Vikings, Jets had very similar Week 9 wins

Sunday night’s game looked and felt a lot like Thursday night’s game.

In both contests, the home team looked horrible in the first half. While the Vikings moved the ball more effectively in the first two quarters on Sunday night than the Jets did on Thursday, with 194 total yards to 69, the result was the same — zero points and far more than zero boos on the way to the locker room.

Both games featured defense performances that kept things with striking distance. The score was identical at the break, 7-0. Both could have been worse.

And, in both games, the opening drive of the second half resulted in a 70-yard touchdown drive that tied things up. While the ensuing scoring unfolded differently, the home teams in both games (after looking horrible in the first half) ended up with 21-10 leads late. In both games, a late field goal by the losing team crafted the final margin, at 21-13.

Before last night, the Jets were the last team the Vikings had beaten, four weeks ago. While their records are very different at 6-2 for Minnesota and 3-6 for the Jets, both have plenty of work to do if they hope to contend.

The Vikings have the best chance to fatten up their record, with road games at Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Chicago. To win two or more, however, the Vikings will need to look a lot more like they did in the second half of Sunday night’s game. The team that showed up in the first half has no business even thinking about making it to the postseason.