YO ADRIAN!

The Vikings jumped out to an early 3-0 lead following Chicago first possession of the game, a Matt Forte fumble, but that would be the last time the Vikings would lead Sunday. Adrian Peterson’s lost fumble and Christian Ponder’s interception in the second quarter both led to Bears touchdowns and the Bears were off to a handed win.

“Very disappointing game,” said head coach Leslie Frazier. “We didn’t execute the way we need to on the road against a good football team. We wanted to be better in the red zone on offense and defense and we did not get that done.”

The third quarter showed a glimmer of home for the Vikings, when Antoine Winfield intercepted one of Jay Cutler’s passes and the Vikings ended up scoring on that drive on a Ponder to Kyle Rudolph two-yard pass. On the Bears next possession, Mistral Raymond picked up what looked like a second Forte fumble and ran it back 52 yards for a touchdown, but upon review the touchdown was called back and the Bears went ahead and kicked a field goal.

“Any time you have opportunities to score touchdowns in the red area on the road, you’ve got to find a way to get it done,” said Frazier.

Vikings standouts for the day were Peterson, who ran for his fifth 100-yard game in a row with 108 yards on 18 carries. Rookie WR Jarius Wright, who has stepped in since the loss of Percy Harvin, also had 7 catches for 49 yards

“[This was] not the kind of performance you need when you’re on the road in a division game,” said Frazier. “We’ve got to go back and look at film and look at what we can do to improve.”

TE Kyle Rudolph scores the Vikings lone touchdown in their loss to the Bears

A quick recap of the Vikings 28-10 loss to divisional foe, Chicago Bears

HOW THE GAME WAS LOST

Plain and simple, the game was lost with the turnover battle. The Vikings committed three turnovers (a fumble by Adrian Peterson, a fumble on an QB to RB exchange and a Christian Ponder interception).  Peterson’s fumble and Ponder’s interception both led to Chicago touchdowns.

TURNING POINT

The Vikings came out of halftime strong with an interception on the Bears first drive of the half by Antoine Winfield.  Winfield’s interception led to a two yard touchdown from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph.  This cut the score 25-10.  On the Bears next drive, it seemed like Matt Forte fumbled with Mistral Raymond returning it 52 yards for a touchdown.  Initially, refs said it was confirmed.  However, moments later, they said the play was under review (LOL WUT).

Following the review, the call was over turned and Bears retained possession, while 6 points were taken off the board for the Vikings.

If the call had stand, the Vikings would have been down 7 points with a huge momentum shift towards the Vikings.  However, the Bears continued the drive and god a field goal to put them up 28-10.

» Continue reading “Vikings Lose To Bears 28-10″

Rookie Jarius Wright breaks out from the inactive list with a big game in replace of Percy Harvin

YAY! A Vikings win! YAY!

The Minnesota Vikings well head into their much needed bye week 6-4 after a HUGE 34-24 victory over the Detroit Lions.

HOW THE GAME WAS ONE

Christian Ponder shushed doubters today with an effective game at quarterback. He finished 24-of-32 for 221 yards, two touchdowns, ZERO (!!!) turnovers, one sack and a QBR of 114.2.  Pretttty good game for a guy people have been saying he should be benched for back-up Joe Webb.

The Vikings set the turn early with a 54 yard completion to rookie Jarius Wright during their first drive.  That completion for Wright, who was filling in for injured Percy Harvin, was his first career catch after being inactive for the first nine weeks of the season.  Ponder and co. finished the drive with a three-yard TD pass to Wright, in which the Vikings never looked back and led the rest of the way.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Even with big games from Christian Ponder and rookie Jarius Wright, the game ball goes to RB Adrian Peterson, who finished with 171 yards on 27 rushes (which were both season-highs) and one touchdown.

Peterson also surpassed 1,000 yards rushing during their game, which was the fifth time in his six year career he has done so.  Only year without 1,000 yards rushing was last season after he missed numerous games with an injury.

