Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson showed the Chicago Bears why he was the first running back taken in this year's draft with an electrifying, record-setting rushing performance and three touchdowns for the Minnesota Vikings.
Still, the Vikings needed a 55-yard field goal from Ryan Longwell on the final play Sunday to beat the Bears 34-31. After Chicago's Brian Griese hit Devin Hester on an 81-yard TD pass to tie the game with 1:38 left, Peterson came through again.
FULL STORY...
Team Report
as of Tuesday, October 02, 2007 12:53 PM.
(Sports Network) - Cheer up Vikings fans, your team isn't going to lose this week.
Sure, they aren't playing, but when you are inventing new ways to lose each and every Sunday, the bye can be a tonic.
The Green Bay Packers' 23-16 victory on Sunday at the Metrodome, in which Brett Favre threw for 344 yards and became the NFL's all-time leader in career touchdown passes, relegated the Vikings to the basement in the NFC North.
And, things are only going to get uglier in the Twin Cities. The opening four weeks of the NFL season were supposed to be the "soft" part of the Vikings schedule but with the team sitting at 1-3, fans and media alike are beginning to question whether Zygi Wilf made the right decision when he hired Brad Childress as the team's head coach.
A rookie owner at the time, Wilf became smitten with Childress after interviewing him. Meanwhile, the former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator was scheduled for another interview with the Packers later that same week. Wilf panicked and gave Childress the Vikings job before he could leave town and without talking to any other candidates.
It hasn't been a good fit. Childress has an extremely rigid coaching style, lacks communication skills and has virtually no public relations acumen. That's fine if you are Bill Belichick, but the Vikings' mentor is now a woeful 7-13 as a head coach.
Childress has also lost three in a row and is an embarrassing 3-11 in his past 14 games. Perhaps more importantly, the embattled coach is now 0-3 against his chief rival, the Packers. The man Childress replaced -- Mike Tice -- had won three straight against Green Bay.
"We are obviously extremely disappointed," Childress said after his latest loss. "We're a 1-3 football team. We had an opportunity to win all three of those games. I'm not going to point in any one direction but we could all improve in all the areas. We were thinking about having a campfire and all singing Kumbaya here this afternoon a little bit just so we could get our spirits up."
SEQUEL
Anyone who has watched Godfather II knows sequels can be great but more often than not, a second installment is a pale imitation of the original..Unless you set the bar very, very low.
Since Tarvaris Jackson compiled a passer rating of 40.0 before going down with a groin injury, it would be exceedingly difficult for the second-year signal caller not to improve when he gets his second chance to pilot the Vikings after the bye week.
Jackson's poor play in the first two weeks of the season opened the door for Kelly Holcomb to seize the starting spot, but the veteran lost his two starts and failed to make any big plays down the field. Holcomb did play better than Jackson but didn't do enough to impress Childress, who's job is now directly tied to the development of Jackson.
Childress expects Jackson to be healthy enough to start at quarterback when the Vikings resume play on October 14 in Chicago. But the coach did leave the door slightly ajar for Holcomb if Jackson fails to impress in practice next week.
"Coming out of the bye, I would anticipate that he'll be healthy enough," Childress said of Jackson. "Until I see it with my eyes, that's the biggest thing. Because you have to do so many things besides stand there and orchestrate. You need to be able to move and make those fine adjustments and burst. All that rehab is great stuff but you really, really, really get on it when you are moving around the pocket as a quarterback."
Jackson feels he'd ready to go and wants to prove his Week 2 performance against Detroit, in which he threw four interceptions during a 20-17 overtime loss, was an aberration.
"I have to prove to my teammates and my coaches that I'm not going to go out there and have four turnovers," Jackson said. "Just get back out there and play football. After a game like that, to have to sit out and watch two games because of injury. I'm just ready to get back out there and have fun."
TWO-BACK ATTACK
Chester Taylor and Mewelde Moore are both good football players, they just aren't Adrian Peterson.
Peterson has been the Vikings offense through four weeks. The former Oklahoma star already matched Chuck Foreman's team record for a rookie with three 100- yard rushing games when he cracked the century mark in just 12 carries against Green Bay.
But for the second consecutive week with the game on the line, Childress kept Peterson on the sidelines and utilized a different back.
Against the Packers, Taylor was on the field for 40 plays. The veteran carried the ball eight times for 40 yards and added a reception for 11 more. Peterson lined up for 24 plays in the backfield and compiled 112 yards on his 12 carries and also caught a pass for six yards. Peterson carried the ball just two times in the second half.
"I think you're mindful of that when you have a two-running back attack, that you're not going to use somebody all the way throughout," Childress said. "And that's the great thing about having two guys that you feel equally good about and equally explosive about. You do that changeup and it benefits both people and it benefits our football team."
The real problem?
Like most rookies, Peterson struggles with his blitz pickups and the coaching staff feels more comfortable with Taylor or Moore in obvious passing situations. Of course, so do opposing defensive coordinators, since Peterson is the lone big-play threat on an anemic offense.
THIRD-DOWN BLUES
In recent years, the most important down in football has haunted the Vikings, and that trend is continuing in 2007. The offense is ranked 26th in the NFL in third-down conversions. Conversely, the defense is just 22nd in stopping opposing offenses on third down.
Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier tried to confuse Favre with a 3-3-5 formation throughout the game, but the Packers quarterback threw both of his TD passes on third-and-long situations against overmatched rookie Marcus McCauley.
"I'm quite sure we can do a better job," Childress said. "Offensively, in our must-pass situations..I think we can be better in that. "(For the defense) It's really no magic there. It's a combination of rush, coverage, technique."
UP NEXT
The Vikings travel to the Windy City to face a reeling Chicago Bears team on October 14.
The only chance Minnesota had to upset the defending NFC champs likely faded when Lovie Smith came to his senses and finally benched the inconsistent Rex Grossman.
At this stage, Minnesota needs a defensive touchdown to win any game and while Brian Griese isn't going to wow you, he also isn't going to make the game- changing mistake that was a staple of Grossman's game.