Quotulatiousness

September 27, 2010

Detroit improves, but not enough to beat Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 08:36

Yesterday’s 24-10 victory was a result of two things going well for the Vikings: the base defence and Adrian Peterson. Peterson ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns (including a career-long 80 yard run), while the defence kept Detroit to three-and-out several times. All of Detroit’s points came from turnovers. Brett Favre had a less-than-stellar outing, with only 201 yards passing for one touchdown and two interceptions, being sacked twice and hit several other times.

On their first offensive play, the Vikings lost starting center John Sullivan to a calf injury. Ryan Cook looked quite good coming off the bench to replace him. Later in the game, Visanthe Shiancoe had a leg injury and left the field.

Minnesota’s passing game is still very much a work in progress: although Favre distributed the ball to lots of receivers, it was almost all short passes. The longest pass was the touchdown reception by Percy Harvin, and that appears to have been a defensive miscue, leaving Harvin uncovered.

It was the first NFL start for rookie cornerback Chris Cook, who was injured in the preseason and the first start of the season for Cedric Griffin, who is now fully recovered from his torn ACL in the NFC championship game.

September 20, 2010

Vikings put themselves deeper in the hole

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 09:35

I didn’t see yesterday’s game . . . and it sounds as if I missed a really disappointing viewing opportunity:

Sunday’s loss came down to missed opportunities for the Vikings, who wasted Adrian Peterson’s first regular-season 100-yard rushing performance since last Nov. 15 against Detroit.

The stats indicate this was a one-sided game — in the Vikings’ favor.

They ran 72 offensive plays to 46 for the Dolphins. They had 364 total yards to 226 for Miami and controlled the ball for 35 minutes, 48 seconds.

But when faced with crucial situations, the Vikings failed. They converted five of 14 third-down opportunities and were unsuccessful on three of four fourth-down attempts. The Vikings brought the ball into the red zone five times but came away with only one touchdown.

Favre threw three interceptions — one more than all of last season at home — and committed a crucial fumble in the third quarter, recovered by Miami linebacker Koa Misi in the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-0 Dolphins lead.

Tom Powers wonders how long it’ll be before the team (or the fans) reach for that panic button:

The magic is gone. Or at least it has been misplaced.

Brett Favre and the Vikings’ offense had labored all game Sunday at the Metrodome. But with 1:42 left, they took the field, trailing by four points, 55 yards from victory. Favre has made a career out of situations such as these. And not one soul from among the sellout crowd for the season’s first home game had dared move toward the exit. This was Favre time.

On the sideline, coach Brad Childress felt confident. Despite watching Favre occasionally misfire against the Dolphins and watching a sub-par receiving corps struggle to make plays, he was convinced something good was about to happen. He could sense it.

“You do,” he agreed afterward. “And we had a timeout left.”

Not this time. What in the past would have been a final, glorious Vikings touchdown drive fizzled. The last play was a raggedy-looking short pass toward Visanthe Shiancoe over the middle. Then the Vikings walked off the field, heads down, staring at an oh and two record after their 14-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Somewhere in Vikings Land there is a big red button just waiting to be pushed. Then sirens will wail and buzzers will bellow. Then it officially will be time to panic. Can that button be pushed after just two games?

So, Brett Favre has now had his post-pre-season workout . . . will he be back in synch with his receivers next week? It took three regular season games last year, against weaker opponents than the first two this year. The defence is in late-season form: they’ve been doing more than their share of the fighting, it’s the other guys in the passing attack who haven’t been picking up the slack.

Bernard Berrian is making a case for him not being with the team next year: this was his big opportunity to prove that he’s a number one receiver, but he’s not making the case (Powers is even harsher, “Bernard Berrian is about as useful as a hood ornament”). Visanthe Shiancoe once again was the leading receiver, and Adrian Peterson had his best running performance in more than a year . . . but the wide receivers didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

It’s not impossible for the Vikings to right the ship and sail on to a division title . . . it’s just the next thing to impossible at 0-2 with the Packers doing everything right.

