CARSON, Calif. _ The defense broke open a close game with a strange touchdown at the end of the first half, and the Vikings moved a step closer to a playoff berth with a 39-10 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Vikings took the field as the Packers beat the Bears, whittling the Vikings chances for the NFC North title to a thread. They'd need wins against the Packers and Bears the next two weeks, as well as a Packers loss in Detroit in Week 17, to claim the division title.
But the victory also put the Vikings (10-4) on the doorstep of clinching at least a wild-card berth, with the Rams (8-6) losing to the Cowboys.
"It's not easy to win 10 games in this league," said Vikings coach Mike Zimmer.
The Vikings took the ball away from the Chargers seven times, the first time they've registered that many takeaways in a game since a 44-24 win over the Steelers on Sept. 24, 1995. They scored 20 points off those turnovers, turning the game into one of their most comfortable wins of the year and rendering moot, at least for Sunday, the early issues they had in their secondary on Sunday.
The 29-point margin of victory was the seventh largest for a road game in team history.
Los Angeles quarterback Philip Rivers threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. That fumble came at the end of the first half, with the Chargers trailing 12-10 but threatening at the Vikings' 26, and resulted in a 56-yard touchdown by Vikings defensive tackle Ifeadi Odenigbo.
The Vikings allowed the Chargers to convert five of their first six third downs, as Rivers continually went to work on the Vikings' cornerbacks with hitch routes that gave his big receivers chances to box out defenders as they worked back for the ball. Coach Mike Zimmer rotated Mike Hughes, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes as his outside corners early in the game, turning to Holton Hill once Rhodes left for part of the game with a calf injury.
Los Angeles took a 10-9 lead early in the second quarter as Rivers hit Mike Williams for a 2-yard score with Hughes in coverage.
Rivers threw a third-down jump ball off his back foot that Harrison Smith intercepted in the second quarter, only for the Vikings to give the ball back once Melvin Ingram quickly read a screen pass and backed off Riley Reiff to drop into coverage and pick off Kirk Cousins. Rivers moved the Chargers, trailing 12-10, into scoring range with three straight hitches toward Hughes, connecting on two of them. But the Chargers' brigade of turnovers was only beginning.
Danielle Hunter stripped Rivers for his second forced fumble of the day on a third down, and after both Odenigbo and Chargers tailback Austin Ekeler missed chances to secure the ball, Odenigbo picked it up and stormed 56 yards to the end zone with Hunter escorting him and Eric Kendricks holding down Ekeler to keep him from giving chase.
It turned what could have been a Chargers lead before halftime into a 19-10 margin for the Vikings. Melvin Gordon's second fumble of the day came on the first play of the second half, leading to a Vikings field goal. The closest the Chargers would get to scoring again was on a drive that reached the Vikings' 15 with Los Angeles trailing 25-10. Rivers overthrew Mike Williams in the end zone on fourth down. Each of the Chargers' next two possessions would end in turnovers (a Hunter Henry fumble and a Hughes pick of Rivers).
For the second time in three weeks, the Vikings were set to fly home with concerns about Dalvin Cook's shoulder, after the running back was twisted down and landed awkwardly on a third-quarter carry. The Vikings quickly ruled out Cook's return to the game, though he watched the rest of the game on the sidelines with teammates instead of heading to the locker room for further tests.
Kirk Cousins threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Irv Smith on the Vikings' opening drive, and Mike Boone scored two fourth quarter touchdowns. Dan Bailey, who missed the extra point after Smith's touchdown, hit field goals of 44, 38, 27 and 26 yards.
Boone, who got second half action because Cook and Alexander Mattison were out because of injuries, scored his first two NFL touchdowns on runs of 8 and 3 yards.
Harrison Smith, Anthony Harris and Hughes had interceptions for the Vikings.
