Vikings Rewind: Percy Harvin's 35-yard touchdown

The situation: With 8:11 left in the first quarter, the Jets offense faced a 3^rd and 6 at the Vikings' 35 down 7-2

The context: The Vikings scored on the first play from scrimmage with linebacker Gerald Hodges' interception returned for a touchdown. But prior to this drive, the Vikings allowed a safety and needed a stop to hold onto their lead.

The result: Jets quarterback Geno Smith connected with wide receiver Percy Harvin on a 35-yard touchdown pass to go up 9-7

How it happened:

This will be more of a macro look than your typical Vikings Rewind. I'll explain what I mean by that after dissecting the play.

The Vikings showed blitz but backed off linebackers Chad Greenway and Gerald Hodges right before the play in their nickel defense. The Jets had three wide receivers in a 20 personnel (two running backs, no tight ends) with wide receiver Percy Harvin (circled in red) covered by cornerback Josh Robinson.

As the play developed, Harvin got a beat on Robinson five yards from the line of scrimmage. With safety Robert Blanton accounting for wide receiver Jeremy Kerley slipping past the wall of linebackers right at the first down marker, Robinson was left alone with Harvin.

Robinson remained out of position, which led to an easy touchdown for Harvin against his former team and gave the Jets a 9-7 lead.

"He was bad off the line of scrimmage, he put himself in bad position early and then he wasn't able to locate the ball in the air," Zimmer said.

Robinson has been inconsistent as of late, which Zimmer citing technique and toughness as two reasons why his performance has dipped, but there's a bigger picture involved at this point of the game.

The Vikings couldn't have scripted a better start with Hodges' interception, but they squandered their lead by allowing nine points on both sides of the ball. Bridgewater was sacked in the end zone for a safety due to miscommunication between left guard Charlie Johnson and left tackle Matt Kalil on a defensive stunt, a common sight all season.

"Usually when they run that kind of stunt, I'll punch a guy over, [Johnson] will take over and you'll get the looper," Kalil said. "I think we were on such different levels that I had to carry him down a little longer, and I don't think [Johnson] was able to get over because I was at a deeper depth. I just got over late, and he just came over with the sack."

One of the best things to come out of this game for the Vikings was Zimmer's mentality after the game. He knew, we all knew, this game shouldn't have gone to overtime.

Zimmer's opening statement after the game: "Honestly, it was a pretty sloppy game today in my opinion. It was good to win and it was good to see we overcame a lot of adversity, although most of the was a lot caused by ourselves."

This sequence, a Vikings safety and Harvin's touchdown, was a prime example of what Zimmer meant in that quote. The Vikings should've played much better given the opponent and how the game played out.