player for Brian Flores and the Vikings. It’s been an astonishing rise for a guy who was projected to be a backup at best when he came into the league. He’s been one of the Viking’s best players consistently all season and showed up again in a big way. He’s well on his way to earning his first Pro Bowl nod if he keeps this up.
Jordan Addison
Jordan Addison had the roughest start imaginable after a rough first week as the Vikings acting #1 receiver. He had 49ers corner Charvarius Ward rip a ball right out of his hands for an interception. From that point forward, Addison put on a clinic. He made some incredible hands catches and drew multiple penalties beating Ward over the top. The real highlight though was ripping a ball away from Ward to return the favor en route to a 60-yard touchdown to end the half.
Addison’s emergence on a primetime stage was desperately needed for the Vikings. If Addison can use the next few weeks to get more comfortable in the role of the top target, it could make the offense that much more dangerous when Jefferson returns.
Vikings Week 7 Disappointments
Greg Joseph
It was difficult to find players to say bad things about in this one. The lone exception has to be Greg Joseph, whose propensity to miss extra points showed up again. In addition to the all-too-common missed extra point, he missed an opportunity to give the Vikings an eight-point cushion with under two minutes to go. The good news for Joseph and the Vikings is that this is the first time all year he’s had a bad game. And even during this one, he did drill a few big kicks. For now, this can be chalked up as an anomaly in an otherwise solid year for Joseph to this point.
Main Photo: [Stephen Maturen/Getty Images] – USA Today Sports
