Gameday Live Blog: Vikings at Giants, Week 5
It's time to play football.
It was an interesting week at Vikings practice after an ugly loss in Chicago. Questions circled about Kirk Cousins and his inability to get the football to Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, then Diggs took things to another level by not showing up on Wednesday.
There are elements of discontent that are unlikely to go away completely soon, but a win over the Giants would go a long way towards making everybody in the franchise happy.
Join us in the comment section below as the game unfolds. To comment, you'll need to create an account, which you can do for free by going to the VikingMaven homepage and clicking follow on the top-right of the screen.
First Quarter
Vikings receive the opening kick, come out with a lot of play-action passes early. It seems like Cousins wants to take a deep shot, but nothing is open just yet.
The intermediate routes are open, though – 16-yard gain to Diggs, 13 yards to Thielen. Screen pass to Dalvin Cook goes for 22 yards.
First and 10 at the NYG 13 and the Vikings go backwards: 1-yard loss on a run, then Cousins sacked after serious interior pressure given up by Garrett Bradbury and Pat Elflein.
On third and long, they elect to run the ball instead of taking a shot. Bailey drills the short field goal.
Vikings 3, Giants 0
Giants able to pick up a few first downs on their opening drive. Scary situation for Xavier Rhodes, who took an inadvertent shot to the head from Harrison Smith and was down on the field for a minute. He appears to be okay.
Drive extended by a penalty against Anthony Harris negating an Anthony Barr sack, but stalls out just past midfield.
Vikings pinned inside their own 2-yard-line on the punt. More of the same recipe from the first drive: play-action, intermediate routes, and screen passes to Cook, who continues to make people miss.
Back to back big plays from rookies: 23-yard catch and run by WR3 Olabisi Johnson, then a 19-yard dash by Alexander Mattison.
Second Quarter
98-yard drive capped off by a beautiful touch pass from Cousins to Thielen. Everyone dances in the end zone.
Vikings 10, Giants 0
Ensuing kickoff is returned all the way to midfield. Jones scrambles to extend the drive with his legs on third down.
Two plays later, Daniel Jones throws a dime to Darius Slayton for a touchdown. Slayton beat Xavier Rhodes down the field.
Vikings 10, Giants 7
Vikings continue to go pass-heavy against this Giants defense. Sack negated by a penalty.
Great catch by Thielen to adjust on a slightly poor throw from Cousins. 28 yards.
Holding on Elflein puts Vikings behind the chains, which they can't overcome. Bailey's 48-yard field goal hits the post but goes through.
Vikings 13, Giants 7
Great adjustment by the Vikings defense. Consecutive impressive pass breakups by Smith and Mike Hughes force the Giants to punt.
Huge gain for Thielen. Catches the pass from Cousins and takes off upfield for a ton of YAC. 44 yards puts him over 100 already.
Big gain for Cook, but he has the ball punched out by Peppers as he approaches the goal line. Giants recover and take over at their 1.
The very next play: safety. Vikings bring the house, with Barr getting into the backfield. They'll get the ball back, too.
Vikings 15, Giants 7
Dalvin Cook is having a career day as a receiver out of the backfield. He picks up gains of 24 and 19 yards on dump-offs.
First and goal at the NYG 2. Cousins throws it away on first down, Cook stopped behind the line on second, and Cousins sacked on third down. Vikings have to settle for 3 again. Bailey nails it.
Vikings 18, Giants 7
Jones sacked by Ifeadi Odenigbo. That's the first career sack for the Northwestern product. Vikings get the ball back in time to attempt a hail mary, but it falls harmlessly to the turf.
Halftime stats: Cousins 19/23 for 278 yards and a touchdown. Thielen 6 catches for 121 yards, TD. Cook 11 carries for 47 yards, plus 6 catches for 86 yards. Bisi Johnson 4 catches for 43, Diggs 2 for 24.
Total yards: Vikings 351, Giants 92.
Third Quarter
Giants open the second half by marching all the way down the field, mainly with short passes. Their drive stalled out for a field goal attempt, but a penalty on Linval Joseph gives the Giants another chance. Danielle Hunter sacked Jones on the next play, and they were forced to kick again.
Vikings 18, Giants 10
Vikings respond quickly. 41-yard run for Cook, followed by another touchdown connection from Cousins to Thielen.
Vikings 25, Giants 10
Another lengthy Giants drive that doesn't amount to anything significant. Daniel Jones continues to look impressive. The big play was a 37-yard pass interference against Trae Waynes.
Vikings defense keeps the Giants out of the end zone. Force a 4th and 2, and Danielle Hunter breaks through for his second sack of the game. That could've gotten the Giants back in the game.
Fourth Quarter
Vikings go three and out. Giants once again drive down the field, only to be stalled by a sack. This time it's Everson Griffen getting Jones to the turf with his classic spin move rush.
On 4th and 12, Jones took a shot to the end zone, but it was broken up by Hughes. Vikings take over and maintain their 15-point lead.
Vikings finally get Diggs another target. He breaks a couple tackles and picks up 20. Cook churning out yards into Giants territory. Bailey makes his fourth field goal of the game to put this one away for good.
Vikings 28, Giants 10
Anthony Barr picks off Jones in garbage time.
Final: Vikings 28, Giants 10.
