For all the firepower the Minnesota Vikings possess on offense, the straightest path to their first victory was always going to travel through the defense. The maligned group delivered when the Vikings needed it, fueling a comeback at Carolina that removed the team from the dreaded winless list. The highlights, even against a winless and rebuilding Panthers club starting a rookie quarterback, were impressive.
Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith said he didn't come into Sunday's game expecting to be an integral part of the team's defensive pressure package. The six-time Pro Bowl selection had three timely sacks, including a strip-sack of rookie Bryce Young that led to a momentum-changing 51-yard fumble return for a touchdown by D.J. Wonnum and the Vikings defeated the Carolina Panthers 21-13 on Sunday for their first win of the season. Kirk Cousins overcame two interceptions, including one that was returned 99 yards for a touchdown, and threw two touchdown passes to Justin Jefferson and the Vikings finally found some positive momentum.
After Kirk Cousins delivered a must-convert fourth down completion for Minnesota to T.J. Hockenson, the Vikings had the ball at the 6-yard line with 35 seconds remaining when the tight end climbed to his feet. Instead of a quick spike to stop the clock without any timeouts, coach Kevin O'Connell tried to relay a quick play to Cousins to keep the Los Angeles Chargers from setting their defense the way they wanted. Cousins couldn't hear him clearly, because of a choppy connection on the headset and the crowd cheering in anticipation of a dramatic go-ahead touchdown, so the quarterback took an educated guess on the call and frantically told his teammates.