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.