Oh how it burns me to live in Steeler country...ha ha. In a matter of minutes last Sunday the Vikings were the probable victors, then were suddenly heading towards a shocking defeat, then were threatening to retake the lead, and then...BAM....knocked out of Pittsburgh in a stunning manner.
Dramatic? Well, that's what us Viking fans call "Sunday."
Luck had been on the Vikings' side in previous close games this year (FINALLY), but last Sunday was a different story. A poorly officiated game, combined with far too many unforced errors and a tough, tough Steelers defense teamed up to hand the Vikings their first loss of the season. It was a game the Vikings could have still won, but there was simply too many things working against them. I'm actually more impressed with how they hung in there in this game than I have been with the six previous WINS. I felt they played that well considering who they were playing.
There were two big missed opportunities for the Vikings: an absurd tripping penalty on Jeff Dugan that wiped away a Sidney Rice touchdown, and the pass that went through Chester Taylor's hands and sealed the deal for the Steelers. Both drives could have resulted in Viking touchdowns, and yet BOTH resulted in seven points for the Steelers.
Certainly those two plays are the most obvious reasons for the defeat, but keep in mind some other factors. We saw glimpses of the old, undisciplined Vikings...11 penalties for 78 yards. Several of those penalties were garbage calls, but the fact remains that you don't win too many games on the road with so many unforced errors.
We should also recall the final Steelers drive of the first half, in which Big Ben sliced and diced a defense that was only rushing four while leaving a wide gap in between the linebackers and safeties. The Vikings could have entered the locker room with a 7-3 lead or at worst 7-6, but instead Pittsburgh led 10-7. Leslie Frazier is getting bizarrely soft in these situations.
Other than that though, the defense played well enough to win despite the absence of Antoine Winfield. It was the offense that self-destructed through penalties, not getting the running game established, and turning the ball over twice down the stretch putting 14 points on the board for the Steelers. Not even Percy Harvin (told you this kid was gonna be awesome) taking his 2nd kickoff return of the year back could make up for the mistakes.
It's also worth noting a third quarter drive by the Vikings that stalled at the one yard line and resulted in a field goal. First and goal from the one, and yet only one of the ensuing three plays went to AP. Talk about a blatant misuse of a great running back.
It stings that a gutsy defensive effort was wasted, it stings that numerous opportunities to win this game went to waste, and it really stings I know far too many Steeler fans. But it's important I keep this game in perspective. Disappointing as this game is, it's 1/16 of the season and we're still 6-1 overall.
Who knows...maybe we'll get our rematch : )
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Ravens @ Vikings - Week 6
Sorry it's taken me so long to get a summary from this game, had a really hectic week last week starting the new job and all. I'm off every Wednesday for now, so I'll start updating the site then. Guess we need to knock out two games today though, so we'll jump back to last week first.
The first two offensive drives of the game for the Vikings? Dominant. The first half defensive effort? Very impressive. The defensive line? Quite good.
The defense's performance in the fourth quarter? An absolute embarrassment. An absolute joke.
On the offensive side of the ball, Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson came out with all guns blazing. Favre was targeting Visanthe Shiancoe and Sidney Rice, and things were looking way too easy for the Vikes. Two drives resulted in two touchdowns, with still half of the first quarter left.
And then...complacency set in. Three of the next four Viking drives resulted in three and outs. They started playing not to lose, rather than playing to win. The Vikings went into the locker room with a 17-3 lead, but after Ray Rice scored to start the 3rd quarter for the Ravens we suddenly had a ballgame.
A 63 yard connection to Sidney Rice put the ball inside the 10 yard line for Minnesota the next drive, but they settled for a field goal to at least give them some breathing room. The Vikings then extended the lead to 17 on the next drive, a commanding lead at this point.
Or was it commanding? Well, theoretically, a 17 point fourth quarter lead is a commanding one. But once the defense proceeded to humiliate themselves in front of the home crowd, such a lead was hardly commanding.
In one of the most stunning defensive collapses I have ever seen (Vikings game or otherwise), the Ravens scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Unreal. The pass coverage was absolutely pathetic. The absence of Winfield had a lot to do with it, but still...three touchdowns...that hardly can be blamed on just one player.
