The Vikings had the lead at half. And then in two plays watched it shift right back to New Orleans.
On a night where the improbable was more than likely to happen though, the Minnesota Vikings overcame two Reggie Bush punt returns for a touchdown to beat the New Orleans Saints in the Super Dome 30-27 on Monday Night Football.
Minnesota had a 20-10 lead. All was going well. Antoine Winfield became the first player in the NFL since they started recording sacks in 1982, to record a sack, force a fumble and recover it, and return a blocked kick for a touchdown in a single game. The defense was making plays left and right and all signs pointed to a Viking victory. But that soon changed with a punt.
Minnesota's offense was stagnant for most of the game. Once again the Vikings were faced with 4th down and had to punt from their 23 yard-line. Chris Kluwe, one of the best punters in the league, boomed another kick that Reggie Bush fielded at the 29 yard-line. Bush made them pay. He ran right around would-be tacklers and got two huge blocks downfield on his way to a 71-yard return for a touchdown. Just like that it was 20-17. Momentum Saints.
Next possession, Vikings must punt. They punt to Bush again. And again Bush shakes poor tackling attempts and it looks like he is going to do it again, but thankfully he trips over his own feet after a 29-yard return. With good field position the Saints move into range for Martin Gramatica, who boots a 53-yard field goal to tie the game.
Minnesota gets it back. And then two penalties and two incompletes later, it's time to punt again...and again they kick to Reggie Bush. Kluwe's 39-yard punt is taking by Bush at the 36 yard-line and returned 64 yards for the go ahead touchdown. Saints lead 27-20. The Super Dome is going nuts. 1-4 for the Minnesota Vikings is imminent now. It makes sense after all. Minnesota was outgained in total offense 375-270 and gave up 354 return yards, two returns for touchdown, and several more that put Minnesota's defense behind the eight-ball all night long.
But the way the night had gone, you just couldn't count them out.
The Vikings had punted in five straight possessions since the end of the half. They had done literally nothing on offense to suggest that they could mount a rally. New Orleans defense was flying off the ball and stuffing Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson for little to no gain and sometimes even for a loss. The Saints had the momentum and the crowd and Minnesota had Gus Frerotte at quarterback. Que the comeback.
On the fourth play of their next drive, Frerotte hooked up with offseason acquisition Bernard Berrian for a 36-yard gain and suddenly the Vikings were in business. But then two plays later that trusty old yellow hanky made another appearance as Aundrae Allison was flagged for offensive pass interference after he picked up what would've been a first down completion. This made it 3rd and 16 and it looked like Minnesota was gonna shoot themselves again. But oddly enough the Vikings did something out of the norm in this situation. They took a shot down field, and it paid off. Frerotte launched a pass towards the endzone and out of four players (2 Saints DBs and 2 Vikings WRs), Berrian came up with the ball after running into his own teammate in the process. Touchdown Minnesota. Game tied 27-27 with 7:18 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Saints got the ball back with a chance to retake the lead again, but this time Bush was not back deep to return. New Orleans did manage to do what it had all night long, however, moving the football down the field under the guidance of Drew Brees and allowing Martin Gramatica to come in once again to try and give the Saints the lead and possibly the win. But as fate would have it, Gramatica's 46-yard try went wide left and hope was restored in the Vikings for they now had the final shot at a game-winning score with two minutes to go.
It wasn't easy getting there though. Faced with a 3rd-and-3, Frerotte took another shot downfield for Berrian, who was bear-hugged by two Saints defenders drawing a defensive pass interference penalty that set Minnesota up at the 14 yard-line of New Orleans.
The Vikings ran the clock down and on 4th-and-8 from the 12, Ryan Longwell netted his 13th career game-winning field goal capping off another perfect night going 3-for-3, none more important than the one that gave Minnesota their second win of the 2008 season. Vikings win 30-27.
So it was a crazy game to say the least. A few things I want to knaw on before I go though.
- I am still sold on Minnesota's defense being one of the best in the league. They already have the stats to back up their claim to most opportunistic (16 turnovers returned for a touchdown and now a blocked kick returned for a touchdown). The Vikings were in this game because they were able to come up with key stops and force critical turnovers (2 INTs, 2 fumble recoveries) that kept the high-octane Saints off the score board. Antoine Winfield practically played himself into the Pro Bowl with his performance last night ( 8 tackles, 1 sack, forced fumble and recovery, blocked kick return for TD). Though Winfield has been making plays for Minnesota all year long, he got a chance to highlight his talent on the brightest stage of the week. Cedric Griffen also put on a display with 10 solo tackles including a bone crunching hit on Saints tight end Billy Miller. The good news is that Minnesota's D allows them to win games.
