Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers 27
Vikings 17
It had to come to an end sometime. It's very difficult to string six wins in a row in the NFL and losing your first in the seventh game to the World Champions is nothing be overly depressed about. I think in the beginning if you told Vikings fans that Favre would lead this team to a 6-1 start, they would be more than satisfied and surprised if that actually happened. So let's shake this one off and break it down real quick for next week is the one we've been waiting for.
Costly Mistakes
So how do you hold the Steelers - in Pittsburgh, to only 13 points of offense and lose? Simple, turn the ball over, something the Vikings did twice and both were housed allowing the Steelers Defense to out score their own offense. The Vikings also killed themselves in the penalty department, an area they've been leading the league in a positive way. 11 penalties equated to 78 costly yards and made life more difficult in an already difficult venue to play in. The Vikings marched up and down the field at will in this game but the combination of turnovers that turned directly into scores and undisciplined penalties led to their first loss.
Calm Down Already
Cut Chester Taylor? Ban the Officiating crew from the NFL? Fire Childress? This is the kind of crap I heard spewed from callers on KFAN throughout the day today (Monday). It was a horrible time for Chester Taylor to mess up. He's a Pro and he should have made that catch (I don't want to hear about how Favre threw it too hard). But wanting his head is no way to pay back a player that's done what it takes to be a team player. He's still a pivotal player on key third downs and is a solid back when Peterson needs a breather. In regards to the officiating crew, get over it! Yeah they made some horrible calls, most notably the tripping call on Dugan that clearly was NOT tripping, but that's part of the game. We as couch-bound warriors do not see the action from the field at full speed. We see multiple angles at a slower, frame-by-frame rate. As a fan, I was upset, but that's not the reason why they lost in the end. Lastly, on firing Childress. No coach in the NFL is ever going to get fired while 6-1, period.
Put them together
It's time for this team to put a full game together on both sides of the ball. Last week the Vikings nearly lost due to a complete meltdown by the defense. This week they lost due to two costly turnovers by the offense. Get both sides of the ball to play a complete game and this is not just a good team, it's a scary good team. Going against the best passing team in the NFL, the Vikings defense only gave up 13 points to the Steelers and held them to under 260 yards of total offense. Other than the final drive in the first half, they contained the Steelers rather well. Offensively, Favre had his way with the Steelers defense as he shred them for over 300 yards. Unfortunately his costly fumble and interception (clearly on Taylor) were the difference in being 6-1 instead of 7-0.
Mercy Mercy Percy
Is Percy Harvin electrifying or what? What's even more impressive though is his toughness and willingness to get out there on the field. Another player that many teams passed on in the draft and the Vikings took a chance at - credit to Childress, he did his home work and got to know Harvin before the draft. He's not afraid to go across the middle and he's got a little bit of Adrian Peterson in him when it comes to finishing off a play.
A Star is Born
Sidney Rice was expected to be that tall, down the field option that this team was expecting big things from. In his first couple of years he had some health issues, but he also had another issue - incompetence at the QB position. Favre and his receivers did not have a training camp together to build the much needed chemistry, but less than half way into the season, it's clear that Rice is his go to guy. The catch he made on the sidelines told me a lot of what we can expect from him. It was a vintage Cris Carter reception and I swear after seeing it in slow motion, his feet actually moved backwards right at the last second. Great players make other players great, and right now, Favre is making Rice great and they should give fits to secondaries the rest of this season.
Goat and Stud of the Game
This is a new section I'm starting this week and plan on including it from here on out. As you will notice this week, it's not always a Viking, just observations from the game in its entirety.
Stud: Steelers Defense - How do you pick up an offense that's having issues getting into the end zone on your home turf? Take two timely turnovers to the end zone. Very impressive the way this defense is able to score.
Goat: Santonio Holmes - Holmes is a great player and I thoroughly enjoy his game, but his fascination with flexing his arm is asinine. I can understand if you blow someone up (ala Adrian Peterson late in the 4th quarter) or when scoring a touchdown, but this tool seems to do it after every reception.....you got a first down, we're happy for you!
What's on Tap
Packer Week with the Favre-in-Purple caveat, round two. I think there will be a ton of build up with Favre's return to Green Bay. Packer fans will be going through their usual love-hate routine while in the end stating: "We don't need ya" because Rodgers has proven he's a legit QB in this league. But bigger than Favre's return is this impact this game has on the Division. A loss finds the Vikings and Packers tied, a win gives the Vikings a nice two game cushion going into the bye and an impressive 7-1 record.
Until Next Sunday,
SKOL Vikings!
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