Minnesota Vikings: Observations From The NFC North Border Battle
Whenever the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers meet you can throw the records out the window.
Going into Sunday night's game the Packers held a slight edge over the Vikings with a 49-47-1 record.
The Chicago Bears started the day leading the division, but having surrendered a league high 31 sacks, including four against the Washington Redskins, they appear to be a team moving in the wrong direction.
With the Packers 28-24 victory over the Vikings it would appear Green Bay has the upper hand to win the NFC North.
The Packers find themselves tied with the Bears at 4-3 in the division, while the Vikings fall to 2-4—matching their loss total from a year ago.
Here are several observations from Sunday's game.
Adrian Peterson: The Best Running Back in The NFL.
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In typical Adrian Peterson fashion he started slowly before breaking a few runs in route to 131 yards rushing and a touchdown on 28 carries.
With another 41 yards on two receptions, Peterson was the star on offense.
In the end it was too much Brett Favre and just not quite enough Peterson.
The X-Factor Percy Harvin
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Percy Harvin made his presence felt with a 17 yard touchdown run and a 48 yard kick-off return in the first half.
For the game he would lead the Vikings' with five catches for 65 yards.
Along with three rushes for 41 yards and three kick-off returns for 81 yards, he would total 187 yards for the Vikings.
When lined up as the slot receiver, or in the backfield, Harvin is one of the most explosive players in the game.
He came within a couple of inches of getting his second foot down in the end zone for the winning touchdown late in the game.
Brett Favre Vs Aaron Rodgers
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Green Bay Packer fans were so high on Aaron Rodgers that when the team traded Brett Favre they quickly circled their wagons around the four-year backup.
Rodgers has led the Packers to a 21-18 record.
Over the same span Favre has gone 24-14 with the Jets and Vikings.
Rodger's two interceptions in the first half gave Favre a slight edge, but that quickly changed with three second-half interceptions for Favre leading to 14 Green Bay points.
After losing twice to Favre in 2009, Rodgers finally gets a little bit of revenge.
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Minnesota's Defensive Front Four
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Jared Allen, with only one sack this season, has been nearly invisible.
Perhaps the NFL was premature in banning his calf-roping celebration.
Although the front four was unable to put any pressure on Aaron Rodgers, Allen did have an interception and Kevin Williams knocked down another pass at the line of scrimmage.
They came up big in the fourth quarter stopping the Packers on a fourth and inches—the second time in the drive Green Bay attempted to convert on fourth down.
Yet, for the team that led the league in sacks a season ago, something is just not working for the defensive line this season.
Green Bay's One Dimensional Offense?
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Going into Sunday's game the Green Packers averaged 101 yards per game on the ground—only 19th in the league, while their 243.3 yards per game passing was tenth in the NFL.
With Brandon Jackson handling the rushing duties, the Packer were only able to gain 84 yards on 23 rushes, 13 if them by Jackson.
Rodgers had a decent night completing 21 of 34 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns and two inceptions—an 84.8 quarterback rating.
Even though the Vikings out gained the Packers 408 to 379 in total yards, Rodgers did enough to win the game for Green Bay.
Randy Moss and The Brett Favre Connection
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Brett Favre and Randy Moss had connected 5 times for 136 yards and one touchdown going into the Green Bay game.
In their third game together they would only connect three times for 30 yards and one touchdown.
In the waning seconds of the first half the Favre completed a deep shot into Packers' territory to Moss that was nullified due to an offensive pass interference call on Moss.
This has not been the connection many fans have been dreaming about to jump start the Minnesota passing game.
Minnesota's Defensive Backfield
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Rookie second round pick, Chris Cook has only been able to play in one game so far in 2010.
Against the Packers Aaron Rodgers appeared to pick on the rookie along with newly signed, veteran Frank Walker.
Rodgers had 227 yards through the air by half time.
If not for two interceptions the damage could have been a lot worse. The latter coming near the end of the first half when Walker was able to get his hand on a ball in the end zone, deflecting it to Madieu Williams for the interception and a touch back.
In the second half Rodgers and his receivers were not on the same page with several of his passes not enough close.
The secondary, without Cedric Griffin, is still the weak link of this defense.
Lambeau Field and The Brett Favre Mystique
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Brett Favre has won 76 percent of the games he has played at Lambeau Field.
With less than two minutes left in the game, down by four points, facing a fourth down, and in need of five yards to keep the drive for comeback, if there was ever a Favre moment this would be it.
A 12-yard catch by Randy Moss would extend the drive.
But after back-to-back penalties put the Vikings in a first and thirty, there would be no magical comeback this time.
Farve was unable to complete a fourth down pass to Randy Moss in the end zone.
With Sunday's loss Favre is 98-32 on the frozen tundra, dropping the Vikings to 2-4 on the season.
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