Vikings stay ideal with win over Giants

Odell Beckham ripped his helmet off in frustration. Quarterback Eli Manning’s final five passes to Beckham went incomplete and included an interception where Beckham didn’t seem to locate the ball in the air.

It could have been easy for the defensive line to be disappointed in being held of the stat sheet after last week’s sackfest against Carolina, but defensive end Brian Robison said everyone was focused on the team’s win after the game.

After the Giants defense looked stout in its first drive, they forced the Vikings to punt from their own end zone. The fifth-round pick caught a screen pass from Manning and scampered all over the field for a 67-yard gain that brought the Giants to the Vikings’ 4. He then disappeared, finishing with only three catches for 23 yards. They followed that with a delay of game before Brown split the uprights to pull within 14-3 at halftime. “That’s just the position I’m in”.

The Vikings do not need Bradford to play at an MVP level, but he has to play well in order for them to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Oh, and their offense is now showing signs of life.

NOTES: Vikings Hall of Fame OG Randall McDaniel was on the field for the coin toss, holding the Ryder Cup, which was won by the Americans on Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis. “We still got a long way to go”. Could receivers not named Stefon Diggs get involved?

Manning has always struggled against Minnesota for some reason, so when the Vikings have such a good defense, there’s no reason to expect him to do any better.

Former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss, at the game as an analyst for ESPN, blew the ceremonial Gjallarhorn prior to kickoff to get the crowd going early.

Beckham Jr. caught three passes on nine targets for a career-low 23 yards.

It’s hard to extract many positives from the Giants’ latest loss with several mental and physical errors throughout the contest. His athleticism and explosiveness adds a new dimension to the offense. “But what are you going to do?” “I’m focused on this week”. “He was kind of tip-toeing, we’ll have to fix that”. My question – why was Perkins in the game on that play to pass protect instead of Orleans Darkwa?

Sam Bradford, given the expectations everyone had when he was acquired for a first round pick in 2017, has been fantastic. And the running game posted 104 yards on 33 carries, 85 of which came from Jerick McKinnon.

Watched an interview with Vikings LB, Chad Greenway, who I think sat down with John Gruden prior to the game. Tonight we played with a chip on our shoulder which I think this team does well, even when we’re winning I think we’re unselfish. “We’re all rookies trying to make a name for ourselves”.

After a few weeks of the Vikings’ running game being largely stagnant, they put together a pretty solid performance on Monday night, and McKinnon led the way. Minnesota merely perfected what’s emerged as a solid strategy to keep Beckham in check-he hasn’t scored a touchdown this season, after averaging almost one a game (25 TDs in 27 starts) over his first two seasons.

It is no doubt that Beckham is an emotional player, but his actions are making him a liability, rather than an asset at this point.