Vikings Clips
On Monday, the NFL did what it needed to do, as to a pair of officials who failed to act the way officials should act.
Line judge Jeff Seeman was suspended two games for his double-F-bomb directed to Cardinals tight end Trey McBride. Referee Adrian Hill received a one-game suspension for his overreactive interaction with Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson after Wilson accidentally knocked Hill to the ground.
Hill may not have been suspended without the Jeff Seeman incident. Hill didn’t know why or how he got knocked down. He reacted to a misimpression of the situation.
And for good reason. Last year, Hill suffered a non-contact leg injury during a Thursday night game between the Bills and Texans. He’s surely sensitive to the possibility of getting injured again.
The NFL Players Association, which objected to the Seeman incident with a strong statement from executive director JC Tretter, had nothing to say about the Hill-Wilson exchange.
Regardless, the league took action as to both Seeman and Hill. The league had no choice. The officials are supposed to be neutral, measured, and detached. They’re the judges in the courtroom that is a football field. And judges typically don’t say “fuck you” to the lawyers or the parties who appear before them. (A judge or two may have wanted to say it to me during my former career, but never did. At least not loud enough for me to hear it.)
Appearances matter. How can anyone expect the players and coaches to restrict their behavior if the officials can’t, or won’t?
Besides, the NFL has suddenly gone fine-happy over previously acceptable celebrations by players. Also, it’s constantly looking for any type of actual or perceived “taunting” indignity that could increase the on-field temperature between players. That standard should apply to officials — and it should be an even higher bar.
The league has proven that it is. And that it will.
Veteran pass rusher Marcus Davenport didn’t request his release from the Bears’ practice squad so that he could sign with another team’s practice squad.
Via NFL Network, the 30-year-old Davenport will retire.
He was a first-round pick of the Saints in 2018 (14th overall). He spent five years in New Orleans, one in Minnesota, and two in Detroit before joining the Bears.
Davenport has 78 regular-season appearances with 43 starts. He hasn’t played much since leaving the Saints — 19 regular-season games and 11 starts in four seasons. He also has four postseason appearances and one start, all of which came with the Saints.
Davenport has 25.0 career sacks, with a career-high of 9.0 in 2021.
The NFL has issued a pair of suspensions to officials after incidents with players during Sunday’s games.
The league has suspended referee Adrian Hill one game and line judge Jeff Seeman for two games for unprofessional conduct. The suspensions were issued by NFL vice president of officiating Ramon George.
Hill was knocked over by Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson while Wilson was being blocked by Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon through the whistle. Hill got up and got in Wilson’s face while yelling at him to get back to his team’s huddle. Wilson was not penalized on the play.
Cameras caught Seeman saying “f—k you” twice to Cardinals tight end Trey McBride after McBride complained about the lack of a flag for pass interference during Arizona’s loss to the Giants. The NFL Players Association called Seeman’s response “unacceptable” in a statement to PFT on Sunday.
The Vikings remain undefeated at 4-0, but they will have to deal with some injuries along their offensive line.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters in his Monday press conference that left guard Donovan Jackson suffered a torn meniscus and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.
Jackson is set to undergo surgery to repair the injury.
O’Connell also noted that left tackle Christian Darrisaw is in the concussion protocol after Sunday’s win over Miami.
But tight end Ben Yurosek and offensive lineman Michael Jurgens are set to return to practice this week. Both players are currently on injured reserve.
The Vikings will be on the road to play the Saints on Sunday.
An odd incident took place during Sunday’s Vikings-Dolphins game when referee Adrian Hill got knocked to the ground and then got in the face of Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson.
The NFL is reviewing the matter, according to ESPN.
On the play in question, Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon was blocking Wilson after the play had been blown dead, pushing Wilson into Hill and knocking Hill down. Hill got up, got in Wilson’s face, yelled at him and pointed him back to his huddle. Hill did not throw a flag, but many people watching the game thought Hill overreacted by yelling at Wilson.
Wilson said after the game that he thought it was no big deal.
“That was funny, honestly,” Wilson said. “I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation. He was cool about it. He understood what was going on. He just said he didn’t want us fighting, me and [Gordon]. He said he was just trying to break us up.”
The altercation between Wilson and Hill was one of a few between players and officials on Sunday. Official Jeff Seeman appeared to shout obscenities at Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, and Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was flagged for using an obscenity toward an official.
The Vikings have essentially co-opted the slogan of the team that beat Minnesota in its most recent Super Bowl appearance, 50 years ago.
Just win, baby.
Whatever it takes. However it looks. Only one stat matters — points scored vs. points allowed.
