AVG (Andrew Van Ginkel) delivered an OMG interception he returned 10 yards for a touchdown and also recorded one of five Vikings sacks. He joined Kevin Williams (2007 against Atlanta) and Harrison Smith (2014 at St. Louis and 2018 against San Francisco) among Vikings since 2000 who have recorded a sack and an interception in a Week 1 game.
Receiver Jordan Addison, who worked his way back into the lineup after an ankle injury at Cleveland, suffered an injury to his other ankle and left the game.
The Vikings will go through the film and quickly pivot their focus to hosting San Francisco in Week 2.
The 2024 season is finally here. Vikings played great overall on both sides of the ball. Darnold had a good game running our offense, too. A quality road win to open the season is always a good thing. Too bad Addison hurt his ankle.
Here are my 3 ups and 3 downs for the first game of the season:
1. Defense starting off strong. Forced a punt on a three-and-out on the Giants game opening possession. And forced a FG after the offense gifted the Giants the ball on the 20. Kept it going all game, not giving up a TD to the Giants. An outstanding performance by the defense.
2. Impressive Vikings 99-yard TD drive to include the fourth-and-goal TD pass to Jefferson. And very nice TD drive to open the second half. Beautiful call and execution to wide open [Jalen] Nailor. Wow.
3. Pick six for Van Ginkel and Harrison Smith’s fourth-down interception in the fourth quarter. Very nicely done on both counts.
1. First offensive possession of the 2024 season ends with yet another Vikings fumble. Why am I not surprised? The Vikings setting NFL records on first-possession fumbles. Sad.
2. Dumb undisciplined penalties in the first half. [Jay] Ward with his gross holding on the first received punt of the season costing us 20 yards of field position. The defense lined up offsides, offensive penalty on our end of the half possession, [Ivan Pace, Jr.] with two penalties on our late first half punt, defensive penalty on third down gifting the Giants a first down at the end of the half. Not the right way to start the season. Teams better than the Giants will make us pay for that kind of foolishness.
3. Wasted timeouts due to not getting the play off in time. Multiple times the clock was at zero, usually after a first down. Getting plays off on the time allotted is a multi-season problem. Kevin O’Connell needs to fix it.
A nice win to open the season. Darnold and the offense, and the defense, all making the grade. Looking forward already to the Niners next week. I am lucky enough to have tickets to that game. Go Vikings!
Glad you’ll be able to attend the Vikings home opener against the 49ers on Sunday. It should be an electric atmosphere.
The Vikings didn’t play a perfect game, but they were fairly sharp on offense, given the fact the team has a new starting backfield of Darnold and Aaron Jones, Sr.
The fumble by C.J. Ham after a reception was a tough sight but not unfamiliar. The FOX broadcast noted that was the sixth turnover to end a Vikings opening possession since the start of the 2023 season. Six in 18 games is the wrong kind of frequency, and the Vikings must kick that habit.
The defense limiting the damage to three points after the turnover, and the offense quickly following with a touchdown drive meant Minnesota trailed just 3:26 of the entire game.
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