Peterson carried a lot of the Vikings on his shoulders.

Well, now that we’ve had a few days to take in that great win at the Dome, we can take a step back and give some final thoughts on the game against Green Bay before we look ahead to the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay.

Inspired by the Houston Chronicle’s weekly segment on the Texans’ game, I’m going to grade the Vikings on the various positions and how they played during the game last Sunday. Obviously, these are all subjective and merely my opinion, but I think I’ve got a fairly good eye for this stuff.

First, a few general thoughts on the game. Near the end, I just couldn’t help but shake my head because of what I call, “Viking Luck.” It sure seems like no matter how good Minnesota manages to play, that random, dumb luck decides to intervene and cause the biggest problems. For instance, the kickoff return by Green Bay after Adrian Peterson scored the go-ahead touchdown. The kickoff team had been playing great all day, and you knew, you just knew that they were going to give up a big one. And they did. And every Vikings’ fan that’s been around for awhile knows that it was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Aaron Rodgers’ first play on their final drive was a pass that was tipped. Now, if the Vikings had thrown that ball and it was tipped, you could almost guarantee the opponent, whoever it was, would pick it off and possibly run it back for a touchdown (see: Frerotte, Gus). Since the Vikings tipped it, of course it drops into the arms of Donald Driver for a 19 yard gain. I just found myself saying, “Really? Again? We have to suffer another terrible defeat at the hands of these guys?”

Low and behold, something went our way. Resigned to defeat, I watched as Crosby lined up to kick the 52 yard field goal that I was sure was going to be right down the middle with no hint of being missed. No way the Packers miss a game winning field goal in the Metrodome. No way. Right? Right? I didn’t dare give myself hope.

It was kicked, and you could tell it had the distance from the get go. He demolished the ball. Would have been good from 60. It looked dead on, but was it? I kept watching, and it started to pull…started to pull…kept pulling…wide right? Did I dare hope? Then the signal from the refs and I single handedly had the whole Buffalo Wild Wings where I was at staring at me and chuckling, but I did not care. It was euphoria. 

I digress, but my main point is this: we don’t get that lucky. Ever. This time we got one against the Packers. Maybe things are on the up-swing.

On to the individual grading. We’ll start with the obvious ones.
 

Runningbacks 

Adrian Peterson = Manbeast

As if there’s any question if the guys running the ball played well. Adrian Peterson is a man-beast who single handedly willed the Vikings to victory. He carried the ball 30 times for 192 yards. That averages out to almost six and a half yards a carry (6.4 to be exact). Though he had only one TD, it was the game breaker. This is the AP we came to know so well at the start of last year.

There is one big difference between this year and last, and it’s a big one. Peterson is now patient. He’s not always looking for that cutback. Defenses are waiting for it too often for him to try it every time. Now he’s taking the three yard runs, the two yard runs, waiting for the big one to open and invariably it does (see: game breaking touchdown). He will not drop off like he did last year. A side note: AP seems to drop the ball a bit too much. He needs to work on that.

 

Chester Taylor, while not getting the attention he deserves, made the most of a lot of his touches. He had 29 yards on the ground, but he had the Vikings’ longest reception of the day, the 47 yard TD pass from Frerotte. He also does not get the credit for pass blocking; Taylor is a very, very good pass blocker. Frerotte only got sacked twice and he’s a big reason why.

Runningbacks: A
 

Quarterbacks

Frerotte did not have a good day. One stat tells it all, and I bet you can guess it: three interceptions. A QB simply cannot give the ball away that many times. Turnovers are the biggest stat that turns the tide of games. It’s remarkable that we pulled this one out. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Gus. He’s a decent QB and has been 4-2 since taking the team over, but he has to play better football.

Don’t laugh, but he’s making good decisions. It just seems like his fundamentals were off. He uncorked some good passes, the Green Bay secondary just made good breaks on the balls. If he leads those receivers two more yards, it’s a huge gain instead of six points the other way. He did complete over 50% of his passes. That’s a plus, right?

Quarterbacks: D-
 

Receivers and Tight Ends

The receivers did not have a great day, but that’s not a big surprise considering how the Packers were playing us and the day Gus had. Chester Taylor was our leading receiver followed by Adrian Peterson. That’s fairly telling about how the day went. Bobby Wade was the only Vikings receiver to have more than one catch (three) and double digit receiving yards (24). If it wasn’t for them, Peterson wouldn’t have had his day.

