Vikings' Joseph Drills 61 Yard Field Goal to Clinch 11th One Score Win

Greg Joseph sets a new franchise record, with the 61 yard game winning field goal today for the longest field goal in Vikings history!

Final: New York Giants 24 Minnesota Vikings 27
Minnesota:
QB:
K. Cousins 34/48 299 yds 6.2 avg 3 TD 107.9 rtg

RB:
D. Cook 14 car 64 yds 4.6 avg 18 long (3 rec 13 yds)
A. Mattison 4 car 17 yds 4.3 avg 13 long

WR:
J. Jefferson 12 rec 133 yds 11.1 avg 1 TD 25 long
TJ Hockenson 13 rec 109 yds 8.4 avg 2 TD 16 long
KJ Osborn 3 recc 17 yds 5.7 avg 8 long
J. Mundt 1 rec 16 yds 16.0 avg 16 long
A. Thielen 1 rec 6 yds 6.0 avg 6 long

DEF:
B. Asamoah II 1 fumble recovery
P. Peterson 1 INT
D. Hunter 2 sacks
DJ Wonnum 0.5 sack
K. Tonga 0.5 sack

K:
G. Joseph 2/2 FG (40, 61) 3/3 XP

Game Summary:
The Vikings defense played really well today for the better part of the game. Minnesota's offense struggled to start the 1st quarter, but eventually found its footing with 3 minutes to go with a 12 yard TD pass from Cousins to Hockenson. The defense continued to do their job holding the Giants to several 3 and outs and a fumble recovery. In the 2nd quarter, Greg Joseph kicked a 40 yard field goal to give the Vikings a two score lead. The defense would eventually break though, giving in to a touchdown pass from the Giants.
In the second half, the offense struggled quite a bit. Minnesota couldn't get on the board in the 3rd quarter, the defense allowed two field goals to give New York the lead. Entering the 4th quarter the Vikings had the ball in the redzone. Not long after the start of the quarter, the Vikings would score again with a pass from Cousins to Hockenson to give Minnesota the lead. After a Vikings three and out, the Giants would trim the lead to just one point. However, the Vikings would eventually block a punt. Minnesota cooked up another nice drive though, that concluded with a 17 yard pass from Cousins to Jefferson. This also gave JJ the new record for most 100+ yard receiving games in a player's first 4 seasons, breaking Randy Moss' record of 23. The defense would not come up clutch though in this next situation and allowed not only a Giants TD, but a 2-point conversion. Minnesota would then try to go the distance of the field, but only could make it just past midfield. The Vikings then got a pass to Jefferson to put the team in position for a 61 yard field goal. Greg Joseph nailed it to win it for the Vikings!

Playoff Update
Minnesota has already clinched their spot in the playoffs, and they have also clinched a spot no lower then the 3rd seed. So, Vikings fans should be watching Philadelphia to see if Minnesota could catch them for the number 1 seed. They should also watch San Francisco as they are only a game back of the Vikings for the 2nd seed.
Elsewhere in the NFC North, both the Lions and Packers are still mathematically in the hunt for the playoffs. While the Vikings victory over the Giants (who were in the 6th seed spot before the game) does help Detroit, the Lions lost to the Panthers in Carolina today so that changes the game for them. The Packers basically need everyone above them in the hunt, and in the wildcard spots, to lose out and Green Bay needs to win out to make the playoffs. Neither North team controls their own destiny anymore.

Up Next
Next week, the Vikings travel to Green Bay to play the Packers on CBS. Kickoff is at 3:25 PM.

​#SKOL