Vikings - Almost! Vikes Fight But Fall Short, Still in First, Still in Hunt

The Vikings fell short 13-19 but fought hard and showed that the Vikings belong in the black and blue division of NFL football.

Why black & blue? Three reasons:

1. Well, first the D is solid and punishing. This D is almost strong enough to carry this team. In the NFL, that's key. You can win with a solid defense. The offense may get all the credit but it will not win a title. Looking at NFL champions over the last 10 years, only Kurt Warner's and Marshall Faulk's Saint Louis Rams stand out as an offensive team that won it all. And that Super Bowl is most remembered for the Rams' defensive stop by Mike Jones on the last play of the game. D is key and the Vikes have the pieces in place to be that good.
2. 28 can truly go all day. Adrian Peterson is a bruising back. Already at 1,000 yards for the season (1100 after Sunday's game), All-Day has shown that he can carry this team. Peterson leads the NFL in rushing and is averaging 110 yards a game! Wow!
3. Frerotte-n QB is killing me. I really thought Gus Frerotte was a great off-season signing. I expected him to help like Kerry Collins in Tennessee and Kurt Warner in Arizona. Instead Gus is beating up his own team, making them black and blue. He's hurting Minnesota like Brad Johnson hurt Dallas. It's so amazing to see Gus continue to start. Was Tarvaris Jackson that bad? Is John Davis Booty paying attention?
   

Death by Quarterback?
I can't believe how the QB position has failed Minnesota. I really expected wide receiver to be the weakest link but that's not the case. The hard part is fixing that during the season. I feel for head coach Brad Childress. He's truly trying and being tried by his quarterbacks. He tried to address it this offseason with a veteran and a draft pick for the future. Instead, he's being killed now. Ouch!

5-5 is alive.
The bad news, the Vikings lost. The good news is that Chicago lost, too, and this division is wide open. Besides Detroit, a division title can be found in Green Bay's, Chicago's, or Minnesota's Christmas stocking. With the troubles thus far, being alive - heck FIRST place! - is wonderful.

Jack's Next!
Next Sunday, the Vikes return to Florida to face Jack Del Rio's Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jag's stumbled losing to Tennessee Sunday and fell to 4-6. Their playoff life is also in the balance. Sunday's game is huge to both squads. Sunday will be fun to watch.

Bleed on,
Don

Vikings/Packers - A Game Worthy of the Rivalry

28 to 27 - the game could not be closer. The game Sunday is worthy of the great rivalry between Minnesota and Green Bay. 2008 continues a great tradition of hard-fought, it's-never-over, matches. And as it should be, the home team won.

Okay, some pieces of Sunday's game are not worthy of the rivalry. Two bad offense trying to outfail each other is not worthy of the classic Black and Blue division.

But much of the game was. It's great that both teams were 4-4 and needed a win. What is worthy is Adrian Peterson and Ryan Grant fighting for every yard. Worthy is two defenses locking horns. Worthy is also two teams working 60 minutes and not giving up. It's worthy that it comes down to the last minute of the game.

As it should be Sunday ended five straight wins by Green Bay. To make a rivalry relevant, each team needs it's day in the winner's circle. Each team needs to lose to fuel the anger for the rival. After five straight losses, I think it's only right that Minnesota returns to the win column. The win by Minnesota puts the all time series at 45-49 with 1 tie (I found the stat in a newspaper article but couldn't find a second source so this is unverified). The all-time series is almost as close as Sunday's score. And that's as it should be.