From KFAN.com
On the heels of an embarrassing 26-7 loss on national TV to the Panthers last week, and with a media spotlight shining bright on the conflict between Brett Favre and Brad Childress, the Vikings had a chance to redeem themselves on Monday Night Football in Chicago. They failed, losing a 36-30 heartbreaker in overtime.
The second half offered reasons for optimism, namely Favre showing he can play well on the road in December, as he led the Vikings on a 17-point comeback with a short touchdown pass to Sidney Rice at the end of regulation. The defense also stepped up, pressuring Jay Cutler and even forcing an interception.
But ultimately, the negatives far outweighed the positives, and with only one week remaining in the regular season, it’s officially time to mash the panic button. From offensive line issues to abysmal secondary play to Adrian Peterson’s chronic fumbling issues, the Vikings have gone from juggernaut to all-for-naught.
The dream is dying. With the loss, the Vikings drop to 11-4, tied with Philadelphia for the 2-seed in the NFC. But the Eagles own the tie-breaker, and if the playoffs started today the Vikings would be the 3-seed. The Vikings can slip as low as the 4-seed. The Saints have locked up the top seed.
Many people will point to the fact that anything can happen in the playoffs, citing the 2007 Giants and the 2008 Cardinals. But those teams’ performances stand on their own merits and have no bearing on the results of this year’s playoffs. Sure, anything can happen in the playoffs, within reason, but let’s be realistic; the Vikings are not helping their playoff odds with the performances they’ve strung together down the stretch. And things aren’t improving.
The Vikings have several glaring flaws that first jumped to the surface against the Cardinals nearly one month ago. A home victory over the Bengals helped mask some of those deficiencies, but back-to-back clunkers against Carolina and Chicago — arguably one of the worst teams in the NFL, with injuries — have reinforced the team’s imperfections.
Special Teams
Until recently, the Vikings special teams units were among the best, collectively, of any team in the NFL. On Monday night, however, pathetic special teams efforts cost the Vikings a win.
For starters, after scoring a touchdown early in the third quarter to cut the Chicago lead to 16-6, the Vikings allowed a blocked extra point. They clearly could have used that point later on…
Convert the extra point and we aren’t dissecting another loss right now.
Later in the second half, Bears kick return man Danieal Manning twice broke free deep into Vikings territory, setting up two touchdowns. Manning averaged 45 yards per kick return for the night.
Throw out every other Vikings flaw from Monday night. The special teams gaffes single handedly awarded victory to Chicago.
Secondary
Where to start? Antoine Winfield’s foot is clearly not 100%, because he has chased taillights for two straight weeks while his wheels spin on the gravel. Last week it was Steve Smith who burned Winfield on a 3rd-and-26 touchdown, and this week it was Devin Aromashodu who scored the game-winning 39-yard touchdown in overtime while Winfield lingered a few steps behind.
And what about safeties Tyrell Johnson and Madieu Williams? Both have made plays at times, but for the most part the Vikings have lacked impact and proper tackling technique from the safety position.
Cedric Griffin’s interception on Monday night was nice, but the Vikings secondary has come away with only seven picks on the season. There are four players in the NFL with more than seven interceptions, including Darren Sharper.
Adrian Peterson and the offensive line
Smoke and mirrors.
Statistically, Adrian Peterson will churn out a fantastic season. He has over 1,300 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns through 16 games. But of those 16 games, Peterson has averaged 4 yards per carry or more only six times. He’s rushed for 100 yards only three times. And he’s fumbled seven times, including the overtime cough-up that led to a game-winning touchdown for Chicago on Monday night.
Not to mention, Peterson — no thanks to an offensive line that rarely opens gaping holes — is the ultimate definition of a feast or famine back. No team in the NFL has more minus-yard or no gain runs.
Peterson has gone from being possibly the most feared player in the NFL to being almost entirely UN-trustworthy in late-game situations. He has also turned into one of the most overrated players in the NFL. And for the first time in his career, after spinning the chamber multiple times, one of Peterson’s fumbles cost his team a win.
Interestingly, Peterson was seen complaining on the sidelines that he “was down” when Hunter Hillenmeyer stripped the football. Unfortunately, Peterson obviously was not down. And instead of lobbying for a replay reversal, Peterson should probably lobby for Tiki Barber to show him how to stop fumbling.
Peterson is immensely talented. But it’s time to stop making excuses.
As for the offensive line, they’ve also struggled mightily in the pass blocking department as of late. After keeping Favre’s jersey relatively clean throughout the entire month of November, things have imploded in December, and it all culminated with Julius Peppers sending Bryant McKinnie to the bench last Sunday.
On Monday night, Favre was pressured throughout the entire first half and for much of the second half. When the Vikings completed a 17-point comeback, the offensive line seemed to find a temporary rhythm, but that quickly went away during the first overtime drive when Chicago sacked Favre twice. Favre even spiked the football in frustration. Who could blame him?
Brad Childress
Brad Childress’ role in this mess is difficult to gauge and dissect. Because he is the head coach, the team’s record and performance ultimately fall back on him.
And when it comes to Childress’ recent/ongoing conflict with Favre, regardless of who’s right, who’s wrong, who has more control over the offense, etc., the responsibility of communication and keeping the peace falls on the shoulders of the head coach as well. Childress knew in August (or should have known) that Favre is a strong personality who likes to improvise at the line of scrimmage.
On two occasions Monday night, with the Vikings inside the 5-yardline, Childress attempted to send in the goal line personnel package only to have Favre waive it off. The first time this happened, sometime in the third quarter, Favre’s attempt to keep a pass-happy package on the field failed. They used the goal line set, and Chester Taylor was stuffed for a 3-yard loss. On the very next play, Favre spread the offense again and hit Visanthe Shiancoe for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
Childress’ vision for this offense revolves around running the football, but for whatever reason, the Vikings have turned into one of the worst rushing teams in the entire league. That is not an exaggeration.
The run-first mentality will not work with this offense anymore. It may have worked last season, it may work again in 2010, but it doesn’t work right now. For the Vikings to successfully move the ball at will they must pass first, and that’s exactly what happened in the second half. Favre threw for 275 yards in the second half, and 321 yards overall.
There’s no shame in morphing into a pass-first offense. In fact, if the Vikings passed in order to set up the run, Peterson would likely see more daylight. But Childress appears stubborn, and the Vikings have one week to make tweaks before the playoffs begin. Falling into a 17-point hole before figuring out the optimal offensive strategy isn’t the best way to conduct business.
Can Childress gather his team, get everybody on the same page, and make a playoff push? The jury is out, but signs point to no.