But Brett Favre, like he's done his whole career, came up big again in the fourth quarter and hit Rice with another long pass to set up shop inside the 20 yard line. Longwell kicked a FG and despite the defense's best efforts to lay down and die on Baltimore's last possession of the game, Steven Hauschka missed the potential game winning field goal.
Game. 6-0. Whew
That's the kind of day it was. But after a heart stopping game, the Vikings remained perfect heading to Pittsburgh...
The first two offensive drives of the game for the Vikings? Dominant. The first half defensive effort? Very impressive. The defensive line? Quite good.
The defense's performance in the fourth quarter? An absolute embarrassment. An absolute joke.
On the offensive side of the ball, Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson came out with all guns blazing. Favre was targeting Visanthe Shiancoe and Sidney Rice, and things were looking way too easy for the Vikes. Two drives resulted in two touchdowns, with still half of the first quarter left.
And then...complacency set in. Three of the next four Viking drives resulted in three and outs. They started playing not to lose, rather than playing to win. The Vikings went into the locker room with a 17-3 lead, but after Ray Rice scored to start the 3rd quarter for the Ravens we suddenly had a ballgame.
A 63 yard connection to Sidney Rice put the ball inside the 10 yard line for Minnesota the next drive, but they settled for a field goal to at least give them some breathing room. The Vikings then extended the lead to 17 on the next drive, a commanding lead at this point.
Or was it commanding? Well, theoretically, a 17 point fourth quarter lead is a commanding one. But once the defense proceeded to humiliate themselves in front of the home crowd, such a lead was hardly commanding.
In one of the most stunning defensive collapses I have ever seen (Vikings game or otherwise), the Ravens scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Unreal. The pass coverage was absolutely pathetic. The absence of Winfield had a lot to do with it, but still...three touchdowns...that hardly can be blamed on just one player.
But Brett Favre, like he's done his whole career, came up big again in the fourth quarter and hit Rice with another long pass to set up shop inside the 20 yard line. Longwell kicked a FG and despite the defense's best efforts to lay down and die on Baltimore's last possession of the game, Steven Hauschka missed the potential game winning field goal.
Game. 6-0. Whew
That's the kind of day it was. But after a heart stopping game, the Vikings remained perfect heading to Pittsburgh...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Vikings @ Rams - Week 5
Sorry it has taken me a few days to come up with a recap of last week's game, but in all honesty, it was probably the least excited I have ever been about a win. Last Sunday the St. Louis Rams completed a decisive victory over...the St. Louis Rams. The Vikings? Well, they did indeed show up. They hopped on a plane from Minneapolis, took a bus to the Edward Jones Dome, put their uniforms on, and did what they needed to do to win. Scored some points, completed some drives. But honestly, without numerous key turnovers by the Rams, this game could have been a much different story.
So, basically in a nutshell we're left with a generic win. Not an Obama bailout but not exactly a domination either. Turnovers were the difference. A 52 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jared Allen halted a St. Louis drive that was moving into Vikings territory. Later on in the first half, Stephen Jackson fumbled near the goal line, and Jared Allen once again scooped it up. Yet another promising Rams drive was shut down by a turnover, with the ball popping out of Daniel Fells' hands inside the 10 yardline and ending up in the hands of E. J. Henderson. Those three plays were why the Vikings entered the half with a 17-3 lead.
When the Vikes defense wasn't getting bailed out by St. Louis turnovers, it was busy allowing Kyle Boller to perform well. Once again, the Vikings made a mediocre quarterback look like a Hall of Famer. His effectiveness was aided by Stephen Jackson's surprising success on the ground as well. Overall the Rams offense was well balanced, unlike that of the Beloved Purple.
It was a shocker to see Adrian Peterson only get seven carries in the first half. True, we saw last week that Favre's arm can win a game for the Vikings, but this should still be a run first offense. To be fair, Favre did have yet another solid performance as he continues to get more comfortable with his receiving corps. The Favre-Harvin combo is also displaying that Percy may end up being exactly what I thought he was, the steal of the draft.
But still, there's some reason for concern despite the 5-0 start. This felt like a game the Vikings should have controlled from the opening kickoff, and yet they relied on several turnovers to maintain a solid lead throughout the game. The Vikings defense remains suspect on third downs, which plagued them in the first half of the Packers game as well.
