Vikings news: Jefferson, Van Ginkel each made NFL history vs. Titans, O'Connell rips 'catastrophic' fumble

Having already taken victories over the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, and Jacksonville Jaguars, the Minnesota Vikings completed their season sweep of the AFC South this past Sunday with a 23-13 win over the Tennessee Titans.

With the win, the Vikes improved to 8-2 on the year, thus remaining just one game back of the Detroit Lions in the NFC North. The Lions, of course, decimated the Jags, setting several franchise records in a 52-6 victory that moved them to 9-1 and kept them atop the overall NFC standings.

The Vikings put forth a solid all-around effort against the Titans. Brian Flores' defensive unit has now allowed 13 points or fewer in each of Minnesota's last three outings. And the Vikings' offense got a nice bounceback game from Sam Darnold, who threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score.

Just as importantly, Darnold was interception-free after having thrown five in the previous two weeks, two against the Colts and another three against the Jags. He was, however, credited with a first-quarter fumble against Tennessee, upping his league-leading total to 14.

But he certainly didn't deserve to take the blame there, which falls to Aaron Jones. And that's where we'll kick things off as we dive into some news and notes surrounding the Vikings coming out of their Week 11 win.

Kevin O'Connell called the Vikings' first-quarter fumble "catastrophic"

On just the third offensive play of the game for the Vikings on Sunday, Darnold turned and made what looked to be a simple pitch to Jones in the backfield. But Jones couldn't handle it, and the ball was ultimately recovered by Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, which led to a Nick Folk field goal, giving Tennessee an early 3-0 lead.

And while that proved to be Minnesota's lone turnover on the day and one that didn't end up mattering from an overall standpoint, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was still irked by it during his Monday press conference, going so far as to call the botch "catastrophic."

"This is the National Football League," O'Connell said. "We've got to execute tossing the football. Whosever fault it was, whoever takes the ultimate minus on the sheet, it's catastrophic. We've had two of them early on in games, and it can't happen.

"If we're not going to be able to toss the football, we've got much bigger issues to work through," he continued. "I do believe it's unacceptable, and I've got to get it fixed."

Justin Jefferson set yet another NFL record in Minnesota's win over Tennessee

As per usual, Justin Jefferson led the way for the Vikings in the receiving department against the Titans, catching six passes for 81 yards.

And with the fifth of those six grabs, a 25-yarder in the third quarter, the three-time Pro Bowler set the NFL record for the most receiving yards by a player in his first five seasons. Now with a ridiculous 6,811 yards for his career, the 2020 first-round pick has surpassed Torry Holt, who racked up 6,784 yards in his first five campaigns with the then-St. Louis Rams from 1999-2003.

While Jefferson doesn't own the record for the most receiving yards by a rookie, he does still possess the marks for the most through two seasons (3,016), three seasons (4,825), and four seasons (5,899) to go along with this new accomplishment.

Andrew Van Ginkel joined an exclusive club with his pair of sacks against the Titans

As he's done throughout much of this Vikings season, Andrew Van Ginkel stood out in the win over Tennessee, leading the team in total tackles with eight (seven solo, one assist) while recording a pair of sacks on back-to-back plays. He also tacked on an additional tackle for loss, upping his league-leading total to 13.

As Van Ginkel now has a career-high 8.0 sacks on the year, he's joined a highly exclusive club of players who've recorded at least 8.0 sacks and two pick-sixes in the same season, a group that officially now only has three members but is genuinely a group of four.

Before sacks became an official NFL stat in 1982, five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Bill Stanfill notched 8.0 sacks and two pick-sixes as a rookie with the Miami Dolphins in 1969. So, he's obviously the unofficial member of the club.

After 1982, the first to accomplish this feat was Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, also of the Dolphins, who recorded 13.5 sacks and two touchdowns off interceptions during his Defensive Player of the Year campaign in 2006.

Before Van Ginkel, the most recent to hit both marks was future Canton enshrinee Terrell Suggs, who hit both figures directly on the number for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008.