First off, I apologize for not posting a recap of last week’s game versus the Texans. My short recap would have been:
- Will Jared Allen get fined for those low hits on the Texans\’ QBs? (Answer: yes, $50k!!!)
- The Vikings now need to win 6 of their last 8 games, and must beat Green Bay and Chicago at home (so far so good, now need to win 5 of 7 and beat Chicago at home)
- As I say every week, imagine how good this team could be with a half-way decent QB (more on that later)
So, let\’s talk Packers!
No matter how the Vikings won, a win against the Packers always feels good. What do you think the score would have been had Frerotte not thrown any interceptions? My guess is 38-10. Had he only thrown 1 interception? 35-17. 2 Interceptions? 28-24. But even with 3 picks the Vikings were able to hold on for a 28-27 victory in a game where they dominated every facet… even special teams. Yes they did give up a punt return for a touchdown, but they had great field position all day compared to Green Bay… minus that very last Green Bay possession.
The Vikings offensive and defensive lines had excellent games and completely overwhelmed the Packers. If it wasn\’t for 17 points off of 3 horrible Frerotte interceptions, this game could have and should have been a laugher.
Lastly, I just can say enough about Jared Allen. He is as-advertised.
Anyway, as I \’would\’ have said last week, this was a must-win game for the Vikings. Not only did they need to get above .500, they desperately needed a win in the division.
After this week Chicago has GB, StL, MN.. all away. Then 3 at home: Jax, NO, GB, then away at Houston. They will win at least 4 if not 5 of those games with Orton coming back. Final record 10-6, hopefully 9-7.
After this week Green Bay has Bears at home, at NO, home against Carolina and Houston, at Jax and Chicago, then the Motor City Kitties at home to end the year. They\’ll get 5 wins out of that and end the season at 9-7.
The Vikings however have road games at TB and Jax, home against Chicago, back on the road for Det and Arizona, then finish at home against Atlanta and the Giants. That\’s 4 wins, and hopefully a 5th assuming the Giants play their third string in the final game of the season. But it\’s a much tougher road for the Vikings. They\’ll need to pull of at least 2 if not 3 road wins in that final stretch. They should beat Detroit, but if anyone is going to give Detroit their first win of the season, it\’s probably the Vikings. Tampa is starting to roll; Jacksonville has been atrocious at home, but got healthy against the Lions last week. Arizona seems to be the consensus pick for the NFC West (that ain\’t saying much), and Atlanta has been surprisingly good. I am not very confident.
Also looming out there is the leaked information about the possible suspension of the Williams Wall for 4 games for taking substances banned by the NFL (water pills). Given the lengthy appeals process, it\’s possible the league would not take any action until the off season, but if the team loses more than 2 games, would they consider bypassing any appeals and getting it out of the way this year? More to come…
Skol Vikings!
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