It may have been Tarvaris Jackson’s best chance to prove his value to the Vikings, but he was unable to generate much of a passing game:
It would be nice to say that the transition from Brett Favre to Tarvaris Jackson was smooth and seamless. It also would be untrue.
Finally getting his chance to lay claim to the quarterback position, Jackson played poorly against the New York Giants on Monday night. Save for an early first-quarter drive that resulted in the Vikings’ lone three points, Jackson was terribly erratic, and the offense seemed helpless virtually all night. There were fumbled snaps, trip-ups in the backfield and the usual ghastly interception.
Overall, Jackson completed 15 of 30 passes for 118 yards. He was sacked four times and finished with a 46.2 quarterback rating. The worst part of it was that the Giants were daring him to throw. They were putting eight men up front in an effort to stop Minnesota’s running game. That often left single coverage on the wide receivers.
“We all would have liked for him to play better,” coach Leslie Frazier said gingerly.
It would be unfair to put all the blame on Jackson, however, as the Minnesota run defence allowed two running backs to gain more than 100 yards (after allowing only two 100 yard rushing games since 2006). Between no rush (Adrian Peterson was held to 26 yards on 14 carries), no passing game, and no run defence, the game wasn’t much of a challenge for the Giants.
The roof of the Metrodome turns out to have been a harbinger of the whole Vikings 2010 season: caving in.