August 23, 2010

San Francisco 15, Vikings 10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:43

Last night’s preseason game had a brief cameo appearance by Brett Favre, who only completed one pass to Adrian Peterson, and then took a big sack. Favre got up smiling after the sack, so he wasn’t hurt by it, but it was Peterson’s man who got through to Favre. Peterson needs to be better at picking up blitzes in order to stay on the field in third down situations (Chester Taylor used to do third down blocking, but he’s with Chicago this year).

Tarvaris Jackson took over at quarterback after the first series, and played the remainder of the first half. The Vikings’ offensive line didn’t show great form, allowing another sack of Jackson (that was Chris Clark’s man getting the sack) and allowing several hits on him as he released the ball. The defensive line wasn’t its usual dominant self either, as the 49ers were able to score the first points of the game against the Vikings’ starters. E.J. Henderson got his first start after coming back from a late-season injury that many thought might be a career-ender. The defensive backfield had a different look to it, with cornerback Antoine Winfield only playing one series, then giving way to second-round pick Chris Cook. The other corner was manned by Lito Sheppard and Asher Allen playing alternating series. Jamarca Sanford started at strong safety, then alternated with last season’s starter Tyrell Johnson.

Joe Webb, who the Vikings originally planned to convert to wide receiver, made a strong case for sticking on the regular season roster:

Webb, a sixth-round pick out of Alabama-Birmingham, completed seven of 14 passes for 47 yards in the fourth quarter and, more important, ran for 53 yards on three carries, including a 48-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 54 seconds left. He then showed his inexperience by getting sacked on the final play of the game for a safety.

The Vikings likely won’t get much of a look at Webb on Saturday night in their third game of the preseason against Seattle. It will be the Vikings’ exhibition home opener and, as is usually the case, the starters are expected to play into the third quarter. That will include Favre, who must get settled back into this offense after missing the first two weeks of training camp.

The problem for the Vikings is that they plan to carry only three quarterbacks on the roster, and Favre, Jackson, and Sage Rosenfels all returned from last season. Webb could be a good quarterback — given a year or two of seasoning — but he’s looked too good in his brief opportunities to risk trying to sneak him on to the practice squad, which may mean the Vikings need to hold a regular roster spot open for him.

January 25, 2010

Vikings dominant in all categories, except the most important one

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:04

Minnesota looked great in the stat sheet: total yards — 475 yards to 257, passing — 310 yards to 189 and rushing 165 to the Saints’ 68. But there was one big number they couldn’t overcome: turnovers. It was as if someone had greased the football, with Adrian Peterson fumbling twice (once on the Saints’ goal line) and recovering a third. Even Percy Harvin let one get away from him, while Brett Favre was picked off twice (once to kill the Vikings’ best chance to win in regulation time). The Saints, by comparison, played almost turnover free, except for a bad decision on fielding a punt by Reggie Bush.

Brett Favre took a beating, as Saints defenders took every opportunity to hit him (only drawing a penalty once for a flagrant hit). Near the end of the third quarter, Favre was so slow getting up again that it appeared he’d be leaving the game. After having his ankle examined and re-taped, Favre re-entered the game on the next series. He must have been quite emphatic about it with the coaches, as backup Tarvaris Jackson didn’t even start warming up.

Chip Scoggins talked with Adrian Peterson after the game:

Adrian Peterson came out of the locker room — still dressed in full uniform — to watch the New Orleans Saints celebrate their first trip to the Super Bowl. As fans cheered, confetti fell and the Saints gathered on a stage at midfield, Peterson stood silent and watched the scene from the tunnel.

“It was painful,” he said. “Especially the way the game ended. Our guys fought hard and I honestly feel like we just gave the game away. Too many turnovers. It came back at the end to bite us.”
Peterson had a hand in that. Though he finally rushed for 100 yards and scored three touchdowns, Peterson also fumbled two times and took responsibility for the botched handoff at the end of the first half.

