1. Jefferson’s intangibles are still gold
J.J. McCarthy should thank Justin Jefferson every day for being patient, understanding and everything else that a typical star wide receiver isn’t. Jefferson was targeted eight times in Sunday night’s 34-26 win at Dallas. He caught two balls for 22 yards and is still 168 yards from reaching 1,000 this season. He was overthrown while wide open. He had a touchdown nullified by a pre-snap penalty. And yet there he was late in the first half of a 14-14 game blocking like a left tackle on a running play. He fired off the line of scrimmage and popped defensive back Caelen Carson three times with legal blocks as Aaron Jones gained 7 yards to the Dallas 14. Carson didn’t like the rough stuff, so he started swinging. His unnecessary roughness penalty superseded a pre-snap penalty on the Vikings and made it first-and-10 at the Dallas 11 instead of first-and-15 from the 26. Jefferson is a special receiver, and not just because of his catching ability.
2. More playing, less thinking for McCarthy
The learning process is flowing both ways between coach/QB whisperer Kevin O’Connell and McCarthy, the QB/wildly unconventional thrower of the football. McCarthy is good at playing football. He’s not good at thinking football. O’Connell seems to be adjusting or at least dialing back from control freak to control enthusiast on preaching the perfect fundamentals. McCarthy’s first touchdown pass Sunday wasn’t Ben Hogan with the perfect golf swing. It was Bubba Watson and Scottie Scheffler doing everything they’re not supposed to do fundamentally and still succeeding. Using play-action on first-and-10, McCarthy rolled to his left as defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku was closing in after beating right tackle Brian O’Neill. While wide receiver Jalen Nailor was still blanketed by cornerback DaRon Bland, McCarthy heaved the ball with that back leg whip that’s becoming his imperfect calling card and Nailor came down with the perfect throw for a 7-7 tie. O’Connell and McCarthy are good for each other, and they’re growing together. McCarthy was completing 52% of his passes — worse than Christian Ponder’s rookie season — when he was playing mostly robotic football while trying to adhere to O’Connell’s instructions. In the past two weeks, with O’Connell’s grip loosened a bit, the completion percentages have been 69.6 in a 31-0 win over Washington and 62.5 on Sunday. O’Connell still needs to teach the kid, but he also needs to keep in mind that Frank Sinatra never sang, “I did it only Kevin O’Connell’s way!”
3. Good to see Vikings said, “No Tank you”
Go ahead and root for teams to tank. Some of us would rather they prove they know what the heck they’re doing and can function like an NFL team should on gameday. With that in mind, some are upset the Vikings won in Dallas hours after they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The rest of us saw more long-term good in building some organizational confidence while not looking like the 53 Stooges. After going down 7-0 following an early interception, the Vikings played some perfect complementary football to tie the score. Ryan Wright struck a 65-yard punt that was downed by wide receiver Tai Felton at the Dallas 3-yard line. The defense forced a three-and-out. Punt returner Myles Price fair caught a punt in traffic at the Vikings 47. Two plays and one boneheaded Dallas horse collar penalty later, the Vikings tied the score at 7. A meaningless win? Hardly. McCarthy is 4-4 as a starter. The Vikings played a Cowboys team in playoff mode and won on the road in prime time. And they did it while raising their record to 6-22 while losing the turnover battle under O’Connell.
4. Mr. Wright sure got the message
Speaking of complementary football, Wright certainly got the message when the Vikings floated (and some of us were guilty of believing) the idea that Oscar Chapman had a legitimate shot at stealing the punting job in training camp. “Oscar the Aussie” was an undrafted rookie with a funky toolbox of quirky kicks the Vikings liked enough to use their International Player Pathway Program roster exemption on. Turns out all the Vikings really wanted was to motivate Wright out of a two-year slumber that followed a standout rookie season. Mission accomplished. Wright had two punts Sunday with no returns for a 56-yard net average. His career highs in net (45.0) and gross (49.1) averages rank second and seventh in the NFL, respectively. Wright also has 21 punts inside the 20 and only one touchback. He had one touchback his rookie season but then seven and five over the next two years. Better late than never, but Wright appears to be back better than ever.
5. Is Reichard the NFL’s best kicker?
Is Will Reichard the best kicker in football? Well, it’s worth thinking about, Associated Press All-Pro voters (including this writer), after the quiet kid did what few have ever done — outkick the Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey. Aubrey went into the game having made 33 of 38 career field-goal tries from 50-plus. He was 9-for-11 on the season, and those were his only two misses from any distance. He then missed a 51-yarder with the score tied at 14 and a 59-yarder with the Vikings leading 24-23 early in the fourth quarter. On the season, Aubrey has made 88.6% of his field-goal attempts. Reichard, who went 2-for-2 with a long of 53 on Sunday, is 24-for-26 for 92.3% this season. He’s 9-for-11 from 50-plus. Jacksonville’s Cam Little hit a record 68-yarder this season, but he is making 85.2% of his field-goal attempts and has four misses. He also has a missed PAT. Reichard is 65-for-65 in career PATs.