I've heard the argument before: it doesn't matter HOW you win games. Sure, I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty, that goes without saying. But as a gauge for how the Vikings will perform in the next three weeks (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Green Bay), HOW they win games against the easier teams on the schedule does begin to become relevant. If Kyle Boller can carve up the secondary, we have a serious problem. This team can't always rely on turnovers to bail us out.
A quick glance at the scoreboard (38-10) would suggest that this was a dominant victory, but to me the Vikings got lucky this week. Lucky they were playing the Rams, a team that is obviously 0-5 for a reason. I know it's hard to complain when a team doesn't perform to its full potential and still manages to win by several touchdowns, getting the opportunity to rest its key players in the process, but the score was deceiving.
I guess I should feel great that my Beloved Purple is 5-0, but we haven't yet seen them play a complete game. Hopefully that means only more good things to come, but I can't help but wonder if we have already peaked. The next three games will probably show us all who we are and where we may end up...
So, basically in a nutshell we're left with a generic win. Not an Obama bailout but not exactly a domination either. Turnovers were the difference. A 52 yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jared Allen halted a St. Louis drive that was moving into Vikings territory. Later on in the first half, Stephen Jackson fumbled near the goal line, and Jared Allen once again scooped it up. Yet another promising Rams drive was shut down by a turnover, with the ball popping out of Daniel Fells' hands inside the 10 yardline and ending up in the hands of E. J. Henderson. Those three plays were why the Vikings entered the half with a 17-3 lead.
When the Vikes defense wasn't getting bailed out by St. Louis turnovers, it was busy allowing Kyle Boller to perform well. Once again, the Vikings made a mediocre quarterback look like a Hall of Famer. His effectiveness was aided by Stephen Jackson's surprising success on the ground as well. Overall the Rams offense was well balanced, unlike that of the Beloved Purple.
It was a shocker to see Adrian Peterson only get seven carries in the first half. True, we saw last week that Favre's arm can win a game for the Vikings, but this should still be a run first offense. To be fair, Favre did have yet another solid performance as he continues to get more comfortable with his receiving corps. The Favre-Harvin combo is also displaying that Percy may end up being exactly what I thought he was, the steal of the draft.
But still, there's some reason for concern despite the 5-0 start. This felt like a game the Vikings should have controlled from the opening kickoff, and yet they relied on several turnovers to maintain a solid lead throughout the game. The Vikings defense remains suspect on third downs, which plagued them in the first half of the Packers game as well.
I've heard the argument before: it doesn't matter HOW you win games. Sure, I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty, that goes without saying. But as a gauge for how the Vikings will perform in the next three weeks (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Green Bay), HOW they win games against the easier teams on the schedule does begin to become relevant. If Kyle Boller can carve up the secondary, we have a serious problem. This team can't always rely on turnovers to bail us out.
A quick glance at the scoreboard (38-10) would suggest that this was a dominant victory, but to me the Vikings got lucky this week. Lucky they were playing the Rams, a team that is obviously 0-5 for a reason. I know it's hard to complain when a team doesn't perform to its full potential and still manages to win by several touchdowns, getting the opportunity to rest its key players in the process, but the score was deceiving.
I guess I should feel great that my Beloved Purple is 5-0, but we haven't yet seen them play a complete game. Hopefully that means only more good things to come, but I can't help but wonder if we have already peaked. The next three games will probably show us all who we are and where we may end up...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Packers @ Vikings - Week 4
Last season, had you told me before a Vikings game that Adrian Peterson would rush for 55 yards, average two yards a carry, and lose a fumble that was taken back for a touchdown, the only question I would have asked is "Did we lose by three touchdowns, or did we manage to keep it within two?" Over the last couple of years under the Brad Childress era, when AP had a bad game, the Vikings have gotten beaten. But watching Monday night's game, I just knew things were going to be different.
On a night when the best running back in the NFL just couldn't get himself going, a guy that will turn 40 on Saturday put his new team on his back and showed his old team....and the rest of America's doubters...that he's still got plenty in the tank. After he connected with Berrian on a 31 yard touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 28-14, he was 18 for 21 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. For a team, and specifically a secondary, that said they knew everything there was to know about Brett Favre, #4 spent a lot of time making the guys in green and yellow look foolish.
