Yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings beat the New York Giants in another thrilling victory as kicker Greg Joseph hit a Vikings-record 61-yard field goal as time expired. With this victory, the Vikings moved to 12-3 on the season and kept themselves in the driver’s seat to secure the second seed in the NFC.
With each thrilling victory this season, it feels as if we learn something new about this team or that any prior thoughts get cemented. As we inch closer to the playoffs, here are a few things we learned yesterday about our favorite team
Justin Jefferson is legit
Justin Jefferson
12 catches
133 yards
1TD
1 more NFL record✅
2 more team records✅🎥 NFL on Fox pic.twitter.com/D79vEA41tl
— VikingNations (@VikingNations) December 24, 2022
The trade for T.J. Hockenson was worth it
The Vikings’ new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was aggressive at the trade deadline by trading for tight end T.J. Hockenson. The move gave the Vikings another offensive weapon to help take some of the attention off of Jefferson. In yesterday’s game versus the Giants, Hockenson feasted and made the record book just like Jefferson.
Hockenson racked up 109 yards and two touchdowns on a Vikings tight end’s record 13 receptions. He consistently made clutch catches and was a true weapon opposite Jefferson. The Vikings’ future is bright with the young tandem of Hockenson and Jefferson, and these two could cause significant problems for opposing defenses in the playoffs.
Unbelievable catch by T.J. Hockenson. Wow. pic.twitter.com/0PpENaNGaQ
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) December 24, 2022
The Vikings are not frauds
There have been countless conversations throughout the season about how the Minnesota Vikings are frauds. The rationale is based upon their close wins in multiple games this season, but the Vikings are 12-3 and frauds don’t luck their way into 12 wins.
With each game that goes by, the Vikings are continuing to learn how to close out games and end up winners when it’s all said and done. Sure, you could be frustrated that the Vikings have yet to really put together a complete game outside of week one vs. the Packers but in the NFL, all that matters is winning.
If the Vikings were a fringe playoff team with eight or nine wins, I think the argument for “frauds” could be a little more applicable but the fact of the matter is, frauds don’t win 12 games. Frauds aren’t the number-two seed in the NFC.
When the Vikings play in the playoffs, they’ll have countless moments to look back at throughout the regular season where they fought adversity and came out on top. These types of experiences bring a team together and continue to instill belief in the culture that Kevin O’Connell is building.
LB Jordan Hicks when it was suggested it was another miracle win for the #Vikings: “After all these weeks, is it still a miracle? said Hicks, whose Vikings are 11-0 now in one-score games. "A miracle is something you can’t explain, but this has been explained how many times?”
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) December 25, 2022
