Justin Jefferson's late TD catch keeps Vikings in first place tie in the NFC North
Four plays after the Seahawks took the lead in the fourth quarter, Justin Jefferson broke loose and hauled in a 39-yard TD pass from Sam Darnold, lifting the Vikings to a 27-24 victory Sunday in Seattle. The win kept the Vikings even with the Lions for the division and they control their own destiny. If the Viking win their final two contests, they’ll be the No. 1 seed in the NFC, now guaranteed with the Eagles loss earlier today.
The game-winning drive started with a penalty on the Seahawks and then a 12-yard pass to Jefferson. Darnold then scrambled for nine yards, followed by an incompletion. It looked like the Seahawks came up with a big stop but a sack was negated by a face-mask penalty.
It was nice to see the officials not miss a face mask on Darnold.
On the following play, Darnold eluded pressure, rolled left and heaved the ball downfield to an open Jefferson. It was his third TD pass of the game.
The Vikings still had to stop the Seahawks two more times before the game was over. On the first drive, Seattle got in position to try a long field goal but the 60-yard attempt was short. Minnesota was unable to run out the clock but it pinned Seattle to their own 17-yard line.
And another penalty on the Seahawks pushed them back five yards. On the first play after the penalty, Theo Jackson came up with an interception to clinch the victory. The receiver did not make a sharp cut on the play, which allowed Jackson to come underneath and make the pick. Seattle QB Geno Smith was visibly upset after the play, knowing that the pick was going on his record, while not being his fault.
The Vikings took the opening kick and marched 70 yards for the touchdown, a short throw to Jordan Addison to give them the early lead. There was light rain at the time and it seemed important to score first in case things got bad later on. But the weather wasn’t really a major factor in the game.
After punts on their next two possessions, the Vikings re-took the lead with Darnold finding Jefferson on a 14-yard TD pass midway thru the second quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Smith was picked off by Dallas Turner, who had dropped into coverage. The Vikings went on to score three points on a 52-yard field goal by Will Reichard.
The Vikings surrendered a touchdown right before halftime to make it 17-14 at the half.
The teams traded field goals on the first two possessions of the second half, followed by four straight punts. Then Seattle took the lead with 4:21 remaining, setting up the comeback victory for Minnesota.
Jefferson finished with 144 yards receiving and two touchdowns, while Darnold threw for 246 yards, 3 TDs and 0 picks. Since his three-interception game against the Jaguars, Darnold has 15 TDs and 1 INT in his last six games.
The Vikings return home next week to face the Packers, the last game at U.S. Bank Stadium in the regular season. Minnesota won in Green Bay earlier in the season but the Packers look like a different team now and the Vikings will have to play better than they did today if they hope to win the NFC North and get a bye and home field advantage in the playoffs.