The Morning After Pill - Week # 1

Yes, I know exactly what you're thinking, because I thought it for a while last night myself.
Nine months of preparation. . .millions of dollars spent. . .and the Vikings go out and put up a performance like THAT!?
The most important thing to keep in mind here is that this just one game. Yes, it hurts worse and sucks more because it was a loss to Green Bay. But there are still 15 more of these to go this season, and I have a feeling that things will be getting better the rest of the way. Having my theory proven true hinges on the abilities of one man.
Brad Childress.
As of this moment, I've given up trying to figure out how Brad Childress constructs his offensive game plans. The first half of last night's game was one of the single worst first halves of football I've ever seen. Tarvaris Jackson had 7. . .yes, SEVEN. . .pass attempts in the entire first half, and only completed two for 16 yards. Yes, they have Adrian Peterson at their disposal, and he was his usual God-like self last night, given the circumstances. . .but during the pre-season, I saw an improvement in Jackson's play. Brad Childress told everyone all off-season about how Jackson had improved and was going to be a big surprise this year.
And then he goes out in the first half and gives him, basically, zero opportunities to make plays. Did they run a single time to the outside last night? Was there a toss or a sweep play to be found anywhere? If there was, I don't recall it. When you have Steve Hutchinson and Matt Birk, two of the premiere players at their positions you should be running towards the edges a lot and, for some reason, the Vikings seem to be content to just keep slamming people into the middle of the line repeatedly.
The offensive game plan simply MUST be more creative from this point forward if the Vikings are to reach the potential that I know they have. Granted, the absence of Bryant McKinnie plays a big part in that, but even with Hicks or Johnson out there at the LT spot, the Vikings need to start doing some different things with Jackson and with the best RB combo in football.
And yet, despite all of that and despite Brad Childress' terrible first half playcalling, the Minnesota offense outscored Green Bay's offense. They actually outgained the Packers in net yardage, 355-317. The Vikings had more first downs than Green Bay did (21-15). Both teams were right around 40% on third-down conversions. Tarvaris Jackson and Aaron Rodgers both had 178 passing yards and 1 passing TD. (Granted, Rodgers looked far more efficient in doing so.) It was truly a tale of two halves for Minnesota. After letting the Packers win the time of possession battle in the first half, the Vikings had possession for a longer time in the third quarter than they did in the entire first half. There was a point in the second half where the Vikings had run 29 offensive plays to Green Bay's 3.
As is the case in the National Football League, one or two plays made the difference in this football game. A few examples of such plays?
How about back in the first quarter where the Packers' faced 3rd and 13 and ran a draw play to Brandon Jackson. Jackson fumbled the ball forward, and it looked like numerous Vikings had a shot at recovering the football. . .but at the end of the play, Greg Jennings recovered for Green Bay on the other side of the first-down line, and the Packers kept possession. A recovery there for Minnesota would have set them up at around the Packers' 30-yard line, and they likely could have gotten at least a field goal out of something like that.
Or how about when Bernard Berrian catches a pass down the sideline after beating the defender only to trip on his own with nothing but green grass in front of him? Alas, the Vikings only drive 20 more yards and have to settle for a field goal. As it turns out, huge 4 point swing right there.

The killer, of course, was Will Blackmon's 76-yard punt return in the third quarter. That was a combination of a bad, line drive kick by Chris Kluwe and pretty terrible overall coverage by the Vikings' special teams. Big returns will happen, of course, but usually Kluwe has significantly more hang time on his punts. Hopefully this won't become a trend over the course of the season.

Speaking of special teams, how much different could things have been had the Vikings recovered what was a perfectly acceptable onside kick by Ryan Longwell? Granted, they got the ball back anyway, but they could have set up shop in Green Bay territory (which is where they would have been, thanks to a dumb penalty on the Packers during the PAT after Adrian Peterson's TD run).

Yes, last night's loss was disappointing, to say the least. Yes, it's a game that the Vikings could have won. Yes, Brad Childress is now 0-5 against Green Bay as the Vikings' head coach (and nobody is more infuriated with that than I am). But it's only one game, and the time has come to move on and start looking forward to the home opener against Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. Hopefully things will take a much different path than they took on Monday night.