Thoughts by: Matthew Deery
The Minnesota Vikings did not waste time this past Sunday letting their rival Packers know who the best team in the NFC North really is. Not a great start for Vikings fans when first quarter miscommunication between Favre and the Center John Sullivan gave the Packers the football deep in Minnesota territory. Fortunately this was the Vikings first half defense which did not allow the Packers any breathing room and only allowed Green Bay to gain 2 yards. This held the Packers to a field goal, their only points of the first half.
Percy Harvin, enter stage right. What can I say about this kid that I haven't already? Vikings fans have become so accustomed to watching Percy do whatever he wants on the football field. His game is starting to resemble greatness similar to that of our monster running back.
After the Packers put the game's first points on the board Percy wasted no time dashing Packer fan's euphoria about their small lead by taking the ensuing kickoff 77 yards all the way to the Green Bay 14 yard line.
For all the people who said Childress and Bevell call a dangerously conservative game plan (me), prepare to get your mind blown. Childress decided to go for a 4th and 1 on the Packers goal line. Big pay off because AP punched it in for the 1 yard score.
Surprisingly, this was not the only time Childress went for it on 4th in this game. The second time around the Vikings failed to get the 1st down, but gutsy on Childress's part. I commend him for it. A touchdown in the second situation would have put the Vikings up 24-3 in the first half. That is what I like to call going for the jugular; my hat is off to you Brad.
The Packers next three drives after the Vikings touchdown gained a total of 7 yards. This can be accredited to the Vikings relentless pursuit of Aaron Rodgers by sacking him 3 times on those possessions.In the first half the Minnesota defense looked decisive in pass coverage, tackled well, and got pressure by rushing only four lineman. The only good trend to carry into the second half however, was the four man pressure. The pass coverage was still decent in the second half, but not shut down like the first half. I expected the Packers to be able to move the ball through the air on our already weakened pass defense (but for the second straight week the Vikings coverage held their own) because Ryan Grant obviously could not run the rock on the Vikings defense.
Honestly, you have to expect a smart and strong armed quarterback like Rodgers with two top tier wide outs and a strong supporting WR core to have success and score against any defense. Need proof? Check Greg Jennings 4th quarter touchdown with a Vikings defender draped all over him. The Vikings secondary did fine work Week 8 against the potent Packer passing attack.
After Percy Harvin hauled in his 3rd receiving touchdown of the year on a 51 yard strike to put the Vikings up 24-3, the Packers went on to score 17 unanswered points. This put the score at 24-20, way too close for any Minnesota fan who was enjoying a comfortable football game.
The Vikings defense is going to get chewed out when they sit down and watch game film of the second half with their coaches. The defense went from a solid all around first half to forgetting how to wrap a guy up and tackle. I could not believe all the extra yards the Packer players were getting after contact. In football lingo, we call that YAC (yards after catch). Credit to the Packers for fighting for those extra yards, but shame on the Vikings for giving up so much more ground with poor tackling. Even Chad Greenway's dynamite first half was tainted by some ugly tackling. I hope the coaching staff stresses the importance of sure tackling over the Bye Week.
If Viking ineptitude becomes a reoccurring theme I am going to post a weekly Idiot of the Week.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Minnesota Vikings articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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