The Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders played one of the lowest-scoring games in NFL history on Sunday as Minnesota eventually found a way to put points on the board and take a 3-0 win over Las Vegas.
The teams’ combined offensive ineptitude made for the first NFL game in more than a decade to finish 3-0.
Vikings Prevail in Low-Scoring Affair
It was an ugly offensive game for both sides as neither managed more than 230 yards of total offense and went a combined 11 of 34 on third downs. Three turnovers by the Raiders contributed to their demise, while the Vikings stalled out on quite a few drives, and kicker Greg Joseph missed one of his two field goal attempts.
Joseph’s whiff came past the midway point of the second quarter as Minnesota had driven into Raiders territory but stalled out and settled for a 49-yard attempt that missed wide right.
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Las Vegas then had a promising drive go inside the red zone early in the third quarter before Hunter Renfrow fumbled the ball after catching a short pass from Aidan O’Connell. The drive represented the Raiders’ best scoring chance of the day as their offense sputtered time and again.
Minnesota put together one of its most sustained drives of the game late in the fourth quarter, converting on three third downs before stalling out and settling for a 36-yard field goal attempt this time around.
Joseph knocked that try through to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead that held the rest of the way. O’Connell threw an interception on the first play of Las Vegas’ next drive, and then a last-ditch lateral play resulted in a fumble on the Raiders’ final shot at finding some offense.
It all amounted to the NFL’s first 3-0 game since the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Miami Dolphins by the same score on Nov. 26, 2007, as Jeff Reed hit a 24-yard field goal to win it with just 17 seconds remaining in the game. John Beck quarterbacked the Dolphins that day, while Ben Roethlisberger was in his fourth year as the Steelers’ signal-caller.
NFL analysts and fans alike took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express their emotions about the uncommonly low-scoring contest.
One user noted the following: “You can take Aidan O’Connell out of the Big Ten West, but you can’t take the Big Ten West out of Aidan O’Connell.” The tweet references O’Connell’s collegiate career, when he spent four years quarterbacking at Purdue, along with the Big Ten West’s reputation as a defense-first division.
You can take Aidan O’Connell out of the Big Ten west, but you can’t take the Big Ten West out of Aidan O’Connell. pic.twitter.com/RSvkigWvsF
— GO BOILAS (@purdueinsider) December 10, 2023
Another fan said of the Raiders that they “scored as many points as last week. It was a bye week!”
#Raiders scored as many points as last week. It was a bye week! 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/MxVW5J1FEx
— 🏴☠️Silver&BlackHoleSun (@ZombieRaider707) December 11, 2023
Minnesota could not have been thrilled with its offensive output either, but the team found a way to get the job done and take a crucial win for its playoff hopes.
With the victory, Kevin O’Connell became the fastest Vikings head coach to secure 20 wins, as he did so in just 30 games, surpassing Dennis Green’s mark of 32 games set during the 1992-93 seasons.
With the victory at Las Vegas, Head Coach Kevin O’Connell became the fastest Vikings head coach to secure 20 victories, achieving the feat in 30 games.
Dennis Green won 20 games as Minnesota’s head coach in his first 32 games during the 1992-93 seasons.#MINvsLV pic.twitter.com/QZ7IqZFj4q
— Vikings Communications (@VikingsPR) December 11, 2023
Minnesota (7-6) now sits sixth in the NFC after the win and will likely need a few more down the stretch to punch its ticket to the postseason.
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