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″

Vikings must keep finding ways to get the oh-so dangerous Percy Harvin as many touches as possible

A quick recap of the Minnesota Vikings 23-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

HOW THE GAME WAS LOST

Although  the Vikings offense was terrible for three quarters, the Vikings had a chance to send the game into overtime for the second straight week, but the defense couldn’t stop rookie Andrew Luck and the Colts offense.

For the second straight week, the Vikings defense inability to get off the field on third downs hurt them.  Although the Colts only converted 43% of the third down completions, they were much more efficient at doing so in the first half, which gave them a half time lead of 17-6.

TURNING POINT

The Vikings began their comeback in the fourth quarter when Christian Ponder completed a tipped touchdown pass to Stephen Burton with 5:03 left in the game.  The Vikings defense then did it’s job by getting the ball back to its offense with 2:50 left to play.

Christian Ponder, like he did last week, drove the offense down the field to score the game tying six yard touchdown to TE Kyle Rudolph.

BACK BREAKING DRIVE

It was silly of us to think the Vikings would once again pull out a miracle because there was 31 seconds for the Colts left on the clock.  The Vikings defense once again couldn’t get a stop for their life and allowed the Colts to drive to the Minnesota 35 yard line.  Essentially it was a flashback to last week, but it was the Colts doing to the Vikings what they did to the Jags.  Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri connected on a 53 yard field goal to essentially clinch a 23-20 Colts win with eight seconds left to play.

» Continue reading “Vikings Lose 23-20 In Final Seconds To Colts”

It’s been 11 years since the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and yet it feels like yesterday when life as we knew it changed.  Being an American and living in the greatest country is about each person having freedom to dream big and live their life to the fullest. Although the terrorists attempted to pull our country down, we came together as one to prove there is no country like the United States and we truly are proud to be American.

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they canny deny the steel of American resolve. America was targets for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.” – George W. Bush

We are lucky to be American and to live in this great country.  No matter what is thrown our way, we will stand as one.

September 11th is one of those days where everyone stops and reflects on our great country and to thank those who lost their lives or loved ones due to senseless acts of terror.

Below are some Vikings players who took time to reflect on 9/11 on Twitter:

» Continue reading “Twitter Tuesday: Vikings Players Remember 9/11″

WR Stephen Burton hauls in a 52 yard completion from QB Christian Ponder

Well, the good thing is football is back.  The bad thing is the Vikings lost their preseason opener.  Thankfully, it is only preseason and these games don’t count so there is no need to panic….yet!

These four preseason games are used to evaluate the players the Vikings have and who they will keep when the cut the roster down to 53 men.

On Friday night, all of Vikings’ fans’ eyes were on second year quarterback Christian Ponder.  Fans could notice a great deal of improvement in Ponder’s play during the first two drives of the game with the first team offense.

Ponder finished 4-of-9 for 80 yards.  Although Ponder had more incompletions then completions, three of the five incompletions were “drops” that hit the receivers on their hands and the other two were intended throwaways.   After the game, head coach Leslie Frazier complimented Ponder’s decision making.

» Continue reading “Recapping The Vikings 17-6 Loss To San Francisco”

Defensive line gets work in on their first day with pads
Credit: Fox9 Sports

Monday marked the Vikings third day of practice, but the first practice with pads.  Below are some highlights from those in Mankato covering training camp.

Percy #1 man at kick returner — is this part of the plan to keep him happy?
Credit: Mike Wobschall

Vikings have completed two days of practices at training camp in Mankato.  Below are some observations of practice number two from those that were there:

• Rookie CB Josh Robinson sat out of practice after pulling his hamstring yesterday.  Vikings are listing him as day-to-day.  Stephen Burton, Nick Taylor, Eric Latimore, and Adrian Peterson also did not practice today.
• Mickey Shuler is off the non-football injury list and took some backup reps at tight end
• Special teams coach Mike Priefer told reporters “Percy is our number one kick returner.” Other players who got looks at return man include Bryan Walters, Kerry Taylor, Jarius Wright, Marcus Sherels, and Josh Robinson.
• Geoff Schwartz and Brandon Fusco got reps at right guard with the ones
• Mistral Raymond and Jamarca Sanford got reps at starting safety
• Emmanuel Arceneaux looks like he has improved his route running
• Jerome Simpson dropped a pass and as self-punishment did a set of push-ups. Supposedly the crowd loved it.  Simpson also banged knees with Zackary Bowman and was slowed to get up, but returned to action.
• Adrian Peterson looks better than he did when he worked out in front of the media a few months ago
• Kicker update: Blair Walsh hit four straight 46-yard kicks and went two-of-three from 55-yards out

It seems like Adrian Peterson didn’t get his wish to be on the practice field come today.  The Vikings decided to place their star running back on the active/PUP list.

“We think that’s the best thing to do for right now,” coach Leslie Frazier said of Peterson, who tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee on Dec. 24 at Washington and had surgery six days later.

“We’ll continue to evaluate him daily, see how he’s progressing, and at some point, the doctors and our head trainer Eric Sugarman will come to me and say, ‘Hey, we think he’s ready to get involved in some team activities.’ But at this point, we’re going to go through some evaluations, just make a determination as to when is the right time to put him out there with his teammates.”

Peterson said he would fight to be on the field with his teammates, but essentially would do what is best for himself and the team.

“He put up a fight. He did,” Frazier said. “Knowing Adrian like you guys do, he wanted to make sure — ‘Coach, don’t hold me back. Let me get out there.’

“He wants to get out there, but we’ve got to be smart. We need to see him do a few things and then make a determination. But if he had his way, he’d be getting involved (Friday).”

» Continue reading “Adrian Peterson Placed On PUP List”

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