The Minnesota Vikings went 5-0 against the New York Jets in London, the closest they came to losing a game this year, meaning there was a lot that went right and wrong in their fifth win of the season. Let’s take a closer look…

Everything about Andrew Van Ginkel

Not surprisingly, the Vikings’ star outside linebacker had the highest PFF grade on defense in the 23-17 win, intercepting a pass from Aaron Rodgers and running it for a 63-yard touchdown run -Defenders scored high marks and scored three points under pressure.

In a defense that has had many strong performances so far, Van Ginkel has a good case for defense MVP. He has 3.0 sacks, 14 pressures and two pick-sixes.

Jonathan Greenard’s pressure rate

Greenard has led the Vikings in QB pressures every week this season, and on Sunday he had his best mark with seven against Rodgers. Greenard ranks second in the NFL in total QB pressures, trailing only former No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson.

Greenard’s pressure also often came at opportune times. On the game’s final drive, the former Texan got to Rodgers on second-and-10 with 54 seconds left, forcing the veteran quarterback to throw the ball away. Rodgers threw the game-winning pick on the next play.

The return of Ivan Pace Jr And Blake Cashman, direct Stuffer

After missing the last two weeks, Pace Jr. only had a limited number of snaps through 26 games but made an impact. He posted a 79.2 rating (second-best defense) and recorded one sack, five run stops and just one pass into coverage for five yards.

Interestingly, the Vikings also mixed in Kamu Grugier-Hill for 13 snaps. It’s plausible that they will continue to use Grugier-Hill to spell Pace Jr., as the veteran made impactful plays in relief duty against the Texans and Packers.

Cashman continued to be an iron man, playing 72 snaps. He was a key part of the Vikings’ strong run defense, which completely shut down a potentially dangerous Jets backfield. Cashman posted an 87.6 score against the run and had eight total tackles. According to PFF, Cashman is the eighth-best linebacker in the NFL.

Cornerback play

Rodgers frequently attacked the Vikings’ corners in Sunday’s win, throwing a combined 29 passes to Stephon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr. The results: Not great. He completed 15 of those throws for 127 yards and one interception.

Last week, Murphy Jr. was targeted in coverage by the Packers, but this week he faced a similar challenge, giving up just 53 yards on 11 targets.

The offensive tackles did it again

There weren’t many highlights on offense, but the NFL’s best tackle combination continued its dominance. This time Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill combined for two pressures, zero hits, zero sacks. This year, both players are top-20 tackles, which is notable given the defensive lines and pass rushers they’ve faced. O’Neill has only allowed six presses in five games.

Ham

Similar to the bigger guys who found success, CJ Ham played a season-high 23 snaps, scored a touchdown and performed exceptionally well in run and pass blocking. Through five games, Ham has the highest run-blocking grade of his career.

Will Reichard from the depths

Will The Thrill remained unscathed as an NFL kicker, going 3-for-3, including two from 50-plus. He has now shot the ball 25 times between field goals and extra points and made all 25 shots.

Darnold’s throwing time

The Vikings quarterback was under pressure on 14 dropbacks and the results were abysmal. He went 1-for-9 passing with 5 yards, four sacks and a scramble. Under pressure, his average throwing time was 3.86 seconds. On throws where he wasn’t put under pressure, the ball escaped him in 2.89 seconds. Certainly play actions and longer plays lead to holding the ball longer, but the concern is that Darnold will be hit and sacked because he doesn’t throw on time.

Darnold ranks 11th according to PFF when it comes to percentage of pressures attributed to quarterback. He is also in the top 10 in terms of the time it takes him to apply pressure.

Medium and deep passing game

When Darnold threw the ball 10 yards in the air, he gained 124 yards in 5:15. The hits were big hits, but the misses were tough. He received a grade of 55.8 on throws of 10-19 and 49.9 on deep shots. For the season, that’s quite a difference from his passes that go over 20 yards (grade 78.9), but it’s not much different on intermediate passes (61.5).

The biggest difference between previous weeks and the win over the Jets was the screen play. Darnold only threw two screens for a total of one yard. Aaron Jones’ injury certainly seemed to impact that area of ​​the game.

Involve Addison and Nailor

Jalen Nailor has been an effective weapon for the Vikings this season, catching eight passes for 137 yards in the first four games. But he left London without a single catch or a single target. He’s too explosive to be left off the stat sheet entirely, no matter the circumstances, especially with the defense so focused on Jefferson.

Jordan Addison scored eight goals, they just didn’t score. He caught three passes for 36 yards and went 0-for-3 on contested catches. His average target depth was 18.6 yards downfield, which is crazy. In his breakthrough rookie season, Addison only had three games with ADOT scores this high. Addison needs to be both a secondary focus of the passing game and a deep threat.

Inside pass protection

Hello, my old friend. Right guard Ed Ingram had a pass blocking rating of 19.8 and allowed five pressures. Both stats were the second-worst of all guards in Week 5. Between Garrett Bradbury and Blake Brandel, they allowed pressure on Darnold three times and performed on average.

The reaction of the backfield after the departure of Aaron Jones

Although Ty Chandler had two good runs canceled out by penalties, his performance at the end of the day was not effective following Jones’ injury. He fumbled a routine pitch from Darnold and finished the day with 30 yards on 14 carries, gaining just 1.9 yards after contact. Chandler also caught two passes for nine yards and allowed one pressure in pass defense.

Outside of Week 2, where Chandler allowed 8.2 yards per attempt, he wasn’t an impact player. They will likely need more of the RB2 spot in the future.

Punt return/coverage

Four penalties and a total of six yards on the return play significantly impacted the game. The Vikings are ranked 25th in special teams by PFF this year. Considering how good the kicker was, the rest of the units need significant improvement.