Let's Talk Vikings: Vikings Blow Another Lead Ending in Loss

The Vikings' 2nd half woes repeated themselves again in their loss to the Detroit Lions. The Vikings began the game with two Ryan Longwell field goals, one from 33 yards and one from 41 yards. At the end of the 1st quarter, the score was 6-0, Vikings. In the 2nd quarter, Adrian Peterson ran it in from 6 yards out to give the Vikings a 13-0 lead. Following a 53-yard punt return, Donovan McNabb threw an 8 yard touchdown pass to Visanthe Shiancoe, giving the Vikings a 20-0 halftime lead. At this point, I was thinking, Could the Vikings finally finish the game and win? Sure enough, Matthew Stafford threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson, making the score, 20-7, Vikings. Later in the 3rd quarter, Jason Hanson hit a 28-yard field goal, narrowing the Vikings lead to 10 points. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, Matthew Stafford threw a 5-yard strike to Calvin Johnson, making the score, 20-17, Vikings. Midway through the 4th quarter, Jason Hanson kicked in a 50-yard field goal to tie the game at 20. With 2:30 left in the 4th quarter, Jason Hanson kicked in another field goal, this time from 40 yards to give the Lions a 3-point lead. With a little over one minute left, Ryan Longwell kicked in a 49-yard field goal for the Vikings, tying the game at 23 and thus sending the game to overtime. In overtime, the Lions got the ball first, and following a 40-yard catch, kicked a 32-yard field goal to win the game, 26-23.

The Vikings defense played well, recording 5 sacks, 7 QB hits, and 9 Tackles for loss. Donovan McNabb was 22/36 on pass attempts, for 211 yards, and one touchdown. McNabb also ran twice for 11 yards. Adrian Peterson ran 17 times for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Deciding Factors:

1. Penalties- The Vikings had 10 penalties for 79 yards. The Lions had 7 penalties for 65 yards. While this is not a huge margin, the Vikings had more careless penalties, such as horsecollar tackle or holding. Also, the Vikings had many penalties in clutch situations or penalties that negated big plays.

2. 4th and 1- In the 4th quarter, ahead by 3, the Vikings were faced with attempting a 50+ yard field goal or going for it on 4th down. They went for it on 4th down. That's fine. But what's not fine is that rather than give the ball to the best running back in the league, Adrian Peterson, they gave it to Toby Gerhardt and came up short. There's nothing wrong with Gerhardt but most teams, in the most critical situations, try to give the ball to their star player.

3. 3rd and 1- There was one play in the 2nd half where the Vikings needed a first down to switch the momentum back to their favor. Rather than run on 3rd and 1, they tried a pass (which was incomplete) and had to punt the ball away to the Lions.

While this is another disappointing loss, the Vikings played better than they had in the last two games. Even though they lost, at least they tied the game and put themselves in a position to win at the end, rather than just shutting off in the 2nd half like they'd done in the last two losses.

I still the think the Vikings can do well this season. Once they get over the hump and win their first game, they can be a great team and win many games after that. But the longer it takes for them to win their first game, the fewer games they can win. Every game the Vikings play, it becomes more important that they win if they plan on making the playoffs. I want to emphasize that this is not the end of the world, but in a division like the Vikings are in, we are rapidly approaching the cliff.