Minnesota Vikings 27, Cleveland Browns 12: A Solid, Injury-Free Win in Cleveland

After the week that was for the Minnesota Vikings, the most important thing to hope for in Saturday’s preseason game against the Cleveland Browns was to put together some solid performances and get out of Ohio relatively injury-free. The Vikings managed both of those things.

Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall combined for three touchdown passes and the defense put together a nice effort for all four quarters en route to a 27-12 Vikings victory over the Browns in their second preseason contest.

The Vikings got the ball first in this one and got themselves off to a very good start, with Nick Mullens finding Trishton Jackson for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 7-0. Mullens got the start at quarterback with Sam Darnold unlikely to take any more snaps until the start of the regular season.

Cleveland answered on their first possession, getting a touchdown on a 1-yard run from veteran running back D’Onta Foreman.

The Vikings went back on top on their second possession, with Will Reichard connecting on a 41-yard field goal to make it 10-7. Reichard then added another field goal midway through the second quarter, a 38-yarder to extend Minnesota’s lead to 13-7.

Minnesota then got a defensive highlight late in the second half, with the much-maligned Lewis Cine getting an interception off of a deflected pass.

It looked like Cleveland might get themselves back on the scoreboard on their first possession of the second half, but their drive was thwarted by rookie cornerback Dwight McGlothern. He picked off a pass from Tyler Huntley and nearly took it all the way back for a score, but did set the Vikings up with goal-to-go.

The Vikings capitalized on the pick in just two plays, as Jaren Hall found Malik Knowles for a 1-yard touchdown to make the score 20-7 early in the third quarter.

The Browns cut into the lead on their next possession on a 34-yard field goal from Cade York to make it 20-10 with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Vikings then pulled away on Hall’s second touchdown pass of the day, this one a 71-yarder from Hall to undrafted rookie Jeshaun Jones to make it 27-10 early in the fourth quarter.

The Browns did get the last points of the afternoon, as the Vikings put newly-acquired Matt Corral in at quarterback and, for some reason, had him drop back to pass on a third-down play just after the two-minute warning. Corral was sacked by a host of Browns and fumbled the ball out of the end zone for a safety to make it 27-12.

It appeared that the Vikings got a forced fumble and recovery from Duke Shelley on the ensuing free kick, but it was ruled that the fumble was out of bounds. However, the Vikings did end it with another turnover, as a pass from Huntley was tipped and wound up in the hands of Jacobi Francis to end it. The Vikings got to kneel out the clock and got out of Ohio with a victory and, more importantly, no more significant injuries.

The Vikings move to 2-0 on the preseason, and they’ll wrap up their preseason slate when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles next Saturday at noon Central time.