The season looked bleak after the first four weeks when they were only 1-3 and the one victory had come against the Carolina Panthers.
The story arc of the Vikings 2024 season has changed dramatically with a 22-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. The season looked bleak after the first four weeks when they were only 1-3 and the one victory had come against the Carolina Panthers.
However, the Vikings have won 2-of-3 games, and they are back within a game of .500 — and they have a road game against the Packers coming up. The Packers just lost to the Denver Broncos and their offense is fairly pitiful, so the opportunity is there. Win that game and get back to the .500 mark with the fat part of the schedule coming up.
The reason the Vikings have a shot at turning their season around is that they played their best and most courageous game of the season. It was their best game since their memorable victory at Buffalo last year.
The 49ers are a more talented and better team than the Vikings but head coach Kevin O’Connell inspired his team and they came up with a sensational effort. Start with Kirk Cousins, who delivered on Monday Night Football against an elite level team.
In addition to completing 35 of 45 passes for 378 yards with 2 touchdowns along with a first-quarter interception, he was brilliant on his third-down passing. Instead of dinking and dunking the ball for 3, 4 or 5 yards, Cousins was firing the ball downfield. He threw for 183 yards on third-down plays, as the Vikings converted 7 of 11 drive-extending opportunities.
