VikesCentric: Vikings beat the Jets with the Wright stuff

In one of the most unconventionally played and scored games in recent memory, the Minnesota Vikings beat the visiting New York Jets 30-24 in overtime at TCF Bank Stadium. Jets receiver Percy Harvin did his best to spoil the home fans' afternoon, but in the end he left the game with injury and the Vikings left with the win.

The victory pulled the Vikings to within one game of .500 at 6-7, but not before fans witnessed a pick six on the opening play from scrimmage, a safety, a fumble recovery in the endzone for a touchdown, a terribly missed Blair Walsh field goal and an 87-yard game-winning touchdown reception that sent the crowd home happy despite the sleet and snow.

The Vikings did not look great in finally beating the Jets in overtime, but they made enough plays to ultimately get the job done and now have a two-game winning streak heading to Detroit next week. They have been eliminated from playoff contention, but can still salvage the season with a .500 (or above) record and have plenty to build on into next season.

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Speaking of making plays, wide receiver Jarius Wright made two of them late in the game that first gave the Vikings a chance to win the game in regulation and then by making the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Wright went up with a defender for a pass late in regulation, and it looked like the defender picked off the pass. But as they fell to the ground, Wright wrestled the ball away and helped set up a potential game-winning field goal.

On the touchdown reception, he broke a tackle near the right sideline and raced for 87 yards untouched to end the game. On the afternoon, Wright had four catches for 123 yards and one rush on a reverse for 23 yards. With all the problems that Cordarrelle Patterson has had getting on the field, it is good to see Wright giving Bridgewater another target and making the most of his opportunities.

Wide receiver Charles Johnson is doing the same, as he was confirmed as the starting X receiver this week in place of Patterson. Johnson continues to excel in the role and is working his way into becoming the team's No. 1. Receiver. Johnson had four catches for a 103 yards and a touchdown. He nearly had a second touchdown reception but fumbled before crossing the goal line (Jerome Felton recovered it for the score). Clearly, Johnson is becoming Bridgewater's go-to guy and making it very hard for Patterson to win his position back.

Bridgewater was poised, despite being on the run from a pretty good, but occasionally leaky, offensive line (they gave up three sacks, six quarterback hits and a safety in the first quarter). He made good decisions on when to stick in the pocket and when to run. And his deep ball passing has definitely improved, particular the beautiful strike he laid in to Johnson for a 46-yard score late in the game.

Worth Defending

After a huge game last week against the Panthers (with two blocked kicks for touchdowns), the Vikings special teams did not follow it up with a decent performance. The special teams gave up 109 yards in kick returns (104 of it to Harvin), Cordarrelle Patterson fumbled the first kickoff he got his hands on (leading to a Jets field goal), bobbled the next one and then let go of a third (which wasn't ruled a fumble). Blair Walsh missed a 39-yard field goal and a 56-yarder that would have won the game (he miss-hit the kick and it came up way short and wide). The coverage unit also missed a chance to recover a muffed punt that could have virtually ended the game, but Antone Exum, Jr. could not fall on the ball. The unit had difficulties all over the field and after contributing mightily to the win last week, they did little to further the team's effort this week.

The Vikings rushing defense continues to struggle, as Chris Ivory (16 carries for 73 yards) and Chris Johnson (16 carries for 53 yards) had success much of the afternoon. Jets quarterback Geno Smith did some damage himself (6 for 33), as the Vikings struggled to keep him in the pocket.

Certainly Minnesota expected New York to run the ball, but the Jets had success in the passing game (254 passing yards), as well. The loss of Sharrif Floyd to a knee injury didn't help, and the Vikings defense did ultimately hold the line (the Jets were 0-5 for touchdowns in the red zone), often bending rather than breaking, but the rushing defense needs to improve—as does the defense as a whole--or heads might roll.

Gerald Hodges stepped into a starting outside linebacker spot for the injured Anthony Barr, and took the ball and ran with it—literally. On the first play from scrimmage, he made a leaping interception and raced to the house for a 27-yard pick six. Hodges, who had eight tackles and two passes defended (one of the flashy diving variety), was very active on Sunday afternoon. Barr, who has been bothered by a bum knee the past few weeks, had been slumping, but Hodges picked up the slack and more.

"Best play in my life. That was my first pick-six ever," Hodges told the Star Tribune. "It was great, but it was the first play of the game, so I still had three more quarters to play plus that quarter. It was a good memory, but just had to put it away and keep playing."

Should be Ending

Starter Matt Asiata got the majority of the carries and he banged into the defense to presumably loosen them up a bit for the faster backs, but he is employed in the offense like he is Adrian Peterson. Perhaps they are setting up the defense by slamming them in the first three quarters with Asiata and bringing in Joe Banyard and Ben Tate to race by them in the later stages, but the plan doesn't seem to be getting the offense anywhere.

Asiata's rushing average of 2.8 yards (and a cloud of black rubber particles) just doesn't seem to be getting the job done—particularly when Tate gets 5.0 and Banyard gets 9.0. Granted, the backups' carries are on much fewer rushes (a total of four compared to Asiata's 19) but that's the point—let's see what the faster backups can do with a few more carries.

Audie Cole was called for a penalty on a 19-yard return by Marcus Sherels, but it didn't appear that he touched the defender. He had his arms up and was basically grazed him at best—with his own backside. It appeared the defender felt him and then fell over to draw the call when he saw he couldn't make the tackle.

The frequency of the calls are undoubtedly made to prevent injury, which is fine, but there has to be some better judgment made on the play. In order to block someone, you need to hit them. If you are simply brushing the back of their uniform as you go by it is not blocking.

"Revenge games" are hurting the Vikings and need to stop. It's not the first time a former Vikings player has had a good game against his old team. Jared Allen got only his second sack of the season against Minnesota a few weeks ago, and now Harvin records his first touchdown pass in two years against his former teammates.

The Vikings fans booed Harvin lustily every time Harvin's name was mentioned, but his 115 yards receiving and a touchdown gave him the upper hand—at least that's what he acted like after he scored. There aren't many big name former Vikings on the Lions and Dolphins, who are next on the Vikings schedule, but Allen is coming back the final game of the season, and it would not be fun seeing him end his very down season on a high note at The Bank.

Head over to Vikings Journal and check out AJ Mansour's look at the fading star of Cordarrelle Patterson and then join in the conversation on the Vikings Journal forums, where everything Purple is dissected and discussed.