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The Minnesota Vikings have made winning more than a matter of habit — it’s become their identity.
Coming away with their ninth win by a margin of a single score, the Vikings (10-1) have yet to be beaten in the fourth quarter this season, much to the chagrin of the fan base’s blood pressure.
And despite the team continuing to harp that it needs to put forth a more complete game in the future, Pro Bowl linebacker Eric Kendricks has taken no issue with the way Minnesota is winning.
Vikings LB Eric Kendricks After Escaping With Win Over Jets: ‘I Don’t Give a Damn’
Producing just 89 yards of offense in the final half, the Vikings leaned on the defense to secure a 27-22 win over the New York Jets on December 5. Safety Cam Bynum came away with a game-clinching interception, marking the fourth win this season where the defense has clinched a victory for Minnesota.
In a postgame locker room interview, Kendricks didn’t take any consolation in not burying New York, crediting that every week teams are giving the Vikings their best and Minnesota continues to come out on top.
“Honestly if we can win, I don’t give a damn, even though we want to bury them and close it out when we can, but these teams are really good,” Kendricks said. “They have players that they play too. We have 10 wins. Everybody is gunning for us and knows that we are a target, so we are getting everybody’s best to the very last second. We got their best today. They fought and hats off to them. They had a bunch of big plays in that second half that really kept them in the game. They are fighters, and we are going to see that often.”
The Vikings are fighters, too. No team has gotten the better of them with the game on the line in the fourth quarter — which has given the team growing confidence in clutch situations.
“We have ultimate confidence. We are sitting here with 10 wins and that’s very hard to do. We are happy. We are confident, but at the end of the day it’s crazy because we always talk amongst ourselves about how much we have to improve and how much better we could be,” Kendricks added. “We’re happy we are getting these wins, but at the same time we are still wanting some more. I’m excited to see where we go. The great teams start playing even better in these next couple weeks, and I think we are on our way. “
Vikings Defense Embodies Bend-Don’t-Break Against Jets
We’ll start with the bad news. The Vikings gave up season-high 486 yards of offense on Sunday. The good news, the defense allowed just one touchdown on six trips to the red zone, forcing field goals on four of those trips and securing the game-clinching interception to close the door on New York.
It’s become concerning that the defense continues to hemorrhage yards, but with numerous players emerging and making plays throughout the season, the defense is becoming equipped to capitalize on its opportunities.
“You just hang tight. You know what they give you and you just have that mentality when you get down there in the red zone. Today, we definitely had that mentality. We did a great job in the first half limiting their explosives. Second half we kind of gave up some big ones that put us in bad situations, but we held tight. We kept them out a couple of times. We had a turnover on fourth down. We had one that was overturned that was really close, but things like that happen,” Kendricks said. “Overall, I am just really proud of my guys. We battled. We are always in it. We are always fighting and clawing. It’s going to come in handy for us these next couple weeks going into the postseason. We still have a lot of work to do and I’m just excited to finish out this season.”
The Vikings defense currently ranks 31st in yards, averaging 398.7 yards allowed per game this season. It’s led to the team ranking 20th in points allowed with an average of 23.3 points per game — an improvement upon the past two seasons but not nearly an encouraging mark for a team hoping to contend for a Super Bowl.
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