Favre's performance was good enough to earn him the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week, as he finished up with a stat line of 24/31 for 271 yards, three touchdowns, and for the third time in four games, ZERO interceptions. More importantly, he didn't take a single sack during the entire evening after taking nine in the first three weeks.
This was a pretty stark contrast to his counterpart on the other side, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers spent his night under constant pressure from the Vikings' defensive line, and the pressure came almost exclusively from the outsides, as Jared Allen, Ray Edwards, and Brian Robison continuously made the Packer offensive tackles look silly. Allen wound up with 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and his third safety in the last two Viking/Packer games. Overall the Vikings wound up with eight sacks on the evening.
Not everything about Monday night's game was all sunshine and lollipops though. On the rare occasions that Rodgers did get time to throw, he ripped the Vikings apart pretty good, finishing the game with 376 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Vikings also got mauled by a fast, strong tight end again, just as they did by Vernon Davis last week, as Jermichael Finley (who?) caught six passes for 128 yards, including a 62 yard touchdown that answered the Vikings opening score.
As for the old guy, he seems to be living up to the hype after all. Favre has 8 touchdowns, and just one interception so far this year. Will he be able to maintain his current pace? Well, I don't think he's going to end the season with a 32/4 TD to INT ratio or anything, but I do think he's still going to have a significantly larger number in the TD column than he'll have in the INT column. In any event, it sure as heck has been fun to watch so far, hasn't it?
So, what do we have to look forward to in the second quarter of the season? Well, only one of the Minnesota's next four games will be in the comfy confines of the Metrodome. They'll start this stanza with a trip to St. Louis...a potential trap game if there ever was one...for a date with the Rams before hosting the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6 in what should be an extremely physical, hard-hitting contest. No rest for the Vikings after that, as I travel to Heinz Field to watch them take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. After that game they make the annual pilgrimage to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers again.
It's been a great start to the 2009 season, and I'm happy as heck for those of you who have spent it here with me.
On a night when the best running back in the NFL just couldn't get himself going, a guy that will turn 40 on Saturday put his new team on his back and showed his old team....and the rest of America's doubters...that he's still got plenty in the tank. After he connected with Berrian on a 31 yard touchdown in the third quarter to make the score 28-14, he was 18 for 21 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. For a team, and specifically a secondary, that said they knew everything there was to know about Brett Favre, #4 spent a lot of time making the guys in green and yellow look foolish.
Favre's performance was good enough to earn him the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week, as he finished up with a stat line of 24/31 for 271 yards, three touchdowns, and for the third time in four games, ZERO interceptions. More importantly, he didn't take a single sack during the entire evening after taking nine in the first three weeks.
This was a pretty stark contrast to his counterpart on the other side, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers spent his night under constant pressure from the Vikings' defensive line, and the pressure came almost exclusively from the outsides, as Jared Allen, Ray Edwards, and Brian Robison continuously made the Packer offensive tackles look silly. Allen wound up with 4.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and his third safety in the last two Viking/Packer games. Overall the Vikings wound up with eight sacks on the evening.
Not everything about Monday night's game was all sunshine and lollipops though. On the rare occasions that Rodgers did get time to throw, he ripped the Vikings apart pretty good, finishing the game with 376 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Vikings also got mauled by a fast, strong tight end again, just as they did by Vernon Davis last week, as Jermichael Finley (who?) caught six passes for 128 yards, including a 62 yard touchdown that answered the Vikings opening score.
As for the old guy, he seems to be living up to the hype after all. Favre has 8 touchdowns, and just one interception so far this year. Will he be able to maintain his current pace? Well, I don't think he's going to end the season with a 32/4 TD to INT ratio or anything, but I do think he's still going to have a significantly larger number in the TD column than he'll have in the INT column. In any event, it sure as heck has been fun to watch so far, hasn't it?
So, what do we have to look forward to in the second quarter of the season? Well, only one of the Minnesota's next four games will be in the comfy confines of the Metrodome. They'll start this stanza with a trip to St. Louis...a potential trap game if there ever was one...for a date with the Rams before hosting the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6 in what should be an extremely physical, hard-hitting contest. No rest for the Vikings after that, as I travel to Heinz Field to watch them take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. After that game they make the annual pilgrimage to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers again.
It's been a great start to the 2009 season, and I'm happy as heck for those of you who have spent it here with me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
