Week 14 Preview: Minnesota Vikings at Jacksonville Jaguars
As great as the Minnesota Vikings played last week against the Dallas Cowboys in a thrilling 17-15 defeat, no medals are awarded for close losses in the NFL.
The Vikings now take their 6-6 record to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in a game that looked my more tantalizing to the viewers at the beginning of the season. The Jaguars (2-10) have been mathematically eliminated from the playoff hunt and Vikings’ chances are dwindling by the second. The Vikings’ battle to stay above five hundred can be watched this Sunday on FOX at noon, Central Time.
The Jaguars are coming off a demoralizing defeat to the Broncos by a score of 20-10 in which Blake Bortles looked much worse than his terrible numbers suggested. Does that mean the Vikings should win this game quite handily? Yes, it does. Does it mean the Vikings will win this game quite handily? No, it does not.
The Vikings hold an all-time record of four wins and one loss against the Jaguars. The most recent victory was a 26-23 overtime victory in 2012. Most fans will remember that game as Adrian Peterson’s first game back after knee surgery. Peterson ended the day with 87 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
The Vikings looked to be defeated after Jacksonville went up by three points with 20 seconds left in the game. However, the then rookie, Blair Walsh hit a 55 yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. The Vikings then kicked a field goal on the opening drive in overtime and stopped the Jaguars to come away with a season-opening victory.
Fast forward to 2016; the Vikings need this win more than ever and are without Peterson or Walsh. In fact, that 2012 team had many pieces this year’s team does not. However, the 2016 Vikings will need a victory over the Jaguars and four straight wins to get into the playoffs, just like the 2012 team.
AROUND COVER32
Vikings Weekly: Week 13 Preview: Vikings vs Cowboys
Vikings Today: Know Your Enemy: Dallas Cowboys
Vike’s Bite: Week 13 Recap: Vikings vs Cowboys
Purple Update: Norv Turner out; Pat Shurmur in
Vikings32 Exclusive: Week 11 Reaction: Vikings vs Cardinals
What’s Trending: Five Questions Week 13: Vikings vs Cowboys
Essentials to win the game
Touchdowns; scoring touchdowns on a team that is seventh worst in the league in scoring defense need to be done. The Vikings have showed they can score touchdowns, just not offensively in key spots. The purple did score a touchdown to make the game close on Thursday; however, the two-point-conversion-attempt had less of a chance being completed than people do to winning the lottery.
Jacksonville ranks dead last in the NFL for turnover ratio with an abysmal minus-18; the Vikings are still second with a plus-13 ratio. The Vikings must turn the ball over and maintain possession, especially in key spots.
Possible downfalls to avoid
The Jaguars may not take the ball away often; however, their pass defense is ranked second in the league by only giving up an average of 196 yards passing per game. The Vikings need to stay out of long-yardage passing situations to avoid the Jaguars’ defense to get an interception; something they do very little of.
Bortles has had a season that he may want to forget forever; the fans certainly do. That being said, the Vikings must avoid giving Bortles and the offense any type of momentum by limiting the big play. However poorly the Jaguars’ offense has been performing this season, does not mean they are not capable of putting up 6 points in a blink of an eye.
Player spotlight
As mentioned above, the Jaguars defense is very good and getting better each week. Their biggest free agent acquisition, Malik Jackson has shown he is worth the money by making Dante Fowler Jr. better each week.
With Sam Bradford showing some rare mobility on a bandaged up ankle, perhaps the offense will be better equipped to get him moving on purpose as opposed to moving to save his own head. Since he will be facing the above two gentlemen this week, his mobility will again be tested.
It has yet to be determined if center, Joe Berger will be able to play due to being in concussion protocol. If Berger cannot make a go of it, Nick Easton will have to take his place again. Easton looked decent in his limited action against Dallas but the run game failed when it came to crunch time.
Jaguars head coach, Gus Bradley called out star receiver, Allen Robinson to adjust to defensive backs being more physical. Robinson had himself a melt down towards the end of the game on Sunday as he felt he did not receive the calls he should have in crunch time. Xavier Rhodes will want to be aggressive in man coverage to try to get to Robinson much like he did to Odell Beckham Jr. earlier this season.
Game Projection
The Jaguars still have a passing offense that needs to be accounted for. With Harrison Smith missing this game, Jacksonville may have a better day than most think they can. The underachieving receiving corps is nearly as responsible as Bortles for their offensive woes. Constant drops end drives early and put pressure on their defense.
If Bortles once again shows he belongs in the NFL, the Jaguars may be able to use the home crowd to their advantage. If Bortles shows more of what he has been showing lately, the Vikings may be able to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Vikings will want to run the ball as much as they possibly can in this one. They need the offensive line to gain momentum in order to keep the aggressive secondary of the Jaguars on their heels.
With Mike Zimmer rumored to returning to the field this Sunday, Mike Preifer can go back to his regular duties of managing one of the league’s best special teams units. Whether due to his occupation of interim head coach or just poor execution, Vikings’ special teams had their worst performance of the year without giving up a score.
The health of Stefon Diggs should help in this one as he gets a couple extra days to recover. The Vikings will need his ability to break open the field if they fail to run the ball. Even then this will still be a close game until the very end.
The heat in Jacksonville may give the defensive line of the Vikings some fits as they have been sucking wind even in temperature-controlled environments. Even so, the Vikings’ defense should take the ball away a couple times in this matchup due to Bortles being the king of turnovers.
The offense will need to show they are able to score with great field position as points may be at a premium in this contest. The special teams unit of Jacksonville is among the worst in the league when it comes to giving up big plays.
Adding all this up leads to a much needed Vikings win 20-13 as special teams gets on track and the offense does just enough against a stingy secondary.
— Justin Ekstrom can be followed on Twitter @thesportscrib21 and be sure to follow and comment about vikings32 on Facebook and Twitter.
The post Week 14 Preview: Minnesota Vikings at Jacksonville Jaguars appeared first on Cover32.