Peterson finished with 122 yards rushing on 25 carries, ending a streak of eight games without reaching the 100-yard mark. But his performance was marred by his fumbles and he admitted afterward that he started thinking too much about his mistakes.

“After the first one close to the goal line, I let it play in my head too much,” he said. “I came out the second half and was thinking about it too much. I had to get my mind back focused and not thinking about it when I was out there.”

Peterson’s fumbling problem became a major issue in his third season. He fumbled seven times, losing six of them in the regular season. He said he will spend the offseason trying to solve it.

January 19, 2010

TMQ’s view of the Minnesota-Dallas playoff game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 13:05

I don’t always agree with Gregg Easterbrook, but I always find him an interesting writer. Here’s some of his observations on the Vikings-Cowboys game:

Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees — the run-up to Title Weekend is sure to focus on them. For my money, the Colts, Jets, Saints and Vikings made the championship round because they have the league’s four best offensive lines.

Ninety percent of the action in football occurs away from the ball. When Jersey/B runners burst into the clear, or Favre casually dissects a defense, what’s going on is terrific blocking. Manning was sacked less than any other NFL quarterback this season because the Colts’ offensive line is tremendous. The Jets are in the championship round because of the holes their blockers open. The Vikings’ and Saints’ offensive lines both pass-block and run-block equally well, which is a rare combination. The TV commentators will be watching the glory boys holding the football. I’ll be watching the offensive lines. All four are tremendous.

[. . .] between a first-ever chance to host an NFC title game, and the travails of the city of New Orleans, there will be more energy in the Superdome on Sunday than in Iron Man’s pulse reactor. The sheer atmosphere-power within the facility may exceed the crowd feeling of any other game in NFL history. The Vikings are 9-0 at home this season, and 4-4 on the road — the only quality team they beat on the road was the Packers. NFL players are not intimidated by crowd noise. But it won’t just be crowd noise, it will be energy. The Vikings face an uphill climb.

Adrian Peterson — remember him? He hasn’t had a 100-yard rushing game since Nov. 15. The New Orleans run defense is weak, while its pass defense is strong. A conservative, rush-oriented game plan might be just what the doctor ordered considering New Orleans’ personnel and the need to keep the Saints’ league-leading offense off the field. But with Brett Favre and Brad Childress both preoccupied with pumping up Favre’s stats (see below) will Minnesota be able to bring itself to do the smart thing and use a conservative game plan?

When the Saints have the ball, you just never know what is going to happen. They probably don’t either, which is the joy of watching this team. When attention turns to the Vikings, all eyes are on Favre. But what makes Minnesota special is the best pair of lines in the league. The offensive line is stout, the defensive line is fantastic. The Vikings just clobbered the Cowboys via superior line play — if they are to win in New Orleans, their lines will be the key.

I’m looking forward to watching the Saints-Vikings game, but Easterbrook’s praise of Minnesota is a tad overdone. The offensive and defensive lines are good, but they have had some bad outings in the last month, and the offensive line is much better at pass blocking than run blocking (Adrian Peterson is one of the best running backs in the NFL, but even he can’t run if there are no running lanes opened up for him). It’s also not yet known how bad the leg injury to Ray Edwards was (no official word until tomorrow). If he can’t play, it’ll depend on Jared Allen fighting through double-team blocking without the same threat from the other side of the line.

The Brett-Favre-to-Sidney-Rice connection has been wonderful, but after Sunday’s game, New Orleans will be double-teaming Rice all afternoon. Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe will have to get open much more this week than they did this time. New Orleans is supposed to be weak against the run (they’ve jumped ahead in most games, so teams have had to throw against them to try to catch up). I hope that’s true, and that Adrian gets some good run blocking to let him do what he’s proven he can do best: hit those lanes and take it to the house.

