The stars and unsung heroes of the Vikings' wild win over the Bills
BUFFALO — When you win a game like that, it takes everybody.
The Minnesota Vikings’ team is built with a core of players who don’t just have trophy cases, they have trophy basements. Sunday’s two biggest stars, Patrick Peterson and Justin Jefferson, fly in an air that only a handful of players to ever put on cleats get to exist in. With his two game-changing interceptions, Peterson is tied for third among active players for most picks. Jefferson, who is No. 2 in the NFL in receiving yards, made seven contested catches (per PFF) on Sunday including a game-saving all-timer on fourth-and-18.
But they weren’t the only elite players to make plays that shaped the victory.
All-Pro safety Harrison Smith broke up a key pass on third-and-15 toward Stefon Diggs with 3:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Had Diggs caught the ball, the Bills would have been in position to drain clock and either kick a field goal to put them up by a touchdown or leave the Vikings almost no time to travel the length of the field. Instead Minnesota got the ball back at their own 29.
Pro Bowler and 2019 pressures leader Za’Darius Smith racked up nine pressures on QB Josh Allen.
All-Pro Eric Kendricks recovered Allen’s fumbled snap in the end zone for a touchdown to give the Vikings the late lead. Had the Bills recovered and taken a safety their odds still would have been high to win.
Danielle Hunter, twice a Pro Bowler, had five pressures and produced the second highest PFF grade by any Vikings defensive player.
Three-time Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook was slowed early in the game but when the Vikings desperately needed a quick score down 27-10, he scampered for an 81-yard touchdown. Jefferson threw an important block.
Brian O’Neill, a Pro Bowl tackle, spent most of the day matched up with Von Miller and allowed three total pressures.
And Kirk Cousins, well, who can even try to sum up his day. Vikings fans lived an entire season of Kirk Cousins football in one game but the three-time Pro Bowler made numerous clutch plays, converting third and fourth downs, heaving the ball to Jefferson, running to the goal line, stepping up in the face of pressure. It was the signature performance of his time in Minnesota, QB rating be darned.
So the Vikings’ stars were stars. There wouldn’t have been any chance to beat the preseason Super Bowl favorites without every single one of them stepping up at the most important times. But the Vikings also got something on Sunday that hasn’t always been there when they have matched up toe-to-toe with the league’s giants in recent years: Unexpected players rising to the occasion.
When left tackle Christian Darrisaw went out with a concussion and 2020 sixth-round pick Blake Brandel went in, you would have expected Buffalo’s stout defensive line to dominate but Brandel was up to the challenge in nearly all of the most clutch situations. While he did allow one sack, Brandel played a total of 27 pass blocking snaps and gave up just one other pressure. PFF gave him the highest grade in pass blocking of any offensive lineman.
“I want to make sure we talk about Blake Brandel,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Monday. “Forty snaps, stepping in in kind of a throwing mode type of offense against many, many snaps against one of the premier rushers in this league and I thought Blake [Brandel] answered the call.”
The ex-Oregon State tackle is a story of development. He was cut out of camp and signed to the practice squad in 2020 and 2021 and elevated to the active roster last season and appeared in 13 games, almost exclusively as a special teamer. This year he made the initial 53-man roster and earned the role of next-man-up on the offensive line.
Receiver KJ Osborn’s fourth down conversion was not the most notable of the game due to Jefferson making one of NFL history’s greatest plays but he did appear to be stopped behind the line to gain on fourth-and-1 with the Vikings trailing by 10 with 9:02 remaining in the fourth quarter. If he doesn’t get the extra push for a first down the Bills would have gotten the ball back at the Minnesota 43-yard line.
Former Buffalo Bill Harrison Phillips, whose “revenge game” was left out of last week’s narrative, played an subtly huge role in the victory. He graded by PFF as the Vikings’ best run defender on the front seven and produced a whopping seven QB pressures, which is the highest mark of his career.
Also notably on the defensive side, not only did safety Cam Bynum pick up a fumble and return it 40 yards, he also allowed zero completions on just two targets into his coverage.
And then there’s Duke Shelley. Nobody is going to forget Duke Shelley. When Minnesotans talk about the 2022 Bills-Vikings game 20 years from now, someone will mention Duke Shelley. The ex-Bears draft pick was signed to the Vikings’ practice squad in early September and elevated to the active roster because of Cam Dantzler’s ankle injury. He came in for Andrew Booth Jr. late in the game and broke up a potential game-winning pass by Allen in the end zone.
“He’s been a guy that just continues to show that he’s got the ability to make those plays and that he’s confident in himself, he’s very smart and instinctive, applies the experience that he’s had at some other stops to playing a role in our defense,” O’Connell said.
Not everything went perfectly in Buffalo. The Vikings still fell behind by 17 points, allowed 400-plus yards to the opposing quarterback and came within a whisker of letting the game slip between their fingers. But the story of the 2022 Vikings thus far has been someone different coming up with a miraculous play when it’s needed each week. Against the Lions it was KJ Osborn. Versus the Bears, Cam Dantzler. In Miami, the Smiths took over. Cousins overcame pressure and a 10-point deficit in D.C.
That’s how the Vikings must continue to play if they want to reach the bar — which has now been raised after a victory in Buffalo.
“[It was] one of the most unique games I’ve been a part of, really as a player or coach and just really proud of our team, the composure, the resiliency, and really just the ultimate team factor of relying on each other to try to get it done under really tough circumstances,” O’Connell said.