- Now for the bad news. Aside from a few big plays and lucky breaks, the Vikings offense did absolutely nothing and looked overmatched by the Saints defense, which isn't even that good to be honest. Peterson was held in check and the offensive line is just not getting things done up front like they were last year. The pass protection is better at times, but what happened to the NFC's best ground game and the monsters that cleared the way? If we don't start seeing more of that soon, the Vikings are gonna need more than a few big plays and luck-of-the-draw penalties to get any more wins.
It was also nice to see Bernard Berrian finally produce on offense as well. Berrian had a solid evening with six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. Berrians was traded from the Bears in the hopes that he could give a very thin wide receiver corp a much-needed boost and make the Vikings' passing game seem a little more threatening. Hopefully after tonight, teams will start loosening up by trying to defend the deep ball from Frerotte to Berrian, which should open the lanes for Peterson and Chestor Taylor to run through.
- And speaking of Chestor Taylor, FINALLY this coaching staff breaks from the dull and throws in a little trickery and look what happens. Taylor threw a 4-yard toss to Visanthe Shiancoe for Minnesota's first touchdown. It was the first of a few occassions where the offensive coordinators decided to break away from their standard plays that have resulted in stagnant offensive production. The other most noticeable play calls were on 3rd downs when Frerotte was called upon to take a shot down field to a streaking Berrian. It takes guts and ingenuity to make those calls and I'm glad to see this staff actually show some signs of thos qualities. ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast crew even criticized the Vikings' staff for a lack of urgency and imagination in the final minutes of the first half as they settled for a field goal when they could've taken more shots in the endzone. More imaginative play calling and more trust in the players to make plays such as Taylor's TD pass will go a long way in improving the production of this offense.
Up next for the Vikings (2-3), they return home to take on the winless Detroit Lions (0-4) in an NFC North showdown. Hopefully playing the hapless Lions will be just what the Vikings need to put together, perhaps, their first complete game and keep pace with the Packers and Bears in the early division race.
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3 comments:
This was supposed to be a game of the Adrian Peterson vs. Reggie Bush, and if that was the case Bush cleary won.
I'm not as completely sold on the Vikings as you are, it seemed as if the Saints just handed over the game. The Saints had no right to lose, and all the ball bounced in Minnesota's favor every time.
A block punt lands in the hands of Antonie Winfield and takes it back, lucky.
New Orleans tries an onside kick, Vikings get no yards yet score.
No call fask mask leads to more points.
Offense gets a second chance on third down where chester taylor throws a TD pass following a flag. Not to mention they started on the five yard line.
Missed Gramatica kick
I don't know, I'm just not sold on the Vikings, the game was handed to them.
ASSIGNMENT - We know the negative arguments against Gus Ferotte. Go the opposite way and make the argument for why Ferotte can take the Vikes to the playoffs (even if you don't believe it).
Pawola- I know the Vikings have much to improve on. But I do like how the defense has been playing. They will always give themselves a chance to win the game, because they just play such opportunistic football.
I agree on the facemask. I like that it went in our favor :p but yeah it was a badly missed call nonetheless. And it was Chad Greenway that did it too.
I thought the onside kick, while agressive, was unnecessary. It's one of those things, if it works you're a genius and if it fails you're left scratching your head and cursing at the TV set (if you're a Saints fan or hate the Vikings).
Also this is just something I've noticed and is more me speaking in general, but people seem to think that a blocked kick is a missed FG. I consider it a play made by the defense. The Vikings got a push and blocked the kick. More often than not bad things will happen if your kick is blocked and Winfield's score is an example.
The exception is if there is a bad exchange or a fumbled hold, then it is understandable, but this was a play by the Minnesota defense, not a missed kick even though the stats say so. But yes it was lucky that Winfield was in the right place at the right time.
I'm not sold on the offense either though. I think they are certainly underperforming to this point in the season. Last year the O-line was opening up holes against pretty good defenses. This year there are no such holes and Peterson isn't getting the same room to run. Execution is the key to the game and Minnesota's execution has been severely lacking in most of their games. The passing game is a little better with a veteran like Frerotte who can make better decisions in the pocket, but the passing game still isn't going to be respected by defenses until Minnesota proves that they can make a living scoring off the pass, especially scoring with the deep ball, which the Vikings did on Monday night.
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