Winners and losers: 5 takeaways from Vikings ugly win over Jaguars in Week 10

It wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but the Minnesota Vikings squeaked out a 12-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, thus improving to 7-2 on the season.

The Vikings' offense moved the ball down the field quite nicely, racking up 402 yards, the team's third-highest total of the season. But they failed to score a touchdown in five trips to the red zone, two of which ended with interceptions from Sam Darnold, whose day we'll break down in a bit.

Thankfully for Minnesota, the defense put forth a superb effort, limiting the Jags to just 143 yards. Overall, the Vikings ran 39 more plays than Jacksonville (82-43), the highest differential in any NFL game the last two seasons. As such, the time of possession was lopsided as well, with Kevin O'Connell's crew holding the football for 42:19, the highest total for any team this year.

Again, it wasn't the sexiest of victories, but it was a victory nonetheless. Here's a quick look at the winners and losers from the Vikings' five-point win over the Jaguars in Week 10.

Winner: The Vikings' defense

To be fair, it's not as if the Minnesota defense was facing an overly tough test against a Jaguars offense that was without Trevor Lawrence, who missed just the second game of his career with a shoulder injury.

As such, Mac Jones made his first start in a Jacksonville uniform and had a dreadful day, throwing for just 111 yards with zero touchdowns. He also tossed a pair of interceptions on the Jaguars' final two offensive possessions of the game, the first to Byron Murphy Jr. with 3:39 remaining and the second to Camryn Bynum with just under two minutes left on the clock.

And if we're talking winners here, Bynum might just be the biggest of all, thanks to that incredible celebration in which he mimicked Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn. But I digress.

On the possession prior to the two picks, Jones also botched a snap and lost a fumble. Rough day for the former Patriot.

The Vikings completely shut down the Jacksonville running game as well. Minnesota has been one of the best against the run all season, and that prowess was on full display on Sunday, as they held the Jags to just 56 yards on the ground.

Overall, the Jaguars gained just 143 total yards, the fewest since Doug Pederson took over as head coach and the fifth-fewest in franchise history.

While many Vikings defenders contributed to this effort, Blake Cashman deserves a little individual recognition here. After missing the last three games with a case of turf toe, the sixth-year linebacker tied for the team lead in tackles with five and also notched his second sack of the season.

Winner: John Parker Romo

Making his first-ever appearance in an NFL regular-season game, John Parker Romo provided every single point Minnesota scored on Sunday, connecting on field goals from 45, 33, 34, and 29 yards.

With Will Reichard out of action for at least the next three games with a quadricep injury, the Vikings have to feel great about what they saw from their new kicker. Romo, who went undrafted in 2022 out of Virginia Tech but has spent time with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears, had previously only played games that actually count in the XFL with the San Antonio Brahmas, with whom he made 17 of 19 field goals.

He signed with Minnesota this past March, but once the Vikings realized Reichard was their guy, Romo was released. And that will likely happen again once Reichard returns. But for now, he seems very comfortable and definitely deserves his flowers for this performance.

Winner: Aaron Jones

For a short time in the second half, it seemed as if Aaron Jones might have to get the loser designation here, not because of his performance but because it looked as if he was going to be lost for the game with a chest injury after taking a hard hit from Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun in the third quarter.

Jones remained on the turf for a short time as trainers tended to him and was then taken into the blue medical tent. He appeared to attempt to jog on the sidelines after exiting, but things took a turn when he was carted off the field early in the fourth quarter.

Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing too serious, and he actually returned to the game and logged a few more carries in the waning minutes. Overall, Jones was the Vikings' best offensive weapon, rushing for 88 yards on 17 carries and adding another 13 yards on two receptions. He was the only player on either team to surpass 100 total yards from scrimmage.

Winner: T.J. Hockenson

As T.J. Hockenson hadn't played a game in 315 days after suffering ACL and MCL tears in his right knee last December, it wasn't a surprise to see him get just four targets a week ago in his highly anticipated return against the Indianapolis Colts, with Kevin O'Connell seemingly just easing him back into the flow.

But with that first game behind him and another full week of practice under his belt, Hockenson played a much more significant role in the Vikings' offense against Jacksonville. He tied for the team lead in targets with nine and led all pass-catchers on both sides with eight receptions for 72 yards.

This is the T.J. Hockenson Vikings fans have been waiting nearly a year to see, and they should expect more games like this from the two-time Pro Bowler moving forward.

Loser: Sam Darnold

The lone loser from this Vikings win is Sam Darnold, who, let's face it, was bailed out by his defense in this victory.

For much of the game, Darnold looked good, completing 24 of 38 passes for 241 yards. But the interceptions are really starting to become a problem, and he threw a season-high three of them against a Jaguars defense that had just two all year coming into this contest. As mentioned earlier, two of the three came in the red zone, thus killing ample scoring opportunities. Darnold actually threw a fourth pick, but a penalty negated it.

For whatever reason, all three picks came on targets to Justin Jefferson, who tied Hockenson with nine targets but caught just five for a season-low 48 yards. This also marked his third straight game without a touchdown.

As for Darnold, he now has seven interceptions in the last five weeks. And with three on Sunday, he now has 10 for the year, tied for the most in the league with Geno Smith and Jordan Love.

He'll look to right the ship in Week 11 when the Vikings look to go 4-0 against AFC South opponents this season in a road matchup with the Tennessee Titans.