THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
There's something different about October in the NFL. It isn't just the turning of the natural seasons, which brings new colors and a briskness in the air. However, that could also resemble how some of the teams feel after the opening month of the season. September has gone, and the wins and losses are in the books. The opening shots have been fired and where the dust settles after a ferocious month tends to shape how teams will fare going into the middle section of the schedule.
October though does bring something else. The London Games. And even though you wouldn't normally associate Tottenham High Street with the elsewhere autumnal settings that some NFL cities have, for a fortnight each year the leaves still turn color and the air does have that chill, so for moments we can breathe in like the rest of those fortunate enough to attend games, an atmosphere and anticipation of what the next stage of the season will deliver.
On a day that hit a high of no more than 59 degrees, the masses that ascended North London for the first of this year's London games were not disappointed by a game that, though not full of huge tension and drama, did enough to keep everyone's attention until the final seconds. This was largely down to the up-and-down play of the New York Jets' quarterback and former league MVP Aaron Rodgers.
Obviously that was below my standard,
said Rodgers. I just found out I've never thrown two picks in the first quarter before, so that's a first. One of them cost, obviously, seven [points], and the other, you know, could have cost three [points]. So in a game where you lose by six, plays like that are exponentially highlighted. So three turnovers for me is definitely out of character and I'm disappointed.
It was indeed a bad day at the office for Rodgers who just couldn't seem to settle and see what the Minnesota Vikings were presenting him with in terms of schemes and coverage. The interception that was returned for a touchdown was the catalyst for the tone early on and coming with just two minutes left in the first quarter cemented the early dominance of the now 5-0 Vikings.
It's a great feeling, obviously, when you can make a play like that, it can change the game. It's exciting, and I'm just glad I caught the ball and the rest is history,
said Andrew van Ginkel, the Vikings linebacker who snagged Rodgers's errant pass and got the game-opening touchdown to put his side 10-0 up. Once I got out of that first tackle, I started running, I saw Harrison Smith had a huge block, and if he doesn't make that block, I don't think I score. It's a shout-out to him and shout-out to all the guys behind, just block the skill players so they couldn't catch me.
When CJ Ham scampered in for another score with a little under five minutes left in the half, the game looked like it could turn into a one-sided affair, such was the inept Jets offense. Eventually though they did gain some ground and Rodgers stirred some memories with a two-minute drill that resulted in a touchdown when he found a former Green Bay Packers colleague Allen Lazard from 14 yards to narrow the score to 17-7 at the half-time break.
Over the many years since the first of the NFL regular season games played in London in 2007, there have been a multitude of celebrity halftime performances. Ranging from rap to rock, some have hit the mark, others are long forgotten. This time the NFL had something that everyone could appreciate and in doing so add some formality and foundation. The first two inductees to the UK Ring Of Honour were announced. Osi Umenyiora and Jared Allen, two literal giants of the game, who have helped grow the game here and globally were fully appreciated by all.
As the second half of the game wore on it was evident that adjustments made at the interval by the New Yorkers were being implemented, as the Jets kept the Vikings offense to limited series and their own was beginning to sense they could get back into the game. One of the reasons why the Minnesota offense. was stalling was because running back Aaron Jones went out of the game injured. Sam Darnold the Vikes QB said, Yeah, I think for us, obviously Aaron is a great player, but we've just got to continue to have a next-man-up mentality. Kind of similar to what we did in the San Francisco game with Jets [Justin Jefferson] and Jordan [Addison] being out and having guys being able to step up the way that they did. And Aaron going out in that game, as well, just having guys continue to step up the way they did, we're just always going to have that mindset of next-man-up.
The teams traded field goals through the third and fourth quarters and sandwiched another Jets touchdown from Rodgers who was now looking a bit more like his usual self. This left the score at a tantalizing 23-17 when the former Super Bowl winner had a chance to relive all his former come-from-behind wins and snatch an improbable victory. But with the clock ticking down and the Jets at the Vikings' 26-yard line, Rodgers threw his third interception of the game, as Stephon Gilmore swept up the ball to close out the win.
Minnesota Head Coach Kevin O'Connell was happy to have seen off the comeback and looked ahead: Absolutely a gritty win by our team. So many moments in that game, so many things we talked about going into this football game that materialized. We'll go into the bye 5-0. Five incredibly difficult challenges so far to start this season, including wrapping it up with a trip that we very much looked forward to, coming to London. It's been a phenomenal trip. Want to thank everybody that took care of us at our hotel, the NFL, putting on a great trip for us, and obviously all the folks with the Vikings that plan this thing year-round. There's a lot of people that their names can't be mentioned right now, but I wanted to personally thank all of them for helping make this trip go.
Robert Saleh, the Jets play caller was looking for silver linings in his comments after the game: It's early. We're five games in. Obviously we'd like it to be a lot better, but it's early and we've got a long way to go.
London fans will go into next week's matchup with perhaps a little less expectancy of a classic game as the Jacksonville Jaguars face the Chicago Bears, but with both sides having a big following it will still have a big atmosphere. As the wind chill notches up a little more, the Bears may feel more at home than their sunnier clime rivals.
At half time, fans were treated to a new event. Two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora and five-time Pro Bowler Jared Allen were awarded the first ever NFL International Ring of Honour. You can read about the new accolade here.
