Vikings end weird week in London with a cathartic victory over Browns

LONDON – A “Skol” chant broke out in the purple-populated stands of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Vikings players celebrated Sunday’s 21-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns on their sideline.

The sight was pretty for Vikings fans. It was cathartic for the players, coaches and staffers who collectively labored through hundreds of hours of drawing up travel logistics, game plans, and treatment plans for injury-ravaged bodies throughout a 10-day international road trip that spanned over 4,000 miles, two countries and a 1-1 record over two games.

“My brain hurts right now, if I’m being honest with you,” coach Kevin O’Connell said, “navigating that at the end and making sure our team maintained their poise, specifically on offense knowing we had to travel quite a bit there to try to get seven.”

The banged-up Vikings (3-2) enter a much-needed bye week after a victory over Cleveland (1-4), although they were 25 seconds away from coming up empty on this trip following last week’s 24-21 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL’s first game in Dublin.

Trailing by 17-14 to the Browns with 3:05 to play, Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz led a 10-play, 80-yard, game-winning drive that required his right throwing shoulder to do most of the work and his injured left shoulder — evaluated by the medical staff when he exited the game before halftime — to hold on long enough to stay in the game.

Wentz completed nine consecutive passes for 72 yards, including the go-ahead, 12-yard touchdown to receiver Jordan Addison with 25 seconds left.

A horde of white Vikings jerseys jumped, cheered and rallied around Addison, who didn’t play in the first quarter after he missed a walkthrough earlier in the week, according to O’Connell.

“In my brief time here, it’s a very unique group of guys in this locker room, and I mean that in a really good way,” said Wentz, who improved to 2-1 as a starter after signing with the Vikings in late August. “Everybody is so close, and I think this week was great for that, too, and the weirdness of it.

“It’s hard to win in this league. When you get it done in dramatic fashion, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. It doesn’t matter if it’s Super Bowl, Week 1, it doesn’t matter. You got to enjoy those moments.”

Weirdness doesn’t begin to describe the week in London.

Addison was briefly benched. Three starting offensive linemen, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy, were ruled out before the game. One of the only healthy offensive line starters, left tackle Christian Darrisaw, gutted through a sore left knee that eventually had him tap out. Four backup linemen — including the fourth-string tackle, an undrafted rookie guard and a center who had never played that position in a game before — blocked for Wentz during the final drive.

Running back Cam Akers, the emergency No. 3 quarterback, said he was fitted for a separate helmet with a speaker in case he needed to take snaps — other than the wildcat play in the first quarter when he threw a 32-yard touchdown to tight end Josh Oliver to tie the score 7-7. O’Connell and coaches installed that trick play on their practice field overlooking a 200-acre country club at Hanbury Manor in Ware, England, about 20 miles north of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

All that led up to the final drive.

The Vikings took a 14-10 lead on Jordan Mason’s 3-yard run, capping an eight-play, 71-yard drive out of halftime. But the Browns went back ahead at 17-14 on their next drive, which ended with David Njoku’s 9-yard TD catch on third-and-goal. That’s where the score stood when the Vikings got the ball back for the last time with 3:05 to play.

Wentz had been sacked three times in the second half, not counting when All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett chased the quarterback down from behind on a 2-yard scramble that was close to being another sack.

Yet O’Connell “stays composed,” Wentz said, talking him through the play calls and possible defensive looks until the 15-second mark on the play clock shuts off their communication.

“It can be in the back of a guy’s mind when he knows he’s got some young guys in there against a front like that,” O’Connell said. “I just told him to trust me, let me worry about, as best I can, about what’s happening up front and try to help you as I can. I just want you to play fast and see it and throw it, and I thought he had some incredible throws.”

Running back Quinshon Judkins nearly helped deliver fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel a victory in his first NFL start — something a Browns quarterback hasn’t done since 1995. A second-round pick out of Ohio State who missed the entire preseason, Judkins finished with 110 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, a team captain, didn’t like that Judkins became the third foe to cut through their run defense, following the Falcons’ Bijan Robinson and the Steelers’ Kenneth Gainwell.

“Ultimately, we’re going to face better competition than him,” said Greenard, knowing the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley is on the horizon when the Vikings return to action Oct. 19. “No disrespect to him, but we’ve got to figure it out.”

Wentz spread the ball around to five different targets during the final drive, including a 21-yard toss to receiver Justin Jefferson, who had seven catches for 123 yards.

“We couldn’t go home on that plane 0-2,” Jefferson said. “With that adversity being here for 10 days and a lot of complaints that could happen and a lot of point fingers and a lot of blaming, other things, but I feel like this team didn’t flinch at all.”

NFL standings

The Vikings’ nine-hour flight back to Minnesota is a lot more palatable with the victory and a bye week at a critical time. The list of injured Vikings is unusually long for October: right tackle Brian O’Neill, left guard Donovan Jackson, linebacker Blake Cashman, running back Aaron Jones, edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, Darrisaw, Wentz, McCarthy.

But Addison, who went from benched to hero, said he planned to hit the field with McCarthy during the bye week. McCarthy has not practiced since suffering a high ankle sprain Sept. 14 against Atlanta.

“I’m going to be around the building catching with J.J. McCarthy,” Addison said, “just getting ready with him.”

O’Connell said Vikings coaches, whom he asked to “empty the tank” this week, will try to drill down on finding this team’s identity, which has been difficult amid constant lineup changes.

“It seems like we’ve been gone a while,” O’Connell said, “and we’re very much excited to get back home and try to start getting healthy and there’s a lot still in front of this team.”