January 17, 2010

The nailbiter-that-wasn’t

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 17:29

With most media reports emphasizing how Dallas on their five-game winning streak had the advantage over Minnesota, the results didn’t bear out the prognostications. DeMarcus Ware was going to make Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie look like rag dolls. The Dallas nose tackle was going to use Vikings centre Sullivan as a welcome mat. Jason Whitten was going to have a career game against Minnesota’s notoriously bad secondary.

34-3 was the final score, clearly showing the experts knew what they were talking about.

Well, in another universe anyway. Dallas had a great start to the game, putting up lots of yards against the Vikings, while the Vikings had negative yardage. But Dallas couldn’t get into the end zone, while the Vikings started getting there on a regular basis. Brett Favre set yet another record (his 4 TD passes were a personal playoff mark), and receiver Sidney Rice was on the receiving end of three of them, the fourth going to Visanthe Shiancoe. Jared Allen made lots of noise in the Dallas backfield, drawing attention away from the other side of the line, where Ray Edwards tallied three sacks (half of the Vikings’ total in the game).

Although the Vikings’ offensive line kept Favre relatively untroubled, they still didn’t do enough to open running lanes for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. Facing New Orleans for the NFC title game next week, the line had better do more to create those lanes, as the Saints are not good at defending against the run.

December 30, 2009

Eight Vikings to represent NFC in Pro Bowl

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:44

The voting for the Pro Bowl tends to trail actual performance by a year or more, as evidenced by the inclusion of Bryant McKinnie with the Viking players selected:

The Vikings lead all NFL teams this year by getting eight — yes eight — players named to this year’s NFC Pro Bowl roster. The next closest were the Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, and Philadelphia Eagles with six nods.

First, there are the usual suspects: Adrian Peterson and Steve Hutchinson got the starting nod at running back and guard respectively, which shouldn’t shock too many people. Kevin Williams and Jared Allen will once again start along the defensive line. Even Señor Schism himself, Brett Favre, made the team for the eleventh time. He’ll back up starter Drew Brees at QB.

Then there are a couple pleasant surprises. Wide receiver Sidney Rice made his first Pro Bowl, a very worthy selection in my slightly biased opinion. Heath Farwell was the NFC selection for Special Teamer. Besides last night’s debacle, Farwell has been the main reason for the vastly improved special teams unit this year.

A big difference from Pro Bowls in the past is that this game will be played before the Super Bowl, in an attempt to capture a larger viewing audience than the Pro Bowl traditionally garners. It also means that the Pro Bowl players named from teams going to the Super Bowl won’t be playing in the Pro Bowl.

December 29, 2009

Vikings fumble away chance for a first-round bye

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:34

If all you watched of last night’s game was the second half, you’d think the Vikings were unstoppable. Unfortunately, there was the first half and then the overtime period which showed Minnesota in their more traditional guise (for the last few games anyway). The first half was the worst 30 minutes of football the team has played all season. In overtime, Adrian Peterson’s fumbling issues came back with a vengeance.

At the end of the first half, the Bears were up by 16 points, and the Vikings were lucky the margin wasn’t worse. The offensive line was again unable to open lanes for the running game and Brett Favre was under steady pressure, throwing for only 36 yards up to halftime.

Minnesota’s special teams looked like a throwback to last year’s line-up, giving up two long returns, setting up Chicago with a short field. A bad hold on an extra point allowed Chicago to deflect the ball away from the uprights. That point might have been useful at the end of the game. Chicago felt comfortable enough with their kick coverage team to allow Percy Harvin a chance to receive the kickoffs. None of Harvin’s six returns were as long as his season average (his best was 27 yards, but his season average was over 28). Even Harvin can’t run where there are no running lanes.

The beat writers at the Minneapolis Star Tribune both picked Chicago to win this game. Here’s Judd Zulgad:

I know a few of you thought Chip and I were crazy for picking the Chicago Bears to beat the Vikings on Monday night. My reasoning for the pick was based on the fact that not only had the Vikings put on awful performances in their recent prime-time losses at Arizona and Carolina but this also seemed to me to be a team that had lost its confidence.

