Turnovers Keep Minnesota Vikings from Clinching Division

The Minnesota Vikings (9-6) missed a big chance to win their first division title since 2000 on Sunday when they suffered a crucial loss to the Atlanta Falcons (10-5) at the Metrodome. The Vikings turned the ball over four times, all of them coming deep in Falcon territory, and those turnovers proved to be the difference as Minnesota fell 24-17 to the Falcons.

After the two teams traded long drives for touchdowns in each teams' first possessions, Minnesota got the first defensive stop. That was when the turnovers started. Bernard Berrian, who had taken a punt back for a touchdown the previous week, muffed the punt and it fell straight into the hands of the Falcons' coverage team. This provided a short field for probable Rookie of the Year, and possible NFL MVP, Matt Ryan and his offense, who punched it in to bring the score to 14-7 in favor of the Falcons.

The Vikings' offense proved more than able against the Falcons defense, driving it right down the field in response. Adrian Peterson took the Vikings deep into the red-zone with a seven-yard run, but as he is prone to doing, fumbled the ball while trying to get the extra yard, and the Falcons recovered.

After another Vikings stop, the Vikings were driving again, when Peterson was unable to grab the ball on a handoff from Tarvaris Jackson and subsequently coughed the ball up to the Falcons, who got a field goal on the ensuing drive, moving the lead to 17-7.

The Vikings were looking to bring the score close again as they got the ball to start to the third quarter. Just like they had done in the first half, they moved the ball very efficiently into the red-zone. Then it happened. Vikings' quarterback Tarvaris Jackson scrambled in the pocket and brought the ball below his waist, where it was knocked out of his hand and then inadvertently kicked backwards 20 yards and the Falcons fell on it.

If the Vikings' luck couldn't have gotten any worse, it managed to. Ryan went air born at the goal line and fumbled the ball into the end zone, which was missed by two Vikings players, and subsequently recovered by the Falcons for the touchdown, making the score 24-7.

After the Vikings were able to get a field goal to make it 24-10, the Minnesota defense held on strong giving them a chance to make the game winnable. After a series of stopped drives, Jackson led another scoring drive to make the score 24-17. The Vikings' defense gave the ball back to Jackson and the offense, but they were unable to construct a game-tying drive and went on to lose the game.

Reaction: This one hurts. Peterson coughed up his six and seventh fumbles of the year in this game. Had the Vikings turned the ball over just once, instead of four times, they would have been two-touchdown winners in this one. The defense did a great job against a great running team, but the follies on the offensive side of the ball didn't credit the defense's job.

The Vikings' offense was awful in spite of what I think was Tarvaris Jackson's career performance. Three fumbles, a horrible snap, (which may have been Jackson's fault) just killed the Vikings' will to score points. More importantly, it killed the crowd.

This Atlanta team was not that impressive. Ryan played a good game, but it wasn't a great game. He may be the next great quarterback in this league, but he was gifted short fields all game and had little work to do in the way of completing tough passes.

Now, I understand that Peterson is the face of the Vikings, but his inability to put the ball away when he is being hit or tackled is so far from MVP-like, it's shocking. I think his biggest problem yesterday was his impatience. He was trying to hard to break the 30 yard run.

According to reports by the local media, he took this loss extremely hard. In the end though, the team lost this game. Bernard Berrian made a monumental mistake, Matt Birk made a mistake, and the long snapper made a mistake. 

24-17 is the number that may be remembered for at least a year for Vikings fans. This weekend's loss wreaks of the Vikings' infamy. As I was watching, I couldn't help but think of the Vikings loss to the Cardinals in the last game of the season a few years back.

Positivity must prevail though. The Green Bay Packers can put the Vikings in the playoffs (and return the favor for that Cardinals loss I just mentioned) with a win against the Chicago Bears tonight.  A victory against the New York Giants in the dome next week will also give the Vikings the division.

The Giants just clinched home field advantage against the Carolina Panthers, and I would doubt that Tom Coughlin will risk injury to Eli Manning, any of his three outstanding running backs, or any of his two best receivers on the turf next week.

Make no mistake about it, the Vikings are a good team. If you had told me that 10-6 would be the Vikings possible finishing record, I would have probably believed you at the beginning of the season. The quarterback drama that got us there would have been less believable. Jackson is playing to his potential, finally, and yesterday illustrated just how good the Vikings can be with a just better-than-decent QB taking snaps from Matt Birk.

They have one of the best defenses in the league (the best running D), they have the best running back in the league, they have the best backup running back (apart from the freaks in New York), they have a great deep threat in Berrian, and one of the best run-stopping corners in the league. This is a team that should expect to win at least 10 games a year.

Until Friday, GO PACKERS!