SKOL from the Sofa

2024 Week 10 – Vikings at Titans

Providing this week’s edition of Skol from the Sofa is fan club member Bilson Morrissey, giving his thoughts on last Sunday’s game against the Titans.

Early Dominance

Much favoured on paper against an increasingly struggling Titans, our beloved Vikings established early dominance on defense. Forcing two sacks on the ever-growing-in-experience Will Levis provided our offense with a platform to shine; however, QB Sam Darnold had a slight miscommunication with RB Aaron Jones, leading to a fumble of some sorts and handing possession back to the Titans.

Jones has become increasingly quiet of late – have teams found a way to combat the explosive RB, or has his early season workload started to take a toll on him? Either way, head coach Kevin O’Connell will need him back to his fighting best as the Vikings continue to charge towards the playoffs!

 

Time to back Super Sammy Darnold?

Back to Sam Darnold: throughout social media outlets and the fan club, he seems to completely split opinion. He’s only ever one play away from ‘arise King Sam’ or ‘there’s the Darnold I’ve been waiting to jump all over and talk trash about!’ Whatever camp your opinion falls into, I believe now is the time to fully get behind our QB! Yes, it was just the Titans, and yes, there is always the risk of an airmailed pass into the secondary, but the man has our Vikings at 8-2, so we’re simply going to have to put our opinions to one side and fully support all of the roster. 

Darnold also showed glimpses of his running game again, bravely darting in an effort to move the chains in a 3rd-and-medium situation. It’s a weapon in his arsenal that arguably should be utilised more often – the guy can run! Put that alongside the arm capable of finding Jordan Addison for a 47-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and we have a very capable QB that can keep opposition defenses guessing what he’s going to do next. He may not be the flashiest or have the most flair of any QB in the league, but he certainly has the tools KOC is willing to work with and that’s good enough for me! 

 

Questionable calls

Addison was unlucky not to add to his tally. Shortly before Darnold was bundled in for a touchdown of his own, a supposedly contentious flag was thrown for a foul on Addison in the end zone, presenting the Vikings with a fresh set of downs on the goal line.

We’ve had plenty of questionable calls against us so far this season, so I was happy to take the touchdown! An outstanding catch that was unfortunately just out of bounds showed a much-improved game from Addison, who does need to start showing more to back up the best WR in the league in JJ. This Sunday was the right way to go about it! 

 

Defense wins championships

‘Defense wins championships’ is a common phrase used throughout the NFL, and bar a franchise-record-setting touchdown for the Titans, our defense was simply amazing again.

A lot is being made of B-Flo’s hybrid set-ups, and for someone who can’t tell heads or tails of a defensive set up, to hear the ‘experts’ say the same thing about a Vikings defensive line, that’s pretty satisfying! If they can’t tell while analysing post-game, what chance does our opponent have in real time?! Keep up the good work, D, let’s see how far it can take us!

Routine victory

The nearly forgotten man Cam Akers scored a neat and tidy touchdown late on in the third quarter to set the Vikings up at 23-10 lead heading into the final phase of the game. TJ Hockenson is seemingly still easing himself in following a lengthy spell on the sidelines, but if he can find the form he showed last season, that’s yet another solid option for an ever-adapting offense! 

JJ doing JJ things, and some clutch catching from Josh Oliver and Brandon Powell helped see out a comfortable 23-13 victory. That, alongside the defense sacking at every opportunity given, and yet another interception from future Hall of Famer Harrison Smith! Like a fine wine that man, long may it continue! 

All in all, it was a pretty routine victory. There’s some tidying up to do as always and it’s always easy to back a man off a good performance, but I feel there’s plenty to be getting (sensibly) excited about as we approach a divisional game against the Bears! With the best WR in the league, and a defense causing headaches for fans, analysts and opposition, I wouldn’t want to bet against us against anyone!

Take care all and up the Vikings! SKOL!

By Bilson Morrissey