The Vikings didn’t fumble, bumble and stumble their way into the playoffs, but they didn’t exactly come up with a work of art.
Instead they team play in spurts against the Giants, a formidable team that rested its starters in the second half. The red-zone defense was good throughout, and the offense played well early and late for the final (small) margin of 20-19.
The x-factor, as always, was Tarvaris Jackson. How would he play in a high-pressure situation?
Reasonably well. He had one horrible play, throwing an interception when the Vikings were in the red zone, but otherwise was OK. (You could tell how upset he was by that — he got a personal foul for tackling the interceptor out of bounds.)
Adrian Peterson had a big play that gave the Vikes an early 10-0 lead, breaking through for a 67-yard TD run. Otherwise he was pretty well held in check, and fumbled once. He was lucky — teammate Jim Kleinsasser recovered the ball.
The Vikings, 10-6, as the No. 3 seed in the NFC will play the Philadelphia Eagles, who annihilated the Dallas Cowboys. The team remains a question mark even now that the regular season is over.
How will the run defense be with Pat Williams apparently out of the wild-card game next weekend at the Metrodome? With top rusher Brandon Jacobs out, the Giants had no trouble running against the vaunted Minnesota rushing defense. You have to worry about Brian Westbrook, a tested performer.
Second, will the Vikings have the jitters and fumble the ball away the way they did against the Falcons? The Eagles’ defense scored a couple of touchdowns against the Cowboys and have a sophisticated blitz system. You have to worry about Tarvaris Jackson, who appears to have plenty of time but gets nervous.
Third, is Adrian Peterson developing a fumbling problem? He’s put the ball down on the ground way too many times this year. He fumbled last week against the Falcons and did it again vs. the Giants.
Fourth, can the defense come up with some takeaways and sacks? The D didn’t get much pressure on Eli Manning and substitute signal-caller David Carr, and had no takeaways. Yes, it had some good stops and made the Giants kick field goals.
Fifth, the health of AP is a concern. He looked hurt after his fumble, and Chester Taylor filled in for several plays (and, not surprisingly, very capably).
On the other hand, the team has a lot of talent. If it plays to its potential, the sky’s the limit. If Jackson can spread the ball around, get rid of it quickly and not screw up, the team could scored plenty of points. We all know the team can rush the ball.
The defense has been dominant in some games, as it was after the first few minutes against the Bears and the entire game against Arizona. It’s been pretty good most of the season.
Keywords: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants, Tarvaris Jackson
