Purple Pride Ponderings 11/25/2009

Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings
Vikings 35
Seahawks 9

There's just something about being at the game that makes a magical season seem more magical. Normally when the 4th quarter hits and the home team is up by as much as the Vikings were, a stadium clears out. That was not the case this past Sunday. Sure a couple thousand made a run for the gates to avoid the traffic, but most of us stayed till the end, savoring another victory for a Purple team that's looking for its first trip back to the Super Bowl since the 1976 season. Just in case this season turns into one out of a Disney Fairy Tale, I'll be holding on to the ticket and program from the only game I've had a chance to attend. Speaking of seats, a special thanks to Mike Sandahl for taking me this week. Those family season tickets are fantastic (Section 108, row 22 on the 35 yard-line)!

Almost Perfect
Brett Favre continues to amaze everyone with his level of play at the age of 40. He's one of the leading candidates for League MVP and rightfully so. Sunday against the Seahawks Favre went 22 of 25 with four touchdowns, and once again, no picks. He also broke yet another NFL record, passing Dan Marino for most games with four or more touchdowns. He shared the wealth hitting four different receivers on all of his touchdown strikes. Like the Dome crowd did for Joe Mauer, the deafening chants of M-V-P have already started and Favre could become the 1st 40+ year old player to achieve the award.

Most Complete Game
The Vikings are now 9-1 and for the most part, have handily won most of their contests. Before the Seahawks game though, most of these wins were marred with an overabundance of penalties, slow starts until the second half, and never shutting down inferior opponents before the 4th quarter. This game was over midway through the 3rd quarter and Brett Favre was replaced by Tarvaris Jackson before the 4th quarter even began. The only touchdown the Seahawks got came during mop-up time in the 4th when most of the defensive starters were on the bench taking it easy. As it stands right now, the Vikings appear to be clicking on all cylinders and are doing so while still resting Antoine Winfield.

Balanced Attack
As stated already, Favre's four TD's went to four different receivers. When looking at the stats, you can see just how balanced this "kick ass" offense has become. Rice, Harvin, and Shiancoe each got more than half a dozen balls (ok Harvin had five receptions, get over it), at least one TD, and right around or over 80 yards. On the rushing side of the ball, Peterson (82 yards) and Taylor (73 yards) shared the load rather effectively . Peterson was just over the 1,000 yard mark before getting hit for a loss. He ended the game with 999 yards on the season. Anyone care to bet against him not going over 1,000 yards this coming Sunday against the Bears? I didn't think so.

As the season progresses and moves towards the playoffs, the chemistry with Favre is starting to show and teams are being forced to play pick-your-poison when going up against the Purple offense. Stack the box and Favre will pick you a part, defend the pass and, well, we all know what will happen ALL DAY in that scenario.

Minnesota Moving Company
Kudos to the offensive line, without them, none of this would be possible. Before the season started, the biggest question mark was how the right side of the line would pan out by starting the rookie Phil Loadholt and replacing Pro Bowl Center Matt Birk with John Sullivan. Both have done a phenomenal job this season and as a unit, the offensive line has surprised everyone with how well of a pass blocking group they have become. Brett Favre isn't as nimble as he once was (and let's face it, he was never a Aaron Rodgers in that regard to begin with), but he's been able to sit in the pocket progress through his reads at will lately. The first few games of the season were a bit shaky, and I feared Favre wouldn't make it through the season, but this line has really blossomed and should not be overlooked.

Stud and Goat of the Week
Stud: Brett Favre - Had one of the best games of his career and is showing no signs of wearing down. How many younger QB's can pass for four TD's, complete 88% of their passes, have a near perfect QB rating, and take more than entire quarter off?

Goat: The drunk lady with the Viking Horn behind me - I know you have to deal with the drunks when attending a NFL game, and I get that. But shouldn't there be some kind of law when it comes to operating a Viking horn while intoxicated? This lady made the well known Viking horn sound like a hound dog in heat. When she wasn't blowing in the horn, she was yelling at Childress for running the ball instead of throwing it - late in the fourth quarter!

What's on Tap
Here comes the mighty Bears, led by Jay Cutler. Remember when Cutler was the Chicago Savior? Remember when all the experts claimed that Cutler was by far, the best QB in the NFC North? Remember when the Bears and Packers would be giving the Vikings fits when it came to winning the Division? Well it's Week 11, take care of the Bears at home this week and the Division is a early Christmas gift sitting under the tree.

Final Thoughts
Just wanted give some congratulations to Brad Childress for his contract extension. I'm just as mixed as everyone about the timing of this, but numbers do not lie. He's made this team better each season since taking over and is directly responsible for bringing Brett Favre and Percy Harvin on board.

Lastly, it's nice to see that the Vikings at Cardinals game on December 6th got moved to the Sunday Night game. I didn't that it was possible to bump the Patriots out of the prime time spotlight, but it happened. This should be a great game though and the Vikings now play three of their final six games in the evening slot.

Happy Thanksgiving and don't forget to give if you can. There's a lot of folks out there that could use a little Holiday cheer.


Till next Sunday,
SKOL VIKINGS!