Even as the Vikings rallied from a 17-point deficit against the Bears on Monday to force overtime — they eventually lost 36-30 — I never had the definite feeling that the Vikings were going to pull this one out. That, of course, should have been the feeling. The Vikings appeared to be a superior team to the Bears on Nov. 29 when they crushed them 36-10 at the Metrodome and considering Chicago was 5-9 entering Monday it appeared the Bears had little reason for which to play.

The Vikings (11-4) had every reason to play hard and try to put away the Bears early based on the fact that Minnesota was still alive in the race for the top seed in the NFC — the Saints have now clinched that spot — and are fighting for at least the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. But the Vikings came out flat and as a result right now the Eagles own the second seed because they have the tie-breaker over the Vikings.

And here’s Mark Craig:

One more thought: In trying to decide who is better, the A, Vikings or B, Saints, I’ve decided my answer is:
C, The Eagles.

December 21, 2009

Vikings put on terrible performance, get beaten badly by Carolina Panthers

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:08

In another late game on Sunday, the Vikings didn’t do anything right. The offensive line was terrible, making it impossible for Adrian Peterson to get any kind of running game going, and putting lots of pressure on Brett Favre. With no running game, the Panthers defensive backs were able to concentrate on stopping the pass — and did. Favre was sacked four times, and Carolina’s Julius Peppers made both Phil Loadholt and Bryant McKinnie look helpless and lost.

If the loss to Arizona was bad (and it was), this was easily much worse. There were no indications that the Vikings cared about this game, and Carolina took the game to them.

The defensive line had nearly as bad a night as the offensive line did, giving up a 100 yard rushing performance for the first time in 36 games. The loss of middle linebacker E.J. Henderson was painfully apparent, as the linebackers were far too frequently caught out of position or, even worse, failing to wrap up on tackles. Steve Smith totally dominated Antoine Winfield, who had a forgettable night.

And, just to complete the night, Brad Childress and Brett Favre got into an argument that the network TV cameras caught:

“Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it,” said Favre, who finished 17 of 27 for 224 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. “We were up 7-6 at the time. No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays. We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, ‘They’re not moving the ball, they’re not getting points.’ Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game.

“We were up 7-6. Yeah, it’s not 70-6, but we’re up 7-6. So I said, ‘I’m staying in the game, I’m playing.’ I don’t know if it was exactly to protect me, or we had seven points, I’m not sure. That’s his call. But we talked it out. We didn’t have time, I didn’t have time to sit there and say why or what. My response was, we’ve got to win this ballgame and I want to stay in and do whatever I can. Now, unfortunately, I didn’t do that, but that was my intention.”

Despite losing, the Vikings benefitted from an earlier game where the Steelers beat Green Bay on a last-second TD, which gives the Vikings the NFC North title for the second year in a row.

December 14, 2009

Vikings back in the Win column, beat Bengals 30-10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 08:58

If last week’s terrible outing against the Cardinals was a wake-up call, then I think it worked: Minnesota put on a comprehensive display of dominance in all three phases of the game yesterday against Cincinnati. Despite two defensive rookies making their first career starts (middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley and safety Jamarca Sanford), the Bengals had trouble moving the ball (Carson Palmer had his second-worst statistically).

Cornerback Antoine Winfield made his triumphant return to the field after an extended time recovering from a foot injury. He had nine tackles and forced a fumble late in the second quarter, which led to a Viking field goal. He’s still not back 100%, as he dropped an interception and lost Chad Ochocinco on a passing play to give the Bengals their only touchdown of the day. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert was very impressed with Winfield’s performance, saying “Antoine Winfield picked up where he left off as the NFL’s best tackler.”

In the duel of the running backs, the numbers were close with Adrian Peterson logging 97 yards on 26 carries against Cedric Benson’s 16 carries for 96 yards, but Peterson had two touchdowns to set a new scoring record for a Viking running back. Peterson also added 40 yards receiving on 3 passes.

