Vikings Stun Giants 27-24

A week after pulling off the greatest comeback in NFL history, the Minnesota Vikings nearly blew a double-digit lead of their own before walking off with a dramatic 27-24 victory over the Giants on a Greg Joseph 61-yard field goal as time expired.

The Giants were down 24-16 before putting together a desperation seven-play, 75-yard drive punctuated by Saquon Barkley busting through the middle of the Vikings’ defense for a 27-yard touchdown run.

Needing to convert the two-point conversion to pull even, the Giants did it when Daniel Jones bought time in the pocket, rolled to his right and lobbed the ball into the back of the end zone, over the reach of cornerback Patrick Peterson, where rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger made the grab.

The Vikings took over with 2:01 remaining and used a pair of clutch third-down hookups from Kick Cousins to Justin Jefferson — for 16 and 17 yards — to keep alive an eight-play, 33-yard drive that got in range for Joseph’s mammoth kick.

Daniel Jones was 30-for-42 for 334 yards, but it was a struggle all day for the Giants to find points. Kirk Cousins threw three touchdown passes and the Giants had no answers against Jefferson (12-133) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (13-109), who had two scoring catches.

Jets’ Lose Ugly to Jaguars, Zach Wilson Gets Benched

In the New York Jets’ 15th game of the 2022 season, on a rainy, windswept, stormy night in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Jets were defeated by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 19 – 3, all but ending any Jets playoff hopes. 

The Jets are not mathematically eliminated yet, but having lost four straight and six out of eight, and with no home games remaining, there is little reason to think the Jets have much chance to get in the post-season dance.

After a first half in which the Jets were completely dismantled in every phase of the game, the Jets felt lucky to go into halftime trailing by “only” 10 points at 13 – 3. 

The Jets opened the third quarter on offense and promptly went three and out.

The Jaguars then once again went right down the field to eventually kick a 41 yard field goal for a 16 – 3 lead. With the Jets  defense unable to stop the Jaguars offense and the Jets offense unable to get anything going against the Jaguars defense, the game felt like it was over at this point.

The Jets threw in the towel on Zach Wilson and inserted Chris Streveler at quarterback. The crowd cheered the Jets 4th string quarterback coming in to replace the #2 overall pick in last year’s draft. It was a sobering moment.

New York Knicks Continue To Roll

Forget the six-game win streak or even the seven wins in nine road games. The Knicks have played 16 games, and won 10 of them. Three of the losses, to quality teams in the Trail Blazers, Bucks and Grizzlies, could’ve gone either way. 

Tom Thibodeau’s team is hitting its stride. The most recent example came Friday night, in a 114-91 shellacking of the talented, but underperforming Bulls, the Knicks shaking off an uneven first quarter by out-scoring Chicago by 26 points over the final three quarters. 

Prior to the game, Thibodeau warned his players of how hard it would be to complete the sweep in this rare two-games-in-three-days set on the road, comparing it to a postseason series. 

“When you look at playoffs, it’s the intensity of playing the same team over and over,” he said before the game. “You know exactly what they’re trying to do. So then it’s how hard you compete, it’s imposing your will.” 

“I think guys are building chemistry with each other,” Thibodeau said. “That chemistry is on both sides of the ball.”