Bernard Berrian, while he didn’t have a catch, made the Packers play off the ball and respect the deep pass. That opened up much more for AP and Taylor. That’s why they get a higher grade. Tight ends get a marginally higher grade for the blocking they did for AP. Receiving wise, not so much. Shiancoe did not have a good game receiving.

Receivers: C-

Tight Ends: C+
 

Offensive Line

The O-Line, my favorite part of any football team (I played it in high school and college) played tremendously. This was probably the most cohesive I’ve seen them. The Vikings knew they were running it. The Packers knew they were running it. I’m sure Birk walked up to the line and said, “Hey, Kampman. We’re running at you.” And you know what? They did it. They ran the ball down Green Bay’s throat until it was sore from the abuse. Then they did it some more. The most impressive thing? The majority of the runs, and the game winning run, all went to the right. That’s away from the perceived strength of the line behind McKinnie and Hutchinson.

Pass blocking wise, Frerotte was only dropped twice. That’s a pretty good day all around, especially when it was Kampman, a perennial contender for sack leader, accounted for 75% of the two (1.5 sacks). It’s a shame Gus wasn’t more on today, or else the game really would have gotten out of hand. Credit to the tight ends and the runningbacks is also due; they help in pass blocking and they picked up some great blitzes. Kudos to the O-Line for adjusting to the Packers pass rush as well.

Offensive Line: A
 

Defensive Line

The Vikings defensive line really needs no grade; they are a huge part of why the Vikings are still in the playoff race. The Williams wall continues to manhandle centers and guards around the league. Kevin Williams forced another fumble that turned into a safety, and Jared Allen absolutely embarrassed Chad Clifton and brought Rodgers down in the end zone for another. Think he was worth the money?

The defensive line had pressure on Rodgers all day. Like I stated before, around 50% of the time he dropped back, Rodgers got sacked or knocked down. That’s insane. The Packers’ offensive line should be ashamed of their performance. Brian Robison tacked on another sack; he’s going to be really good as well.

Defensive Line: A
 

Linebackers

Even without E.J. Henderson, the linebackers played great. A player who has really stepped up, or in my opinion, is finally getting the attention he deserves, is Chad Greenway. The man out of Iowa is playing great and is currently leading the team in tackles. He had six solo tackles and one assist as well as a sack against the Packers. Ben Leber is really starting to develop as well; I’ll bump up their grade a bit just for the hit he put on Rodgers. Rodgers will wake up in the middle of a deep sleep because of the night terrors brought on by that hit.

Napoleon Harris, for his second game, played remarkably well. He had a sack and did well against the run. The Packers had 74 yards on the ground and 184 through the air. Not great, but if we didn’t turn the ball over those numbers would be significantly less. The one area our linebackers need to work on is pass coverage. Just like against the Texans, the middle of the field is usually open and opposing QBs like to dump it off for five to seven yard passes all day. Just ask Owen Daniels. He had a career day against us.

Linebackers: B 

Even cheerleaders are patriotic.

Secondary

Admittedly, this is the position I’m least familiar with. This game, they played very well. The addition of Madieu Williams is already having a noticeable effect; he hits hard and tackles very well. Greg Jennings, who was supposed to have a phenomenal game, was held to three catches for 37 yards, and 15 of those 37 came on one play. Donald Driver was the leading receiver with five catches for 46 yards.

The secondary did well, but a lot of that was thanks to great pressure on Rodgers and the Packers’ QB literally fearing for his life. No interceptions, but they did not allow any touchdowns either.

Secondary: B

Coaching

Childress called the game really well. He’s finally starting to understand what every fan of football has been saying since the first game he played in: give Adrian Peterson the ball! He’s a beast. He makes others around him play better. Makes others want it more. He’s such a rarity that to not use him should be a crime. Regardless, Childress did what he had to do, and for at least another week, he’s okay by me.

I’m not as big a Childress hater as most; he’s making up for some of his past discretions. Going for it on fourth and one took some stones, but he manned up and did it. AP helped a bit with that decision, but you know what? He made the correct call. Sure, he didn’t get it, but you can bet the players got a little more confident in their coach. And what happened? The line blocked harder, AP ran harder, and the Vikings won.

Coaching: B+
 

So there you have it; my grades for the Vikings/Packers game played last Sunday. I was very impressed with how we played, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store in Tampa Bay. Cadillac Williams may be back out of the garage, but you can bet everyone will be talking about the guy in purple wearing number 28. 

Skol Vikings! Woot Woot!