It truly says a lot about Adrian Peterson, his work ethic, and his recovery from his gruesome knee injury that it only took him 10 games to reach 1,000 yards in a season where expectations were “lowered” for the back.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The play of the game comes from the player of the game on Adrian Peterson’s 61-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, which effectively sealed a Vikings victory.

The 61-yard TD run came on an important Vikings offensive drive after the Lions had just put up seven points.

VIKINGS SHOW UP OFFENSIVELY

So much has been said the past few weeks of the Vikings lack-off effective offense, but today they showed they can truly compete with anyone when they are “on.”

Christian Ponder hit 10 different receivers, including himself, today. (Although the pass to himself went for -15 yards, it’s still pretty cool, kinda.).

“We had a ton of guys, 10 receivers including myself, that stepped up and made plays,” Ponder said post game.

Kyle Rudolph, who has been quite for the past few weeks, showed up today when the Vikings needed someone to ease the loss of number one receiver Percy Harvin.  Rudolph finished the day with seven catches for 64 yards.

A lot has been said about the Vikings lack of down field throws, but today Ponder hit six different receivers for passes of 10+ yards.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

The Vikings will head into their bye week 6-4, which seems a lot better than heading into 5-5.  Following their week off, the Vikings will continue division play with away games at Chicago and at Green Bay. Let’s just say, the brutal part of their schedule is upon us, so let’s enjoy the good for one week!

CB Antoine Winfield returned to practice on Friday

The young Minnesota Vikings team should be fully tested in their first road game on the 2012 season.  The Vikings will play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday with the hopes of going 2-0 to start the season.

Below are some notes from the Vikings final practice of week two:

Vikings injury report: 

• Probable — Center John Sullivan (ankle), cornerbacks Chris Cook (biceps) and Josh Robinson (hip), safety Andrew Sendejo (ankle), tight end Rhett Ellison (ankle), and running back Adrian Peterson (knee)
• Questionable — Linebacker Marvin Mitchell (ankle) and wide receiver Jarius Wright (ankle)

Colts injury report:

• Probable — Right tackle Winston Justice (head)
• Questionable — Wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (shoulder)
• Doubtful — Wide receiver Austin Collie (concussion)
• Out — Linebackers Dwight Freeney (ankle) and Pat Angerer (foot), left guard Joe Reitz (knee)

CB Antoine Winfield returns to practice: Vikings veteran returned to practice on Friday after missing Thursday’s practice to attend his brother’s funeral, who was tragically murdered last Wednesday in Aron, Ohio.

» Continue reading “Vikings News Bulletin: MN Looks Towards First Road Game”

Vikings center John Sullivan missed practice on Thursday

The Minnesota Vikings remain relatively healthy while preparing for the Indianapolis Colts.

Below are some health updates from Thursday’s practice, via 1500ESPN:

•  Center John Sullivan missed Thursday’s practice with an ankle injury, but Leslie Frazier expects him to play on Sunday
• Cornerback Chris Cook, who missed Wednesday’s practice with a biceps injury, practiced in full on Thursday
• Tight end Rhett Ellison (ankle), running back Adrian Peterson (knee), and cornerback Josh Robinson (hip) all participated in Thursday’s practice
• Players who missed Sunday’s season opener, cornerback Andrew Sendejo (ankle), wide receiver Jarius Wright (ankle), and linebacker Marvin Mitchell practiced in a limited fashion on Thursday

Vikings veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield was absent during Thursday’s practice to attend his brother’s funeral.

» Continue reading “Vikings Injury News From Thursday Practice”

Christian Ponder’s poise on the field compared to last year is night and day

The Minnesota Vikings will play the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.  The Vikings will travel for their first away game in hopes to go 2-0 to start the season.

Vikings health:  The Vikings are surprisingly really healthy.  On Wednesday, every player on the 53 roster participated in practice.  Andrew Sendejo, Jarius Wright, and Marvin Mitchell who were out for the season opener because of ankle injuries all practiced and are expected to play on Sunday.

