What a difference three weeks makes. Four weeks ago the Vikings were coming off their worst loss of the season, a demoralizing 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the archrival Packers.
How bad was that defeat? It was the first time the Vikes had been shut out in 16 years, and the fourth-straight loss to the hated Pack in the Childress Era.
It was a completely-inept offensive performance, as the Vikings managed only 11 first downs, and were an impotent 0-11 on third- and fourth-down conversions.
Brett Favre shredded the suspect Viking pass defense for 351 yards and 3 TDs, and Ryan Grant became the first back of the season to gain over a hundred yards against the normally-stout Minnesota run defense.
After that game, the Vikings were 3-6 and looked deader than a Thanksgiving turkey. However, since that game they have posted a solid win over a horrible Oakland team, pounded the Wild Card-leading Giants on the road, and totally destroyed division-rival Detroit in the Metrodome.
The Oakland game was a little rough for the Vikings. Although the offense rumbled up the field for 25 first downs on 250 yards passing and 228 yards rushing, they also had five turnovers, one INT and four fumbles lost. Without Minnesota's turnovers, Oakland wouldn't have stood a chance in that game.
The next week at Giants Stadium, the defense carried the team, returning three interceptions for touchdowns. Still, the offense had a respectable day, gaining a total of 251 yards, split pretty much equally between running and passing. More importantly, the offense managed to put up 20 points against a pretty good New York defense.
And of course, last week back in Minnesota, the offense looked like a dominating purple juggernaut racking up 443 yards and scoring on its first five possessions. The offense scored on drives of nine plays for 87 yards, ten plays for 84 yards, ten plays for 51 yards, five plays for 27 yards, and nine plays for 66 yards.
Additionally, the last two drives went 11 plays for 70 yards, ending in an interception, and nine plays for 66 yards, ending with the Vikes' only punt of the day.
Statistically, the improvement on offense is dramatic. The Vikings averaged a weak 17.1 first downs per game over the first nine games—that's up to 23.0 over the last three games. Passing yards are up over 50 yards per game from a pathetic 152.6 yards a game, to a still-anemic but much better 200.3 yards per game. Even more dramatically, the pass completion percentage has gone from 51.6 percent over the first nine games to 77.4 percent over the last three games. Even the running game has improved, going from an outstanding 172.3 yards per game to a stratospheric 190.3 yards per game.
4 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
Colt Brennan - 131 touchdown passes, 23 NCAA records, only undefeated team in America. Who else can say that? How did he not win the Heisman?
Disappointing. All those voters didn't watch any of Colt's games before voting. Well, when he murders Georgia, I hope they change their system... voters must watch at least the last 2 games for each of the candidate. Their vote has no credibility when they just look at stats and read news articles.
Vote fair people.
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Paul about 1 year ago
Bah, Colt hasn't played against any of the good teams. Chase Daniel should have won soley for his QB skills. If Colt played for a big time team like USC, LSU, etc, and put up those kinds of numbers, then it would be a different story.
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Michael Whittenberg about 1 year ago
Why does this guy keep posting this comment on every football article? I like the Vikings if Jackson can pay well every week along with Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson, then I like their chances of making the playoffs.
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Paul about 1 year ago
No idea, but I replied back about it. He doesn't know football obviously.
I think Jackson is coming along quite nicely now. The game is slowing down for him, he's not making stupid mistakes and he's not overthrowing everyone. I think the Vikes need to do more two-back sets though. This last game against the 49ers was horrible for poor AD, they KNEW every time he was the sole back that he was going to run the ball and would call the run blitz. Put both of them in there and mix it up so no one knows who is going to run the ball. The Vikes are too predictable sometimes and this is a prime example of it. They need to be more creative with those play calling situations where people are stacking the box against AD. I love the way they are playing defense now and throwing those new looks out there with the blitzes. Hopefully we can keep this thing going and get to the playoffs, go Vikes!
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