You would have thought that the Minnesota Vikings had won the Super Bowl by how happy the team and their fans were after winning yesterday's game against the New York Giants at Giants stadium 24-21. That's how this season has gone. Vikings fans are looking for anything to go right. Yesterday's game gave Vikings fans that little glimmer of hope. The Vikings are now 4-5 in their division and are tied with Detroit for second place in the NFC North, two games behind Chicago who holds on to first place. We must be happy with yesterday's game, right? A win is a win, especially when it comes against a team that you've been struggling against the past few years and when it comes on the road. The Vikings had to rely on a field goal from Paul Edinger with ten seconds left to win the game. This is amazing. Edinger can't seem to make a field goal from 35 yards but seems extremely comfortable with game winning field goals form distances greater then 45 yards. While I'm excited about the win yesterday, I must be honest with what I saw. The Vikings won because of the extremely poor play of Eli Manning and the New York Giants. Manning threw four interceptions yesterday and gave his team very little to work with. Had Manning played an average game, the Giants would have decimated the Vikings. It was special teams that won the game for the Vikings and special teams that fell apart for the Giants. The Vikings scored two touchdowns from punt and kickoff returns (NFL.com) and another touchdown off a Darren Sharper interception. The Vikings offense only scored three points and Brad Johnson only threw for 144 yards. So I believe the Vikings won despite themselves. I know I'm being extremely critical of the team but they deserve it. You can say that the special teams played well or that the Giants fell apart and played an extremely bad game. I think it's a combination of both but I was very upset with the Vikings lackluster offense. The big problem with the Vikings is still head coach Mike Tice. He looks dazed and confused on the football field. During one point in the game Mike Tice had thought his Vikings had won a replay challenge only to realize a few seconds later that the Giants had won the challenge. The cameras caught Mike Tice clapping and applauding as if he had won the biggest play of his life. Tice is really out of his league coaching an NFL team. Tice might be able to make a decent assistant coach but definitely not a head coach in the NFL. The Vikings were very lucky that Eli Manning had a poor game. They better be prepared for Brett Favre next week because he'll be ready to take on the Vikings. The Vikings need to make some major adjustments on offense. They definitely need to score more then three points offensively. Green Bay is coming off a big victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The Packers are looking to avenge a heart breaking loss to the Vikings in their last meeting when Paul Edinger kicked a 56 yard game winning field goal. The Packers played well yesterday. The Vikings better be prepared for the game against the Packers next Monday night... |