December 8, 2009

Can’t disagree with this, either

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 14:02

Also from today’s TMQ column:

Minnesota boasts about its defensive line, but against Arizona, the front four were getting little pressure on Kurt Warner, so defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier started calling blitzes. The result: Touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald against the blitz, with safeties nowhere to be seen. But good Arizona defense carried the day. Cardinals leading 24-10 in the third quarter, Minnesota went: Adrian Peterson loss of 5, sack, interception, and TMQ wrote the words “game over” in his notebook. Brett Favre stayed on the field till the final snap despite the fact the hosts led 30-10 with a couple of minutes remaining, which indicates coach Brad Childress is concerned with padding Favre’s stats — a bad sign.

December 7, 2009

Vikings lose to Cardinals, 30-17

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 09:08

In short, it was definitely the worst game the Vikings have played this season, with poor performances in all aspects. The injury bug bit, hard, with Viking players dropping on both sides of the ball, and both Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson having season-worst outings.

The game started well for the Purple, with an early forced fumble giving the Vikings a short field and a quick touchdown (although Brad Childress had to throw a challenge flag after Visanthe Shiancoe was initially ruled out of bounds on the reception). And that was pretty much the high point of the game, with the wheels coming off early in the following series. With backups on the offensive line, there was nowhere to run for Adrian Peterson, and Brett Favre threw two interceptions (and could easily have had four, had Cardinal backs been able to hang on to the ball).

Poor play aside, probably the biggest loss was the season-ending injury to middle linebacker E.J. Henderson:

The silence in the Vikings locker room late Sunday night was all one needed to observe to understand just how painful of loss this team had suffered at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals.

Not only had the Vikings easily played their worst game of the season in a 30-17 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals but they also had lost defensive captain and middle linebacker E.J. Henderson to a fractured femur in his left leg. Players choked up as they attempted to discuss the injury to Henderson.

Coach Brad Childress said Henderson would remain in a Phoenix-area hospital tonight and probably undergo surgery. The severity of Henderson’s situation — the second time he has suffered a season-ending injury in as many years — made the loss almost secondary.

“It’s a horrible injury,” linebacker Ben Leber said as he fought his emotions. “I feel bad for the guy. He has battled through so much.”

November 29, 2009

Vikings beat Bears 36-10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 22:28

For a game I was worried about, it sure didn’t support my anxieties, with Minnesota rolling to a decisive victory at home. Brett Favre was a bare 11 yards short of a career record passing game (he did tie the all-time record for games started by non-kicker/non-punter with former Viking Jim “Iron Man” Marshall at 282):

Favre passed for a season-high 392 yards and three touchdowns, and the Vikings intercepted Cutler twice in a 36-10 victory over the Bears on Sunday.

Favre went 32 for 48 without a turnover and was 10 yards off his career best, throwing touchdowns to Visanthe Shiancoe, Chester Taylor and Percy Harvin, the unflappable rookie who had his best game yet.

The Vikings (10-1) outgained the Bears by a whopping 537 yards to 169 and breezed to their fifth straight win, despite two more fumbles and a pedestrian 85 yards on 25 carries by Adrian Peterson.

His short, late touchdown run put Minnesota over 32 points for the sixth time this season. The Vikings had 31 first downs, the Bears just eight.

Cutler was precise in the short passing game and effective in the no-huddle, keeping the Bears (4-7) in it until late in the second quarter. He was picked off by a diving Cedric Griffin in the end zone. Then on the next possession, E.J. Henderson got his hand on a ball over the middle that Jared Allen jumped up and caught with 57 seconds left in the half.

Adrian Peterson’s fumbles continue to be a concern for the Vikings, although only one of the two in this game caused problems. A player with a reputation for fumbling attracts all kinds of extra attention, and especially for Peterson, who often refuses to go to ground, attempting to gain extra yards after being stopped.

Jared Allen had two sacks and several hurries, while Benny Sapp and Karl Paymah substituted for injured cornerback Antoine Winfield.

