Vikings lose at Tampa Bay 19-13, and let me tell you, that was a tough one to watch.

Bobby Wade scoring the Vikings' only TD

After opening the game with a 13-6 lead, the Vikings were held scoreless in the second half. I find this game hard to blame on the offense; when they had the ball, they were fairly successful most of the time. Frerotte completed over 50% of his passes (14 of 20) with one touchdown to Bobby Wade and no interceptions. He averaged 6.9 yards an attempt, which is an above average number. Peterson, when he got the ball, was always gaining yards. He had 4.5 yards an attempt and ended the day with 85 yards. The offense played decent. Not perfect. Decent.

The defense just astounded me. After demolishing Aaron Rodgers last game, the Vikings failed to have an actual sack against Jeff Garcia. Despite what the box score may tell you, the only sack was when Garcia was flushed from the pocket and attempted to run. He just happened to get tackled behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive line, who got insane pressure all last game, could not get through the Bucs offensive line. While I realize Tampa Bay is a good team, a defensive line of our caliber cannot be getting so little pressure. Just ask the Giants. They beat the NFL’s villain by getting to Tom Brady and hitting him. Last week, we rattled Aaron Rodgers so he couldn’t get set and in a rhythm. Why couldn’t we do it against the Bucs? It was infuriating. Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, and Pat Williams combined for five tackles, while Ray Edwards had four on his own. No sacks among them. That’s just unacceptable. They did well enough at taking up blockers for the linebackers. Warrick Dunn, replacing the injured Earnest Graham, had 20 rushes for only 53 yards. To those that watched it, it seemed like he had many more yards than that.

The bright spot on the defense for the day was Chad Greenway, who hails from my home state of Iowa. He had the Vikings lone sack and 16 solo tackles. The next closest was Napolean Harris with nine total, eight solo. If Greenway doesn’t make the Pro Bowl, something is seriously wrong. He’s all over the field. Like I said before, he does need to work on his coverage skills. Our linebackers are serious run stuffers, but the three of them (E.J. Henderson included) really need to not get beat on the pass so much. Tight Ends seem to have their career days against us, and today was no exception. Jeremy Stevens had six catches for 84 yards.

Adrian Peterson couldn't do it all himself this week

It was special teams that really put the nail in us again. The defense held the Bucs to a field goal late in the fourth and Maurice Hicks got the ball tapped while he was returning it only to have it bounce away. We had over five minutes (if memory serves) and were only down by three. Instead of that, we lose the ball and our defense came through to hold the Bucs to another field goal. By then, we needed a touchdown and had about three minutes to do it. Two minute offense really isn’t the Vikings’ strong point, so as a consequence, Ryan Cook (I believe) whiffs his block and Gus gets knocked silly. Next play, a pass to Chester Taylor (why is Adrian Peterson, the best Vikings player, on the sideline right now? UGH) who promply fumbles the ball. Game over.

I find myself asking how our offense can look adequate in the first half and sub par in the second, and then realize it’s Brad Childress’ inability to make halftime adjustments. I’m sure Peterson had many more yards per carry in the first half, but the Bucs adjusted and took some of his explosiveness away. Same with the Bucs offense; lack of pressure notwithstanding, we held them in check most of the first half (barring a few big plays). So what gives? Why can’t Childress adjust accordingly? It’s something he needs to do. Other than that, I thought his play calling was actually decent this week. Still need more AP, but unless he’s getting 30+ carries, I’ll probably say that.

Adrian Peterson doing what he does best

Matt Bryant, the nice guy that he is, decided to miss one wide right at the end just to give us a chance, but we could not replicate the magic of last week. Vikings fall to 5-5, where a three-way tie for first now exists in the NFC North. Talk about a divison of mediocrity. On the plus side, it still means we have a shot at winning this thing, but it’s going to be a lot harder. We have to win probably five of the last six games to make the playoffs, though a nine-win season might do it in the North. That’s a tall order to fill, but if our special teams can get things going, we hold on to the ball, and get said ball to Adrian Peterson, we have a chance.

Come on Vikes. I believe in you.