The Minnesota Vikings matched up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and were able to pick a 23-16 win.
The Minnesota Vikings battled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon, and it ended up being a very tight game with the Vikings picking up the win by a score of 23-16 in Week 3.
With the game now over, let's take a look at what enabled the Vikings to earn the victory on Sunday afternoon.
On the first drive of the game, Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray marched the team down the field, with the drive ending in a 54-yard field goal from kicker Will Reichard to take the lead 3-0.
Then, Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield and the offense came on the field, but they were unable to get anything going and had to punt. However, Minnesota wide receiver Myles Price returned the punt 86 yards for a touchdown to add more cushion, with the Vikings now up 10-0.
Following that, Tampa Bay was able to respond as Mayfield marched the Buccaneers down the field and threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ted Hurst to cut Minnesota's lead to 10-7.
After that, the scoring slowed way down as the Vikings punted on their next three possessions while the Buccaneers punted on their next two possessions.
Then Tampa Bay was able to put a solid drive together which got them all the way down to the red zone, but unfortunately the Buccaneers had to settle for a 28-yard field goal from kicker Chase McLaughlin.
On the next drive, Murray threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordan Addison, which gave Minnesota a 17-10 lead.
After the Vikings took the lead back, both teams could get anything going offensively, which led to Minnesota punting once and Tampa Bay punting twice to end the first half.
To start the third quarter, the Buccaneers punted on their first two possessions while the Vikings punted on their first possession.
Then, on the Vikings second possession, Murray threw a pass that was tipped and picked off by defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson which set up the Buccaneers with great field position. However, Tampa Bay was not able to take advantage they sent out McLaughlin for a 38-yard field goal that cut the Vikings lead to 17-13.
Following the Buccaneers field goal, Minnesota and Tampa Bay each punted twice with both defenses showing the ability to make some great plays.
Tampa Bay was able to get back on track with a 54-yard field goal from McLaughlin to cut the lead to 17-16 with a solid drive from Mayfield and the offense following the four straight punts from both teams.
Then the Vikings came right back with a decent drive from Murray and the Minnesota offense which ended in a 56-yard field goal from Reichard to extend the lead to 20-16.
With the Buccaneers needing a score down four, Mayfield tried to lead the offense down the field, but the drive stalled, and on the fourth and 13, Mayfield was intercepted and was injured on the play.
Following the turnover, the Vikings ran the ball three times which forced the Buccaneers to use all of their timeouts and ended up having Reichard kick a 43-yard field goal which he made to extend the Minnesota lead to 23-16.
On the final drive of the game, the Buccaneers had quarterback Jalon Daniels come in with Mayfield injured in hopes of being able to tie the game, but Tampa Bay was unable to get the score they needed as Daniels threw a hail mary and was picked off Isaiah Rogers to end the game.
With the Buccaneers' inability to score on the final drive, they fell to 0-3 while the Vikings were able to improve to 3-0 with the 23-16 win.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if the Buccaneers can respond and get in the win column soon, as well as how long the Vikings can stay undefeated and if they can make a strong push for an NFC North title.
