Despite Safety, Win Over Lions Is Anything But

Coming off a fortunate victory over the New Orleans Saints on MNF last week, and playing a team (the Detroit Lions) that we have had complete domination over for pretty much their entire existence, the Minnesota Vikings had ever excuse to be supremely confident heading home to tame the Lions.  Of course, this being the Minnesota Vikings, nothing quite ever goes exactly according to plan...

During the first half of yesterday's contest, here are how the Vikings' drives ended up: Punt, Punt, Fumble, Punt, Punt, Punt, Punt.  The offense (as has come to be expected) was completely inept, with the defense having to score the lone Vikings points of the half by "executing" a safety.  Even then, though, you really can't give credit to the Purple, as Lions starting QB Dan Orlovsky (making the first start of his NFL career) ran nearly the length of the endzone before realizing that he was out of bounds.  I almost felt bad for the youngster, as he was completely overwhelmed being backed up in his own endzone.

Besides those two points, Jason Hanson did connect on a 40-yard field goal to give the Lions a lackluster 3-2 lead.  Since the introduction of Brad Childress as head coach of the Vikings, this was perhaps the worst offensive half of football that Vikings fans had ever seen.  As the Purple headed to the lockeroom to regroup, boos reigned down upon them, along with a rolling chant of "Fire Childress".  Personally, I don't condone such rude behavior from fans, but I definitely agreed with their sentiment.

The Vikings kicked off to start the second half, and the Lions methodically marched the ball down the field, eventually scoring on a Dan Orlovsky strike to Calvin Johnson from 12 yards out, giving the visitors a 10-2 lead and perpetuating the biggest boo-bird moment of the afternoon.  Gus Frerotte was quickly intercepted in the resulting possession after the Detroit score, but Detroit was then forced to punt, setting up perhaps the biggest play of the contest.  Trailing by eight points with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter and at their own 14 yard line, Frerotte found receiver Bernard Berrian on the left side and Berrian turned on the jets, running 86 yards for the score (exactly what we are paying him to do).  The Vikes elected to kick the extra point (I decision I didn't take too much offense with, as so often missed two-point conversions come back to haunt teams) and thus cut the deficit to 10-9.

From that point, the Purple defense clamped down on the Blue invaders, forcing four punts and one fumble the rest of the game, allowing zero points.  So, you would think that would give the Vikings the opportunity to put the game away, right?!  Vikings fans know how false that assumption is.  After the Berrian long score, the Vikings punted, fumbled (Adrian Peterson) in Lions territory, and had a Ryan Longwell field goal blocked after an offensive penalty made the kick more difficult than it needed to be.  So, after one more drive ending with Chris Kluwe, the Vikings got the ball with 4:41 remaining in the game, down by a 10-9 score.  The Vikings moved to nearly midfield with ease, but then a screen pass to Peterson (5-yard loss) and a false start penalty set up a 2nd-and-20 down and distance situation.  On the next play, Frerotte uncorked a deep bomb (in the direction of Berrian, if I'm not mistaken), and while the catch wasn't made, pass-interference was called on the Lions' defender, putting the ball at the Lions' 26 yard line.  After reviewing the replay, it was clear that there was minimal (if any) actual interference on the play, so the Vikings essentially caught a game-winning break, as a few plays later Longwell knocked the game-winning kick through the uprights.

So, in review, the Vikings essentially stole a game from the Lions that we deserved to lose.  Not only did the offense play atrociously, but it also coughed up the ball enough times (two fumbles, one INT) to prevent points from being put on the board.  Then, with the game on the line, a ticky-tack pass-interference call stole the game from the Lions and gave it to the undeserving Vikings.  With the win, the Vikings go to 3-3 on the season, propelling them into a first-place tie in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears.  However, although I was happy for a Vikings win, I can't help but wonder if a win like that didn't just prolong the inevitable...the dismissal of perhaps (remember, this is the team that hired Les Steckel) the worst head coach in Minnesota Vikings history.

More later this week on Childress' tenure, what I would do with the "offense", and other such things.