Linval Joseph was motorin’ on Sunday

We’ve talked quite a bit about the touchdown that Linval Joseph scored on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. In our defense, we’re only doing that because. . .well, it was awesome. It was the third-longest fumble return for a touchdown by a Minnesota Vikings’ defensive lineman, it gave the Vikings a lead over Philadelphia that they kept for the rest of the afternoon, and honestly, who doesn’t love a good big guy touchdown?

Courtney Cronin of ESPN looked a little deeper into the touchdown, and brought us this stat from the NFL Next Gen Stats folks:

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Joseph reached a max speed of 18.2 miles per hour on his fumble return touchdown, which occurred with 4:24 remaining in the second quarter.

To put into context how fast Joseph ran to the end zone, Jets safety Marcus Maye reached a max speed of 18.3 miles per hour on his 104-yard interception return that wasn’t a touchdown against the Broncos, according to Next Gen Stats.

Joseph’s listed weight: 329 pounds (and I put about as much stock into that as when the Vikings used to list Pat Williams at 315)

Maye’s listed weight: 207 pounds

Of course, when you get that much mass moving in one direction, slowing it down becomes a bit of a chore.

I’m relatively certain that Linval Joseph isn’t going to beat Marcus Maye in a straight-up footrace or anything, but he was certainly on par with him when the pads were on this past Sunday.

Oh, and since it’s in your head now anyway: