5 things that stood out in the Vikings' win over the Saints
It took a double-doink missed field goal for the Vikings to avoid overtime and leave London with a 28-25 win over the Saints on Sunday. The victory gets them to 3-1 with the Bears coming to U.S. Bank Stadium next Sunday.
But before we get to the Bears, here are five things that stood out in London.
1. Incredible call on 3rd-and-goal from the 15
A pass interference call negated a touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to KJ Osborn on the opening drive of the game, but Kevin O'Connell dialed up a brilliant play call on 3rd-and-goal from the 15 when he designed a screen to Alexander Mattison.
Minnesota had Justin Jefferson, Osborn and Irv Smith Jr. trips right, with Mattison wide left and Adam Thielen slot left. The Saints rushed three, but five defenders were focused on Jefferson, Osborn and Smith to the right, leaving three defenders to handle Mattison and Thielen – and the left side of Minnesota's offense line as Ezra Cleveland and Christian Darrisaw were full speed ahead as lead blockers.
2. Questionable decisions to end the first half
The first half wasn't pretty for the Vikings and Kevin O'Connell will certainly be answering questions about his decision to kick a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the 10 and then opting to not use a timeout after the Vikings recovered a fumble in Saints territory.
O'Connell had three timeouts in his pocket when Cousins hit Jefferson for no gain with 56 seconds left in the half. The Vikings let 34 seconds burn by the time the next play was over, and they wound up settling for a field goal.
3. Wasting great field position
There's a reason the Vikings needed Greg Joseph to make five field goals and it has a lot to do with wasting great field position.
- Own 45: Kirk Cousins intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu
- Own 44: Greg Joseph field goal
- Saints 20: Greg Joseph field goal
- Saints 44: Greg Joseph field goal
- Own 45: Greg Joseph field goal
So yes, the Vikings scored points on four of those five drives that started with tremendous field position, but they left as many as 23 points on the board.
4. Questionable pass interference helps Vikings
NFL Network rules analyst Mike Pereira called it "questionable" when the refs tossed a pass interference flag on Marshon Lattimore, who was battling with Adam Thielen in double coverage on a deep ball from Cousins to the end zone. Replays showed Lattimore grabbed Thielen's right arm, but Thielen then pulled Lattimore's face mask with his left hand.
Thielen got away with his part in the play while Lattimore was hit with a 44-yard penalty that set Minnesota up at the three-yard line, with Jefferson scoring on a jet sweep on the next play.
Had the flag not been thrown, it would've been fourth down and the Vikings likely would've been forced to punt while still trailing 22-19.
5. Lewis Cine suffered a lower-leg fracture
Vikings rookie safety Lewis Cine suffered a lower-leg fracture on a special teams play in the first half. He was carted off the field and taken to a London hospital where he will undergo surgery.
"The local folks here have been phenomenal with Lew. He will be having surgery to fix that here," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "We'll get that fixed up and as soon as he's able to make the transition back to the Twin Cities we'll do that."
Cine was the No. 32 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and projects as a staple in the Vikings' secondary for years to come.