And the Vikings did it on Sunday against the Dolphins with a quintet of field goals, two weeks after the Vikings won in Chicago with only three field goals.
Via Kevin Seifert of ESPN, the Vikings are now the third team to start 4-0 despite failing to score a touchdown in multiple games.
The first was the 1922 Chicago Cardinals. The second was the 1923 Chicago Cardinals.
There may be more no-touchdown games. The offense continues to underperform.
The good news, if there is any, is that the Vikings gained a season-high 336 yards against Miami. The Vikings hadn’t gotten to 250 yards in any of the first three games.
Also, tight end T.J. Hockenson took a knee at the Miami two-yard line when he could have scored. It allowed the Vikings to nail down the victory with three snaps in victory formation to clinch the win.
But he didn’t, and the Vikings ultimately had no touchdowns, again. And they won, again.
The Vikings never reached the end zone today. To beat the Dolphins, they didn’t need to.
Minnesota won 15-10 on the strength of five Will Reichard field goals.
The Vikings were without their best player, wide receiver Justin Jefferson, but they got a great game out of tight end T.J. Hockenson, who caught all 13 passes thrown to him, for 119 yards. On Hockenson’s last catch, he purposely went to the ground just short of the goal line at the two-minute warning, which was smart clock management as the Dolphins were out of timeouts and the Vikings just had to kneel down to win it from there.
Vikings running back Aaron Jones carried a big workload, with 20 carries for 94 yards, and while quarterback Kyler Murray wasn’t great, he was good enough on a day when the Vikings didn’t need to score much.
It didn’t help Murray that the Vikings lost the left side of their offensive line, as left guard Donovan Jackson (knee) and left tackle Christian Darrisaw (neck) both exited the game with injuries.
The bright spot for the Dolphins was running back Ollie Gordon, who had a 100-yard game in his first start in place of the injured De’Von Achane. But Gordon was just about the only player on the Dolphins’ offense who got the job done today. Miami quarterback Malik Willis struggled to find open receivers, and the Vikings’ pass rush didn’t give him much time.
At 0-4, the Dolphins look like the worst team in the NFL. At 4-0, the Vikings look like one of the league’s most pleasant surprises.
The Vikings have won three straight games despite failing to gain at least 250 yards in any of them. But there’s a silver lining in Minnesota’s dubious achievement.
In the Super Bowl era, two other teams have won three in a row in the regular season without gaining at least 250 yards. The first was the 1969 Vikings, who went to the Super Bowl. The second was the 1999 Rams, who nearly upended the Greatest Show on Earth for a berth in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The all-time record for consecutive wins without gaining 250 yards, including playoffs, is four. And that team went to the Super Bowl and won it.
The 2000 Ravens won the final two games of the regular season and their first two playoff games without gaining at least 250 yards. In a Week 16 win over the Cardinals, the Ravens gained 214 yards. In a Week 17 victory over the Jets by the score of 34-20, the Ravens were outgained 524 to 142.
In the wild-card round, the Ravens gained 240 yards in a 21-3 win over the Broncos. In the divisional round, the Ravens beat the Titans by the score of 24-10. In that game, the Titans gained 317 yards, and the Ravens gained only 134.
The point is obvious. When a defense is truly dominant, teams can win without much of a contribution on offense. And with coach Kevin O’Connell embracing the reality that winning is the only thing, the Vikings have focused on playing great defense, performing well on special teams, and minimizing the turnovers on offense.
Indeed, the Vikings under O’Connell are 38-4 in the regular season when they have the same or fewer turnovers than the opponent.
The Vikings have won eight games in a row (3-0 this season) thanks to a defense that has at times been dominant.
It has consistently been getting to the quarterback before he can throw the ball.
Via NBC Sports research, Minnesota’s six-game streak of four or more sacks is two short of the all-time record. The Colts set it in 1975, with eight straight games of four-or-more sacks.
Three teams have done it seven games in a row: the 1986 Broncos, the 1969 Lions, and the 1963 Giants.
The current streak is the longest since the Giants did it in 2001.
The Vikings lead the NFL with 14 sacks. Dallas Turner has 3.5.
The Dolphins have added a running back to their active roster.
They announced the signing of Carlos Washington off of the practice squad on Saturday. Washington will flesh out a backfield that lost De’Von Achane for the season to a torn ACL.
Washington played in two games for the Falcons over the last two seasons. He signed with the Dolphins in May.
The Dolphins also announced that they have elevated defensive lineman Mazi Smith and defensive end Rodney McGraw for Sunday’s game against the Vikings. Smith was a 2023 Cowboys first-round pick and he signed with the Dolphins last month. McGraw signed with the Dolphins after going undrafted this year.
