Purple Pride Ponderings 9/27/2010

Purple Pride Ponderings 9/29/2010
Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings
Vikings - 24
Lions - 10


The third game of a NFL season should never be considered a must win game, but that is where the Vikings found themselves on the brink of a early bye. Winning can cure a lot of things, even if that win comes against the (improved) Lions. The Defense got a bit healthier with the returns of corner backs Giffin and Cook, but the offense could use a swift break. So wipe those brows Vikings fans and sigh a collective breath of relief, at least they're not 0-3.

Penalties
12 Penalties for 100 yards cost this team from having a more explosive day. Since I'm late on this writing, and can say this - at least it wasn't 18, right Packer fans!! Seriously though, it comes down to discipline and for a mostly veteran team, this is unacceptable. They are lucky the Lions failed to capitalize on most of these mistakes or this could easily have been a "The sky is falling" segment. Clean up the mistakes and watch the scoreboard light up for the Purple.

All Day
Thank god for Adrian Peterson. With a stagnant passing game, Adrian Peterson is proving once again that he is the best running back in football. Peterson had a gaudy 7.0 yards per carry and had one of those signature runs as he busted out for his longest run ever from the line of scrimmage, 80 yards. If there was ever any question about Peterson losing a step, he proved all wrong on that run as be blew by two defenders that had a perfect angle on him. This is Adrian's team, not Favre's, and he's showing that with his play on and off the field.

Stud and Goat of the Week
Stud: Adrian Peterson - Not much more I can say than what I did above. Without Peterson in this game, the Vikings are 0-3, Favre's on his way back to Mississippi, and the Governor race no longer includes plans to fund a new Vikings Stadium.

Goat: Detroit Lions - I give the Lions this award simply because I feel they should be a better team than what their 0-3 record shows. Sure you can argue that they should have beaten the Bears on the last play of that game, but once again, given opportunity after opportunity to win, they fail in the end. The Vikings once again made enough mistakes to lose this game and the Lions failed to capitalize.

What's on Tap
I don't normally like early bye weeks, but this year, I more than welcome it especially going in on a positive note. It's time for this team to take a good look at itself and try to regain the offense swagger they had last season. It will get better once Sidney Rice returns, but he's still going to need some game speed adjusting early on. It's a good thing Adrian Peterson is playing with a chip on his shoulder, this is his team and the offense should run through him (or him run through defenses actually).

Final Thoughts
I understand the League's stance on protecting the QB, especially with all the head injury concerns. However, I am getting a bit frustrated with the ticky tacky calls against defensive players when it comes to pursuing the quarterback. There were two times in this game, one against each team, that had me shaking my head. A defensive lineman's job is to put pressure on the quarterback and knock him to the turf. So far this year, if you do that very thing, you're going to get flagged. The refs need to be taught to use common sense when enforcing the roughing the passer rules. This is a contact sport and the QB's do wear pads like everyone else. It's taking away from the game when defensive players find themselves afraid to even touch a QB, let alone deliver a game breaking hit that could result in an exciting play.

See you in two weeks and enjoy the bye.
SKOL VIKINGS!