Aundrae Allison

This was the ugliest performance by the Vikings so far this year. Absolutely nothing went right. I can’t say how thankful I am that our opponent this week was the worst in the entire league, and the referees were wearing purple glasses. Here are some game thoughts: 

• I obviously overlooked this game. There was really no decent pregame on VikingVigil this past week, and for that I apologize. Next Sunday’s big game will be heavily covered here as it now has a special significance…
   
• …That significance is that both the Vikings and the Bears are tied for first place in the NFC North, as crazy as that sounds. The Vikings, in all reality, shouldn’t have more than one win on the board at this point. Although their play was nothing but normal, the Vikings epitomized ugliness against the Lions. We all know that I could go on and on about how we need to improve to beat the Bears next week. That is simply a fact, and if you think the Bears will lower themselves to the level the Vikings played today, I will purchase you a free ticket to a Packers game.

• If you missed the game today, be sure to include that blessing in your prayers tonight. If you want a recap, think again. I refuse to go through this game and pick out every error made by both Childress and the players, but here are the highlights:-Childress was beyond conservative in this game. He was downright silly. Of the 21 people left watching the game after the first half (the score was 3-2 at halftime) I’ll bet 15 of them could have won the game easier than Childress did. Seriously, my six-year old brother could beat this team with two plays on Madden ‘07 quite handily. -Adrian Peterson fumbled the ball twice. Repeat after me: “sophomore slump.” I sure hope so, because it’s getting scary how mortal he is starting to look.-One of the funniest plays of the season took place in this horrible, horrible game. As you know, Kitna was inactive for this game and didn’t even make the trip from Motown to  Minneapolis so a guy by the name of Dan Orlovsky took his place. He was personally accountable for the only two Viking points scored in the first half of the game on Sunday; seriously, no one else can rightfully take credit.After an Adrian Peterson fumble Orlovsky found his team on their own one-inch line. He took the snap and saw the great Jared Allen charging at him. For any other quarterback this could be beaten by simply jogging to the right. Not this guy. He took somewhere around six steps directly back and was three yards out of his own end zone before he took off to the right in a run for his life.But that’s not even the funny part. As he was side-stepping along the white out-of-bounds line beyond the end zone he was still pump-faking and searching for a receiver. You gotta feel for the guys though, he was totally clueless. This was his first NFL start, and he didn’t do an absolutely awful job.
   
• Anyway, back to the negative thoughts. The pass defense was pathetic today as well. The play that perfectly illustrates this took place with around 9:50 left in the third quarter. The Viking had just sacked Orlovsky for a huge loss and it was 3rd-and-19. How can you not stop the Detroit Lions from getting a first down in this situation? Anybody can do it, right? Maybe not. Calvin Johnson was wide open way downfield and caught a pass that put the Lions inside the 10-yard line. That unfortunate play led to a Calvin Johnson “touchdown.”I hesitate to call it a real touchdown because it probably wasn’t real. Johnson might have lost control of the football before crossing the goal line, but knowing Childress, the Vikings wouldn’t dare challenge the call. The seven points stood.
   
•  The biggest offensive play of the game for the Vikings resulted from a combination of a conservative call and dumb luck. Berrian ran his usual seven-yard slant and just happened to have a perfect route to the goal line. After one juke move he was gone.
   
• We probably won’t be seeing Darren Sharper against the Bears. He dished out a menacing hit to Calvin Johnson in this game. Good news, except for the fact that his helmet collided with Johnson’s helmet. There is probably going to be a one-game suspension for that incident as the NFL is really cracking down on that this year.
   
• Another performance that will probably go unnoticed is Jim Kleinsasser’s 34-yard rumble in the fourth quarter. As Gonzo from the Daily Norseman put it, “Kleinsasser? Really? That might double his receiving yardage from the last 2 seasons combined.”
   
• 

  Adrian Peterson

   

  Peterson had another key fumble in the fourth quarter. As I said above, I’m really worried about his sudden mortal appearance. He should do as Kurt Warner did after a three fumble game: carry a football around all day for the next week. Warner even let his kids at home try and take the ball from him.
   

• Obviously, the biggest story of this game was the alleged “questionable” pass-interferance call against the Lions with just over two minutes of game-time remaining. Although I’ll admit my opinion is completely biased, I didn’t think it was so “questionable.” I saw Lee Bodden put his left hand under the arm of Allison. There is not really much doubt in my mind, but I can see why some people might have missed it.

 That is all I want to say about this game. Ugly. Very ugly. But at the end of the day a win is a win, and it’s a lot better than a loss. At the end of the season there will be no tie-breaker saying, “since the Vikings looked like a piece of swiss cheese and played like a 97-year old goat they will not be awarded the NFC North.”

At this point, 3-3 is the best we can be, and it places the Vikings at the top of their division.