Crazy

With respect to Patsy Cline (or Gnarls Barkley, for this generation), the recent Monday Night Football game between the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints was the epitome of "Crazy".

This is my first post on this blogging system, and really, could I have picked a better game to start my Vikings coverage with?!  What I will do in this post is try to summarize and comment on the events that took place on the field on Monday night, with more in-depth commentary coming in later posts.  Here goes:

Before the contest started, I gave my family members my prediction: Saints 35, Vikings 24.  With the way Drew Brees was playing and the athleticism of Reggie Bush, I didn't see any way in which the Vikes could possibly slow them down.  In the first quarter, that was EXACTLY what happened.  The Saints quickly drove down the field (which didn't take long, considering that their kick returner Thomas got them into Vikings territory right away) and scored a TD on their first drive, Brees to Devery Henderson.  Then, in typical Vikings fashion, the Purple had to punt on our first possession, and the Saints began driving again, with Brees finding receivers that were wide open by yards.  The Saints' second drive stalled out at the Vikings' 28 yard line, though, and Martin Grammatica came on to attempt the field goal.  Now, if you know anything about the NFL, you will know two things: Grammatica has been kicking forever, and he is no longer the "Automatica" he was in Tampa Bay long ago.  So, in order to make long kicks he must kick the ball in a low, line drive fashion (instead of just booming it like most guys do).  This occurred, a Viking player touched the sailing sphere, and it landed flush in the arms of Antoine Winfield, who quickly returned it for a score and tied the contest 7-7.  Given the chance to go up 10-0 on one of the worst offenses in the NFL, the Saints failed to capitalize (or did the Vikings succeed?!).

For the rest of the first quarter, each kicker (Grammatica and Ryan Longwell) traded field goals to make the score 10-10.  Of course, this likely did little to placate Vikings fans, as it was the WAY in which the teams were moving the ball that seemed to indicate who was the better team.  While the Saints were moving the ball down the field with ease (only to inexplicably stall out), the Vikings would have to fight for every yard just to claw themselves into field goal range.  It seemed for all the world as if the Saints would eventually stop shooting themselves in the foot and start racking up the score.

However, on the second play of the second quarter, Drew Brees was hit by Winfield (him again!), fumbled, and the ball was picked up by Winfield (a jack of all trades!) at the New Orleans five yard line.  With this huge break, the Vikings almost squandered the golden opportunity once again, this time needing a pass from RB Chester Taylor to TE Visanthe Shiancoe to get the TD (isn't the QB supposed to do that?!).

For the remainder of the second quarter, the Saints continued to give the Vikings the ball on a silver platter thanks to a fumble by Reggie Bush and a Brees interception (picked off by LB Ben Leber).  The Vikes turned all those opportunities into a "scintillating" three points, and went into the half with a 20-10 lead.  I don't think many people would have guessed that the Vikings would be leading by so much at the half, but the consensus (even from the broadcasters) was that the Saints were bound to come back and take charge of the game.  They did do exactly that later, although in a much different way than anyone thought they would...

After both teams had two drives that sputtered to a halt in the third quarter, resulting in a punt exchange, the Vikings set up for their third punt of the quarter.  This time, Reggie Bush took it to the house with his incredible speed (although a bone-crushing block on the perimeter of the play didn't hurt, either) to pull the Saints within 17-20.  The Vikings quickly got the ball back then, moved backwards, and punted again, this time seeing Bush trip on his own feet as the only obstacle to another sprint to paydirt.  New Orleans got a field goal out of that drive, tying the game.

Finally, as if the game wasn't crazy enough by this point, the fourth quarter provided even more fireworks.  After NO tied the contest, the Vikings got the ball and AGAIN moved backwards, setting up a punt.  With Brad Childress supposedly telling punter Kluwe to kick the ball out of bounds (i.e. away from Bush), Kluwe's punt ended up safely in Bush's arms (like Kim Kardashian, perhaps?!).  Sixty-four yards later, Bush had gone all the way (insert second Kardashian joke here) and was crossing the goal line to give his team a 27-20 lead.

At this point, most Vikings fans were likely thinking that the game was essentially over.  The Vikings had lucked out for long enough, and now the Saints were finally taking control like everyone thought they would.  Yet, a nice Frerotte-Berrian connection (36 yards) moved the Purple quickly down the field, while another similar hookup (this time for 33 yards) ended with Berrian snagging the ball in the endzone and tying the score again, 27-27.  Perhaps most impressive was not Berrian's catch, but Frerotte's toughness, as on the first Berrian big play he got his bell rung and left the game for only a single play before returning.

Even after seeing the Vikings tie the score, though, the Saints were not deterred in the slightest, instead marching down the field in mere moments and moving within field goal range.  With 1:58 on the clock, Grammatica again was given the opportunity to make a 46-yard field goal, and again he failed, hooking the ball badly.

So, with barely two minutes remaining, the Vikings' inept offense (at least for most of the night) got the ball with a chance to win.  On third and three, Frerotte aired one out and got a pass interference call, setting up Ryan Longwell's game-winning field goal, 30-27.

From a Vikings fan perspective, I think that the Saints gave us the game much more than we took it.  However, a win is a win, and I think their are many things that can be learned from the victory.  I will discuss those areas in future posts, as well as preview Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions.