By Chris Tomasson

St. Paul Pioneer Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Not many jokes had been told by the Vikings over the past two months.

Entering Sunday’s game against Jacksonville at EverBank Field, the Vikings had won exactly once since Oct. 9. They had lost six of seven, and their playoff hopes were fading.

Adding to the down atmosphere, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer had missed the Dec. 1 game against Dallas following emergency eye surgery.

But Zimmer was back against the Jaguars, and his team rewarded him with a much-needed 25-16 win. There were even jokes told at the expense of Zimmer, who coached from the sidelines wearing a patch over his right eye while alternating between sunglasses and reading glasses.

“Oh, yeah, ‘Eye, eye, captain,’’’ Zimmer said while recounting one. “There were quite a few.’’

Cornerback Xavier Rhodes said there were some pirate jokes and players “were messing with’’ Zimmer and having a “good time.’’ It hadn’t been often lately that the Vikings had a good time.

Then again, it helped facing the Jaguars, who dropped to 2-11. While they might not be as bad as their record indicates, Minnesota (7-6) could afford to make some mistakes and not be doomed by them.

The Vikings rolled up a season-high 377 yards of total offense, but didn’t get into the end zone until the fourth quarter. In the first three quarters, all they managed was four field goals by Kai Forbath.

Minnesota finally got a touchdown on a Matt Asiata 1-yard run with 14:13 left in the game for an 18-16 lead, but Forbath shanked a 38-yard extra-point attempt wide left following an illegal procedure penalty by tight end Rhett Ellison.

The Vikings looked ready to put the game away later in the fourth quarter, but Asiata lost a fumble at the Jacksonville 1 with 6:19 left. The Jaguars recovered in the end zone for a touchback, giving them the ball at the 20.

“It was just second effort, and I was just finding a way to get in there,’’ Asiata said of the miscue.

The defense, though, bailed Asiata out. The Jaguars were stopped on three straight plays and the Vikings drove for a 3-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford to Kyle Rudolph with 2:13 remaining for a secure 25-16 lead.

“We definitely needed it,’’ said cornerback Captain Munnerlyn. “(The defense) hadn’t been playing our best. … This time we weren’t going to let (the offense down).’’

Not many on the Vikings had been playing their best since the team’s 5-0 start. But at least their playoff hopes remain alive even if the Vikings didn’t get much help Sunday from other teams losing.

Minnesota remains two games behind Detroit (9-4) in the NFC North, with the Lions holding the tiebreaker. The Vikings gained no ground in the wild-card race as Atlanta (8-5), Tampa Bay (8-5) and Washington (7-5-1) all won.

“One down, three to go,’’ Munnerlyn said of Minnesota having to win its last four games to make the playoffs.

There were some encouraging offensive signs Sunday. Bradford had called recently for more “explosive’’ plays, and he completed passes in the first half of 45 yards to Stefon Diggs, 44 to Rudolph and 41 to Adam Thielen, who had four catches for 101 yards.

The Vikings didn’t get touchdowns following any of those plays. But at least it’s a start.

“Any time you can create explosive plays, it just helps, and so obviously to come out and be able to do that, and push the ball down the field and create explosive plays in the passing game, I think that was a big help for our offense,’’ Bradford said.

Bradford completed 24 of 24 passes for 292 yards and wasn’t sacked behind an offensive line that had one of its better outings of the season. Bradford also had to continue to deal with a shaky running game.

The Vikings ran 29 times for 85 yards for just a 2.9 average. It would have been a lot worse had Asiata not broke loose for a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Asiata carried 11 times for 37 yards. In addition to his fumble in the fourth quarter, he also failed on running plays from the Jaguars 1 on third and fourth down late in the first half.