88972226EG015_Chicago_Bears

November 16, 2009

Vikings beat Lions in spite of outbreak of penalty-itis

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:38

Not a great game by Minnesota yesterday, but fortunately for them they were playing against Detroit, so the penalties didn’t sink them (13 penalties for 91 yards, a season-worst). Coming out of their bye week, the Vikings looked anything but dominant in the first half, giving up far too much ground for a team with hopes of going deep into the playoffs. Of course, a lot of that was due to penalties. Kevin Seifert runs down the good and bad of the game:

Indeed, the Vikings overmatched the Lions in every way Sunday and ultimately overwhelmed them. They are 8-1 and have a three-game lead in the NFC North. This season is rapidly shaping up as a once-in-a-generation combination of opportunity and chance, putting the Vikings on a pretty short list of candidates to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

But lest anyone get too convinced of that destiny, remember this: If Adrian Peterson can get caught from behind, anything can happen.

“He just made a great play,” Peterson said. “Those guys on the other side of the ball, sometimes those guys are fast, too.”

But the second lesson/reminder of Sunday was that Minnesota has the offensive firepower to overcome even a series of similar occurrences. (It helped to be matched against the Lions’ horrid pass defense, which has allowed quarterbacks to complete 71 percent of their passes on the way to a 107.8 rating.)

Minnesota gashed the Lions for 492 total yards, an average of 7.8 yards per play. Five of them went for 40 or more yards. Quarterback Brett Favre passed for 344 yards, receiver Sidney Rice totaled 201 receiving yards and Peterson finished with 133 rushing yards.

I understand the Vikings won’t be playing the Lions’ defense every week, and certainly not in any postseason game. But as they continue to compile elite offensive numbers, the confidence of the players surrounding Favre will only improve.

One of the good things coming out of this game was that the Vikings didn’t suffer any serious injuries, unlike Detroit — it looked like the head coach was going to have to suit up to play in the defensive secondary by the middle of the third quarter. Lions players were dropping all over the field.

Favre continued to spread the ball around, making it much tougher for the defenders to key in on the most likely receiver. Peterson had a good outing, although the highlight reel footage you’ll likely see is him being caught from behind on what would have been a great touchdown run (Detroit’s Phillip Buchanon punched the ball out, which rolled into the endzone for a touchback).

October 25, 2009

Vikings lose to Steelers, 27-17

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 20:20

It was a very competitive game, but the difference was penalties and turnovers. Minnesota had a touchdown called back on a tripping penalty (one of 11 total penalties), while Brett Favre had a fumble and an interception returned for touchdowns.

The Vikings couldn’t gain a half-yard when it might have turned the game, then watched the Steelers’ big-play defense end their unbeaten season with two long touchdown returns in the final 6½ minutes.

LaMarr Woodley’s 77-yard fumble return and Keyaron Fox’s 82-yard interception return on turnovers by Favre allowed the Steelers to turn back Minnesota’s repeated comeback attempts, and the Steelers rode three major defensive stands to an important 27-17 victory Sunday.

The anticipated quarterback showdown between Favre and NFL passing leader Ben Roethlisberger became a defensive duel. And the Super Bowl champion Steelers (5-2) — No. 1 defensively the last two seasons — are tough to beat in any game that’s decided by defense.

The Viking defence actually did very well in the absence of Antoine Winfield (who may be out for 4-6 weeks), although Benny Sapp had a couple of bad plays during the game. If the Vikings weren’t hurting for DBs, he might have been benched . . . but he worked hard after the mistakes. Sidney Rice continues to develop as a big-time receiving threat, adding another 136 yards after his career performance last week. Percy Harvin had a beautiful kick return for a TD, which put the Vikings back into contention, and Adrian Peterson had good combined rushing/receiving numbers, although he didn’t break 100 rushing yards.

Still, if you had to pick a game to lose, losing to the defending Superbowl champions in an out-of-conference away game would probably be the one to choose. Not that I’m happy they lost, mind you.

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