If Akers isn’t playing the revenge card, Jones should be. The Green Bay reject has rushed for a career-high 1,138 yards this season while appearing in all 17 games. He has said this season has been his most fun playing football. But the Rams game was one of his lower rushing totals of the season.
The Vikings rushed for just 64 yards — 58 from Jones — in their Week 8 loss to the Rams, partly because they ran just 50 offensive plays to the Rams’ 66. Los Angeles entered the game with the 30th-ranked run defense. Akers had just been traded for, again, nine days earlier and wasn’t quite ready to contribute. But he’s contributing now, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.
All eyes will be on Darnold following his clunker at Detroit. But don’t ignore the impact Jones and Akers can have on Monday so the Vikings don’t have to rely solely on No. 14′s arm to advance in the postseason.