From KFAN.com
Weeks and months of speculation, Brett Favre-courting, and anticipation came to a head on Sunday when talk turned to action in Cleveland for week one of the regular season. And even though Favre was the center of attention heading into the season, it was Adrian Peterson – the franchise’s bread and butter – that shouldered the load on Sunday, helping the Vikings to a 34-20 throttling of the Browns.
“He’s relentless,” head coach Brad Childress told KFAN after the game. “That’s the thing that comes to mind. The offensive line is doing a tremendous job, and he’s doing a tremendous job of picking up those blocks. Superlatives are not enough.”
25 carries, 180 yards, three touchdowns, a bloody arm, and piles of carnage in his rear view mirror. The Vikings struggled in the first half and went into the locker room trailing by three points, but Peterson went into the phone booth (where he also hovered over a garbage can and lost his lunch) removed his thick-framed glasses and strapped on the cape.
“I just had to come back and get recharged,” Peterson said. “Really didn’t start off the way I liked in the first half, and I knew I had to come back and make it up.”
And make it up, he did. The Vikings went 44 yards on nine plays to start the third quarter, and Peterson punched in from one yard out – his second touchdown of the game, giving the Vikings a 17-13 lead.
Following a Cedric Griffin interception, Favre found Percy Harvin on a 6-yard touchdown pass, and Ryan Longwell later connected on a 37-yard field goal, giving the Vikings a 27-13 lead.
Peterson then struck again, with a stiff-arming, twisting, turning, violent, bullying, 64-yard touchdown run to put the Vikings up by 21.
“Offensive line did a great job up front opening it up for me,” Peterson said. “I was able to bounce it back, get around the perimeter, and just able to make a good play on the free safety.
“He came up for the tackle and I was just able to overpower him, throw him out of bounds, and stick the dagger in.”
The first 60 minutes were certainly nerve-wracking for the Purple. The offense looked entirely too conservative, the referees offered zero help, and the punt coverage unit allowed Josh Cribbs to cut loose on a 67-yard touchdown return.
In the end however, Peterson showed everyone why he’s still the centerpiece of the football team. And he also probably validated Favre’s decision to return.
Favre completed 14-of-21 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown, good enough for a 95.3 QB rating. Most of his passes leaned on the conservative side, but why take any questionable chances when Peterson is running wild?
A good start for the Vikings against a team they were expected to crush.
News, Notes, Thoughts
- The surprise onside kick was the talk of the first quarter for multiple reasons, namely because it didn’t work. The Browns wound up recovering and marching forward into field goal range to take a 3-0 lead. The Vikings obviously could have used those three points back when they trailed 13-10 at halftime.
Brad Childress said the Vikings had “a certain look” based on the way Cleveland lined up for the opening kickoff, and they decided to take a calculated shot.
Still, because the Vikings are clearly superior to the Browns, and because the Vikings have one of the best defenses in the NFL, why risk allowing the Browns to start off near midfield and score the first points of the game? Why not kick deep and make QB Brady Quinn drive his team 80 yards? Even if the onside kick would have worked, the logic could still be questioned.
Now, if the Browns would have started the game with an onside kick of their own, that makes more sense because they would be looking for any possible edge against a superior opponent.
Ultimately it doesn’t matter. The Vikings won by two touchdowns.
- WR Percy Harvin scored his first career touchdown in the third quarter on a 6-yard pass from Brett Favre. Favre then ran up and tackled the young wide receiver in the end zone.
Harvin finished the game with three catches for 36 yards, two rushes for 22 yards, and and three kick returns for 99 yards. He lined up everywhere, and he did everything, and fans can expect more of the same throughout the entire season.
- WR Darius Reynaud also had a nice showing on Sunday. He returned two punts for 54 yards, including a 36-yarder that he nearly broke for a touchdown. Reynaud has some serious “wiggle” to him when returning punts, and the de-activated Jaymar Johnson is going to have a hard time seeing playing time unless Reynaud’s performance drops off considerably.
After watching Reynaud and Harvin, it’s easier to come to terms with the release of WR Bobby Wade. He simply wouldn’t have much of a role on this team.
- Which Vikings defender had the best game on Sunday? The answer is obviously subjective. CB Cedric Griffin made a spectacular over-the-shoulder interception to go along with four tackles and a forced fumble. CB Antoine Winfield seemingly decapitated three Browns’ ball carriers.
But LB E.J. Henderson led the Vikings with seven tackles, and he also tallied a sack.
As a team, the Vikings held Brady Quinn to only 205 yards passing on 35 attempts. The Browns did score their first offensive touchdown in nearly seven games, but it didn’t happen until 28 seconds remained in the fourth quarter.
- Legendary running back Jim Brown was in attendance to watch his former team play against the running back (Adrian Peterson) he recently called the best in the NFL. Peterson did nothing to change Brown’s opinion on Sunday.
- WR Bernard Berrian saw his first action since straining his hamstring before the first preseason game, but he did not catch a pass.
- Nice to see the Vikings recover from a slow start to throttle a bad team. They scored 34 points with relative ease, and the defense went into full lockdown mode when necessary. Baby steps.
-After the game, TE Visanthe Shiancoe (who caught three passes for 26 yards) Tweeted: “Brett is def essential to this teams progress with his collectiveness in times of distress. We have explosive talent offensively…”