Vikings make Case:
Mettle shows in adversity
Keenum and resilient team have feel of Super Bowl contender.
Week 12 wagering tips, game previews, predictions, odds, Pages 5-23
MINNEAPOLIS – Composure. That’s the theme Everson Griffen kept serving up to describe what is so special about this particular version of the Minnesota Vikings.
In smashing the Rams 24-7 at U.S. Bank Stadium on Nov. 19, the Vikings issued a convincing statement about their legitimacy as a Super Bowl contender and offered another example of how a hungry defense can still snuff out high-powered offense.
Yet Griffen was even more impressed by the DNA of his team, which improved to 8-2 with its sixth consecutive victory.
“When you face adversity through the course of the game and you stay composed, you have a chance to win every game,” the Pro Bowl defensive end told USA TODAY.
The matchup of division leaders tested that premise.
The Rams opened the game with a snappy 75-yard touchdown drive. It was 7-7 — anybody’s game — when the fourth quarter began. Minnesota’s Kai Forbath missed two mediumrange field goal attempts.
“Kai missed a couple of kicks, and everybody was (like), ‘ We got your back,’ ” Griffen said. “That’s all that matters. That’s why this is the most composed team I’ve been around.”
While one of the NFL’s best defenses held the Rams to a paltry 254 yards and season-low point total — nearly 26 less than Los Angeles had averaged through nine games — the Vikings also controlled the clock and tempo by rushing for 171 yards.
But the real beauty came with the clutch plays.
Start with quarterback Case Keenum. He was never sacked — the sixth consecutive game that the Vikings’ once-maligned O-line didn’t allow a sack — but he sure should have been bagged by his former Rams teammates. A few times.
The boldest escape came near the end of the first quarter, when he ducked to avoid a hit to the head, then was seemingly corralled by linebacker Connor Barwin. But Keenum slipped away and came up throwing, completing a 12-yard corner route to Adam Thielen. Now that was composure.
Five plays later, Minnesota’s Latavius Murray scored on the first of his two TD runs.
“Each week, he kind of understands what we all like as receivers and playmakers,” Thielen said of Keenum. “He understands how we do things, how we like to get open.”
A year ago, Keenum was suffering with the worst offense in the NFL while keeping the seat warm for Jared Goff, whom the Rams drafted No. 1 overall. Now he’s the emergency man playing like he never wants to give the job back.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Keenum contended after throwing for 280 yards, which included a short pass that Thielen turned into a 65-yard TD to break the game open in the fourth quarter.
Or as Vikings coach Mike Zimmer put it, “He’s got a horseshoe right now.”
With Sam Bradford nursing an injured knee, Keenum entered the lineup in Week 2. Now that Teddy Bridgewater has returned from the knee injury that kept him out for 15 months, there are constant questions about whether another switch is inevitable even though Keenum has the team humming.
“It’s going to be hard to yank him out of there right now,” Zimmer said. “He’s playing good. I still have high hopes for Teddy. A lot of things may happen over the course of the season. So we’ll see how it goes.”
That was about as honest and respectful a statement as you could expect from Zimmer, who carefully maintained proper perspective while keeping the vibe upbeat for Bridgewater. Stuff surely happens, which is where the composure that Griffen references comes in.
Late in the first half, the Rams were poised to regain the lead as Goff connected over the middle with rookie Cooper Kupp, who turned upfield and lunged for the goal line. Anthony Harris, filling in for injured Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo, had another idea. He stripped Kupp, then recovered at the 1yard line. Crisis extinguished.
“That’s all big,” Zimmer said. “These guys work their rear ends off all week long, all year long and then get a chance to go in there and prove what they can do.”
Zimmer refused to call the victory a major statement.
“Win or lose, I think I know who this football team is,” he said.
The rest of the NFL is definitely learning just who these composed Vikings are.