Minnesota Vikings Turn the Corner

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.
 
The Vikings have a real chance to be one of the most dominant rushing teams in the NFL over the last 30 years.  The team record for rushing yards in a season is 3,165, held by the 1978 New England Patriots, and the Vikings have an outside chance to break that record.

Minnesota is on pace to rush for over 2,700 yards this season.  Only nine teams have done that over the last 30 years—and only one team, Pittsburgh in 2001, has done it in the last two decades.  Teams that have rushed for over 2,700 yards in a season include the the 1988 Bengals, the 1985 Bears, the 1980 Rams, and the 1981 and 1978 Cowboys—all pretty good teams.
 
Lost in the wake of resurgent offense is the fact that the Viking defense has also performed better over the last three weeks.  Pass yards allowed per game have dropped from 285.9 in the first nine games to 257.0 in the last three, and rush yards allowed have decreased from 75.9 per game over the first nine games to 54.3 over the last three.
 
More importantly, the Vikings have gone from averaging 18.4 points per game over the first nine games to 37.3 points a game over the last three. Defensively, they've gone from averaging 20.9 points given up per game to 16.3.
 
Add all of that up, and it's easy to see why they are 3-0 over the last three games—as opposed to 3-6 through the first nine.

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