After an embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4, the New York Jets take on a Minnesota Vikings team led by former Jets’ first-round pick, Sam Darnold. Darnold has performed at a high level this year with the Vikings, and will likely be playing with something to prove against his former team. Unfortunately for the Vikings, their “home game” is overseas, and in an area that usually boasts plenty of Jets fans. Yet, can the Jets make up for last week’s mistakes and win an important game during their toughest stretch of the season? Let’s dig in.
New York Jets vs. Minnesota Vikings Matchup History & Excerpts
The Jets and the Vikings have played each other 12 times in their history, with New York leading the series with eight wins. However, Minnesota has won the last three meetings between the two teams, and this week has a particularly interesting storyline attached.
The Vikings will be starting Sam Darnold at quarterback. As Jets fans know, Darnold was a first-round pick of the Jets who ended up playing poorly – with a poor team – before getting traded to Carolina. And despite his shortcomings early in his career, this year Darnold has played like a MVP-candidate. The Jets have taken notice, too.
Linebacker C.J. Mosley believes Darnold is doing a ‘great job‘ with the Vikings this season. Meanwhile, cornerback DJ Reed has suggested that the Vikings have the best offense that the Jets will face.
DJ Reed said he thinks Kevin O’Connell is the best play caller in the NFL right now and that the Vikings have the best offense they’ve faced.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) October 2, 2024
Key Players for the Jets
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will always be a key player for the Jets. However, he’s listed here for a reason other than his play on the field; and that reason is that Rodgers needs to check out of a bad play by Hackett if necessary.
Last week there were questionable play calls from the Jets that saw them stifled on multiple possessions. If the Jets wish to have success, Rodgers must be able to successfully diagnose the Vikings defense, and check out of a play without hesitation if he knows it won’t work.
It almost feels weird listing Garrett Wilson as a key player. Yet, the fact is that Wilson has yet to play like the superstar many fans expected him to play as this season. Wilson has had issues with separation, spatial awareness, and has not been on the same page as his quarterback multiple times this year. Fortunately for Wilson, the Vikings are one of the worst defenses against the pass in the NFL.
Wilson needs to be able to not just perform, but perform well. This could be a shootout against a Vikings team that doesn’t have a problem scoring points this year.
On defense, the line needs play well. And, this doesn’t just revolve around their run-stopping ability. Against the Broncos last week, the unit was unable to pressure rookie quarterback Bo Nix consistently.
Due to Robert Saleh and Jeff Ulbrich’s hesitance to blitz, this unit needs to get home and pressure Sam Darnold. Jets fans are quite familiar with Darnold’s inability to handle pressure well (que the ghost sightings), and it’s unlikely much has changed over the years.
One way the Jets can do that is by actually utilizing the personnel they assigned to the 53-man roster. For some reason, the team has activated UDFA Leonard Taylor III just once through the first four games of the season. Considering the severe struggles of the line, it would be wise to put in fresh faces who play well when given the opportunity – like LT has.
There’s no guarantee that Taylor would make a significant impact. But one thing is certain – he will play better than the other depth the team has given playing time to this season.
Key Players for the Vikings
For the Vikings, the offense will go as far as Sam Darnold takes it. Jets fans saw Darnold struggle in his tenure with New York – but this isn’t the same quarterback. Darnold has played excellent this season, and has looked fearless in the pocket. If Darnold is able to navigate the pressure and make plays for his receivers, the Jets could quickly find themselves in a shootout.
On defense, the onus is on the linebackers to create pressure and stop Aaron Rodgers. Patrick Jones, Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew Van Ginkel make up 12 of the team’s 16 sacks this season. Defensive coordinator Brain Flores loves to blitz, and that means the linebackers will be incredibly active in this matchup. If they can have success stalling the Jets passing attack, they can easily win this matchup.
Keys to Victory for the Jets
At this point it feels redundant to mention that the offense needs to run the ball, and the defense needs to stop the run. And yet while those continue to be the primary keys for the Jets in this matchup, there’s a lot more that New York needs to be do at this point, too.
One of the biggest things the Jets need to do in this game is stay disciplined. Penalties have been a continuous problem for the Jets under head coach Robert Saleh. And in his fourth year with the team, that needs to be stopped – immediately. New York can’t allow those mistakes to take away yardage on offense, and give the Vikings’ offense free yardage.
Another key in this matchup is the Jets’ offensive playcalling. While we saw Aaron Rodgers check out of multiple plays against New England – that wasn’t the case last week. We saw personnel, and poor playcalling become a detriment to the offense in Week 4. Against a Brian Flores’ defense, the Jets need to be prepared, and have successful drives.
Both the playcalling, and personnel, need to be better. Otherwise, the Jets will struggle against a good Vikings defense.
Defensively, the Jets need Sauce Gardner to step up. Whether fans want to hear it or not, he has played poorly this season.
Tackling has always been an issue with Gardner throughout his career. However, his struggles in coverage have now become glaringly apparent. The combination of both problems arising this season have put the Jets defense in a severe disadvantage thus far; especially with their inability stop the run as a group.
Against the Vikings, Gardner will go up against the best receiver in the NFL, Justin Jefferson. The connection between Darnold and Jefferson has been on fire to start the season, and it’s something the Jets should be concerned about. On top of that, Jalen Nailor and Jordan Addison have both been playing well this season. While DJ Reed and Michael Carter II are also worth keeping an eye on, the Jets need their star player to start playing like one.
