JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ It wasn't pretty Sunday, with a slew of field goals and yellow flags littering the turf at EverBank Field. But the desperate Vikings got the win they needed, 25-16 over the toothless and mistake-prone Jacksonville Jaguars, to keep their slim postseason hopes intact.
With Mike Zimmer back on the sidelines after a one-game absence, the Vikings got four field goals from kicker Kai Forbath and a late touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Bradford to outlast the Jaguars, who were flagged for 13 penalties, six more than the Vikings, on a sunny Sunday.
The win, their first victory on the road since Week 3, improved the Vikings to 7-6. It was only their second win in eight games.
The Vikings took a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game after tight end Kyle Rudolph caught a 44-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. They made it 6-0 a few minutes later after Bradford hit wide receiver Adam Thielen down the left sideline for a 41-yard pass play.
The Jaguars kicked a field goal early in the second quarter to make it 6-3.
Following a 53-yard kickoff return by Cordarrelle Patterson and an iffy personal foul call on Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, Forbath booted another field goal moments later to put the Vikings back up by six. The Jaguars responded with another field goal, a 55-yarder by Jason Myers.
The Vikings had a chance to make it a two-score game before halftime but running back Matt Asiata was stuffed twice just shy of the goal line by the Jaguars, squandering a diving 45-yard catch by wideout Stefon Diggs.
The Jaguars, aided by a pass interference penalty on cornerback Xavier Rhodes on third down, then drove 92 yards to tie the game up at 9.
After a miss by Myers in the third quarter, Thielen had a pair of first-down receptions, including the team's first third-down conversion of the game, to put Forbath in position for his fourth field goal, making it 12-9.
Thanks to a miniature meltdown by Rhodes, the Jaguars jumped ahead, 16-12, with a 14-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Blake Bortles.
On a chain-moving scramble by Bortles on that draft, Rhodes was flagged for holding then again for barking at an official. Zimmer briefly benched him and the Jaguars went right after his rookie replacement, Mackensie Alexander, who got called for a 22-yard pass interference penalty.
The Vikings answered with a 62-yard touchdown drive, with Asiata finally getting it done from the 1-yard line. That put them back on top, 18-16, in the first minute of the final quarter. But after tight end Rhett Ellison was flagged for a false start on the PAT, Forbath shanked his next try.
A holding penalty on left tackle T.J. Clemmings derailed their next drive, but Jaguars tight end Alex Ellis was penalized for roughing punter Jeff Locke, giving the Vikings a first down. They found a way to screw it up, though, when Asiata later fumbled while diving toward the goal line.
But with less than three minutes left, Bradford, who threw for 292 yards in the win, tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rudolph to put it away.
