The Minnesota Vikings are a fascinating team to watch the last two weeks of the regular season.
Sitting at 7-8, they no longer control their own destiny for the playoffs, but they are still very much alive for a wild card spot after a 30-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.
That game also saw multiple season-ending injuries, as both tight end T.J. Hockenson and outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum suffered season-ending injuries and were placed on injured reserve earlier this week.
Looking at the Vikings play this season, they are at their best when they don’t turn the ball over and the starts make big plays. These players will need a big game if the Vikings want to win on Sunday.
Managing editor Tyler Forness: OLB Pat Jones II
With the injury to D.J. Wonnum this past weekend against the Lions, Jones is going to get the opportunity to step into a starting role opposite of Danielle Hunter. He had a sack on Jared Goff and found a way to make an impact in both good and bad ways. As we reach the end of his third season, will Jones be able to show enough to warrant consideration for a starting spot next season? The next two games will tell us a lot.
Columnist Judd Zulgad: CB Akayleb Evans
The second-year cornerback has started all 13 games in which he has played this season, but his struggles against the Detroit Lions last Saturday resulted in him being benched by defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Evans, who had his first career interception two weeks ago in a loss to the Bengals, will be “back out there” on Sunday against the Packers, according to Flores. This will give the Vikings a chance to see how Evans’ bounces back after a rough outing.
Columnist Saivion Mixson: WR K.J. Osborn
With T.J. Hockenson out for a while with a torn ACL and MCL, someone else will have to take the mantle of being the go-to guy on third down. There will always be Justin Jefferson, but outside of him and all the double-teams he will see in crucial moments, someone else will have to step up, especially with backup quarterbacks in the game.
The first time Osborn saw the Packers this season, he led all receivers in targets (10), receptions (8) and yards (99) on the way to Minnesota’s 24-10 victory at Lambeau field. Whoever is taking snaps will need a go-to, especially on third-down situations. Against Green Bay, Osborn reeled in all five of his third-down targets, converting on four of them and earning an incredible EPA/play of 1.6. Osborn has made a living being a go-to target for Cousins when times got tough. He can do the same for whichever backup Kevin O’Connell trots out there to keep the Vikings’ playoff hopes alive on Sunday.
Columnist Chris Spooner: QB Jaren Hall
The revolving door at quarterback continues. We’ve now come full circle and landed back on the quarterback who was initially tabbed to replace Kirk Cousins, rookie Jaren Hall. Hall didn’t even get a full half of football in during his first stint as the starter, leaving the game with a concussion and giving way to the incredible rise and fall of Josh Dobbs. Now that Dobbs has come crashing back to Earth and Nick Mullens can’t stop giving the ball away, we’re back where we started with Hall getting another crack. With the Vikings’ playoff lives on the line, how much of an improvement is Hall going to be over the other two? That is the million-dollar question. The Vikings need to know what they have in the rookie quarterback before they make any decisions on the future. Hall has a great opportunity these final two weeks, what can he do with it?
