The last time I scribed one of these was after the Bengals game. A couple of bad road losses would lead many to believe that I just didn't want to continue this when things go amiss. I can assure you that is not the case. My goal was to complete one after every game this season, no matter what, but the Holidays and work got in my way. So before we dig into the Divisional Playoff game, let's catch up with the end of the season, for my sake.
Vikings at Panthers - Another Sunday night game that ended up horribly for the purple. Bryant McKinnie had the worst game of his career as he ended up getting benched. Johnathan Stewart broke the Vikings impressive streak of holding a running back to under 100 yards. The last back to do so was Green Bay's Ryan Grant in 2007. Barely used Matt Moore made the best of his opportunity torching the Vikings for 299 yards and three touchdowns. This was also the game where a possible schism between Brett Favre and Brad Childress took place, but that was more ESPN hype than anything. Panthers went on to win 26-7 in front of a Sunday Night nationally televised crowd.
Vikings at Bears - Another game the Vikings should not have lost. Had they played even a fraction of the way they played in the second half, this game would have never went to overtime and the Vikings would have been victorious. Since the second half of this game, Brett Favre is playing at a level seldom seen by any Quarterback. The Vikings narrowly lost this one in overtime 36-30, with Peterson taking the blame for a overtime fumble.
Giants at Vikings - Sure the Giants had mailed it in before this one, but the Vikings offense was able to continue to gain the confidence they started from the second half of the Bears game. Brett Favre went mental in this one passing for 316 yards and four TD's. Vikings won handily 44-7 and regained their swagger leading into the playoffs.
That quickly brings us up to speed so now it's time to get to the meat of this Playoff Edition.
Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings
Vikings 34
Cowboys 3
Rice, Amazing On and Off the Field
Sidney Rice saw the same story last week that many of us in the Fox9 News viewing area saw. A brave little girl from Richmond, WI is battling Leukemia and has the strong support of her community. Her name is Kathryn Glor and last week, she received a call that put a huge smile on her face. That call was Sidney Rice inviting her and her family to Winter Park this past Saturday to hang out with the team. He then provided them with tickets to the game in his guest seating area, some of the best seats in the Dome.
For a little girl that has had to battle day-after-day, Sidney Rice provided her a weekend of fun and excitement and a chance to escape from her daily battle. This is a classic case of someone giving from the heart, and return, receiving something back. Sidney Rice finished the game with 141 yards (the same number of yards he had in the entire 2008 season) and three touchdowns, leading the Vikings charge to victory.
For more information on this and if you'd like to support Kathryn as well, please visit her Caring Bridge page: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kathrynglor
Pants on the Ground, Pants on the Ground
Brett Favre is a name well known around country, but he's also a web sensation thanks to You Tube. I welcome his crazy locker room antics. As everyone saw from that video, the entire team buys into his leadership and fuels off his energy.
In a game where the Dallas Defensive line was supposed to dominate and rattle Favre, he instead lit them up for four touchdowns. That can be attributed to the way the Vikings Offensive Line stepped it up for this game, but it also comes from Favre's leadership. It's no secret that McKinnie struggled mightily against Carolina's Julius Peppers and because of that, many thought DeMarcus Ware would do much of the same. Favre let McKinnie know all week long that he believes in him, trusts him, and knows he's up to the challenge and more than capable of shutting down Ware. That's exactly what McKinnie did and with a QB like Favre, if you protect him, he will shred an opposing defense apart.
A True Defensive Leader
While many players made play-after-play on Sunday, sometimes you need to acknowledge the commander that provides the battle plan. Leslie Frazier's scheme for this game was pure brilliance. His decision to challenge Ray Edwards paid dividends and is something that should not be overlooked. With Jarred Allen getting double-teamed on every snap, Edwards is normally in a position where he gets the one-on-one matchups. Frazier picked the perfect time to fire up Edwards as he finished the game with five tackles, three sacks (for a total loss of 23 yards), and a forced fumble.
The entire front four put constant pressure on Romo and set the tone for this game. After hearing all week about how the Dallas front four was going to dominate the game and get to Favre, it was nice to see Frazier tweak his game plan and turn the tables on the Cowboys. Frazier is highly deserving of a head coaching spot and I hope he gets his chance soon. Until then, he's needed here to conjure up a plan to stop the Saints offense.
Momentum vs. Rest
The Vikings, Saints, and Colts all proved that a well rested team is far more dangerous than a Wild Card team with momentum. The Jets are the only team to dispel that this year, but they defeated a team with the most momentum in the NFL.
The Cowboys were red-hot coming into this game, but their last two games were played at home, both times against the Eagles. They flat-out had the Eagles number this year and they played their hearts out in the final two contests while Brad Childress gave the entire team a week off. If you put yourself in a position to play come this time of the year, getting the much needed week of rest is pivotal and there's no denying that it helped the Vikings.
Classless? How about Out Classed
Keith Brooking's little tyraid after the Vikings scored late in the fourth on a 4th and 3 play is rather comical. These are grown men playing in the NFL. Not touchy little kids playing on a Saturday morning. The NFL game is played for 60 minutes, and if you're on defense, you better be ready to make a play no matter what the scoreboard reads. This is the Playoffs, there's no such thing as running up the score when you are on a quest to play in the Super Bowl. At the time of the play, the Cowboys were burning time outs to stop the clock. If they deemed the game out of reach, why bother calling the time outs? The last thing the Vikings defense wanted was to go back out on the field and give up a garbage touchdown. This team dealt all week with talk about how the Cowboys would dominate on both sides of the ball, and I'm sure they were tired of it. The Vikings made a statement with that last touchdown, but not necessarily to the Cowboys. Instead they made a statement to themselves, knowing that they will need to play inspired and flawless football to beat the Saints in New Orleans.
Classless you say Brooking? Not in the least, your team was just simply out classed on this particular Sunday.
Stud and Goat of the Week
Since it's the playoffs, I thought I'd make a little change here and list the top performers on both sides of the ball.
Stud Offensive Player: Sidney Rice - 141 yards and three touchdowns......and a heart of gold to boot.
Stud Defensive Player: Ray Edwards - Stepped up to the plate following Leslie Frazier's challenge, and delivered.
Goat: Keith Brooking - You're not playing Pop Warner Football anymore Keith. You are in the NFL, shut your mouth and make a play. The last time I checked, the NFL is still 40 for 60.
What's on Tap
Instead of the Saints marching in, it's the Vikings marching into New Orleans. This is the NFC match up the NFL has been clamoring for, and now we've got it. The best way to quiet the Super Dome is to get off to a fast start on offense and apply the pressure on Brees on Defense. As long as the Vikings win the turn-over battle, they should have a serious chance to defeat the Saints at home and make their way to Miami. It's been 10 years since the Vikings were in the NFC Championship game and Brett does not have much left to offer after this year so the time is now.
As John Randle would say: Regulators, Mount Up!
Final Thoughts
Reggie Bush provided a bit of Bulletin Board material today stating that he would propose to Kim
Kardashian at the Super Bowl. Sounds like Mr. Bush is overlooking the Vikings in this game. I'm fine with that, the Vikings overlooked the Falcons in '98 and had to suffer watching them go to Miami that year instead.
Either way, this should be a great game and it sure is nice to have another Sunday to look forward to at this time of the year.
Till Next Week,
SKOL VIKINGS!