***

Quick hits from Leslie Frazier’s press conference:

• The Vikings plan to get John Carlson more involved this week after his return to action last week was a quite one.
• Frazier said he believes Adrian Peterson was just happy that he was able to play and stay healthy

“I think he’s pretty close (to his 2011 form)…He may not be quite where he was prior to the injury but he’s pretty close.”

» Continue reading “Vikings Begin Preparations For Colts”

Adrian Peterson Watch: Will Vikings fans be celebrating RB Adrian Peterson’s return to the field on Sunday? Stay Tuned.

It’s two days before the Vikings season open and Adrian Peterson Watch is still in full effect.

On Friday, the Vikings released their injury report for the game, which you can see below via Vikings.com.

Vikings
RB Adrian Peterson (knee) is listed as questionable, and Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier said he’d be a game-time decision.

S Robert Blanton, TE John Carlson (knee), DT Letroy Guion (knee), OL Geoff Schwartz (abdomen) and CB Marcus Sherels (ankle) are listed as probable.

LB Marvin Mitchell (ankle), S Andrew Sendejo (ankle) and WR Jarius Wright (ankle) are listed as out.

It’s also worth pointing out that the two newest Vikings, CB A.J. Jefferson and OL Mark Asper, will not suit up for the game, according to Leslie Frazier.

Notes Leslie Frazier’s Friday Presser:

» Continue reading “Vikings Injury Report And Other Notes Heading Into Season Opener”

Training camp starts on Thursday for the Minnesota Vikings and one area of improvement for the 2012 must be the passing game.

Percy Harvin

With Adrian Peterson injured, Percy Harvin become the Vikings biggest threat on offensive.  He requested a trade but the Vikings declined any interest of doing such action.

“The Minnesota Vikings have no interest at all in trading Percy Harvin,” said GM Rick Spielman. “We drafted Percy Harvin here. He’s a key part of our organization, he’s a key part of our football team and any issues that are out there or reported, we always handle those internally and we’ll continue to handle those internally.”

It seems like the issues between the Vikings and Harvin has been worked out and he will report to training camp on Thursday.

2011 stats:

• 87 receptions — 967 yards — 11.1 yards/catch
• 6 receiving touchdowns
• 52 rushing attempts — 345 yards — 6.6 yards/rush
• 2 rushing touchdowns — 2 fumbles

Percy Harvin and Chad Greenway participates in OTAs: For week one of OTAs, WR Percy Harvin was a spectator while rehabbing, along side teammate Adrian Peterson, from off-season shoulder surgery.  LB Chad Greenway was also absent from week one of OTAs while he was attending to a family issue.  However, for OTA #4, according to the Vikings.com, Harvin and Greenway joined their teammates on the field and looked “refreshed and explosive.”

ESPN analysis of the Vikings back-up QB situation: Christian Ponder will enter the 2012 season as the #1 QB on the Vikings depth-chart.  However, Ponder faced multiple injuries during his rookie season.  It’s important for the Vikings to have a reliable back-up QB in case Ponder, who has the reputation as being “injury prone,” goes down sometime during the season.

» Continue reading “Minnesota Vikings News Bulletin: June 4th-5th”

On Tuesday, May 22nd, the Minnesota Vikings announced they have come to terms with seven of their 10 2012 draft picks, including fourth-round wide recievers Jarius Wright and Greg Childs, fourth-round tight end Rhett Ellison, fifth-round safety Robert Blanton, sixth-round kicker Blair Walsh, seventh-round linebacker Audie Cole and seventh-round defensive end Trevor Guyton.

According to the Pioneer Press, Ellison signed a 4-year contract worth $2.4 million with a $300,000 signing bonus.  Blanton also received a 4-year contract, which is worth $2.31 million with a $211,000 bonus.

As of now, first-round left tackle Matt Kalil, first-round safety Harrison Smith, and third-round cornerback Josh Robinson remain un-sign.

What are some of the draftees saying on Twitter: