The Minnesota Vikings finally held on during the second half of Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals to secure the victory. They still lost the second half by a score of seven to six, but the club finally took my advice and rode Adrian Peterson to the promised land. He carried the ball twenty-nine times for one hundred twenty-two yards. His success didn’t come in garbage time either because he was in the end zone three times in the first quarter.
There have been some in Minnesota who want to see Christian Ponder take the snaps from center. The second string quarterback will inevitably be the most popular player on the roster of a winless team after four games. Donovan McNabb didn’t do much on Sunday to dismiss these naysayers. He completed under half his pass attempts and didn’t even come close to attaining two hundred yards. This is a dismal statistical reality in a league that is quarterback driven. The majority of the rules that Roger Goodell has implemented and emphasized have the quarterback as the beneficiary.
Minnesota’s coaching staff didn’t succeed in getting the ball in Percy Harvin’s hands. He only had one reception for eleven yards and wasn’t utilized in punt or kick returns. This is some of the reason for McNabb’s ineffectiveness. Without many other dynamic options, he is forced to utilize journeymen like Devin Aromashodu. He only had two receptions, but accumulated over eighty yards.
Bernard Berrian was held out of the game by coach Leslie Frazier for disciplinary reasons. This is a complete travesty for the fans in the Twin Cities. A winless team a quarter of the way through the season should not even consider sitting one of its offensive options. The punishment should have been dealt with in practice through increased conditioning techniques. For those readers who think this is a naïve opinion more suited for high school, I would argue that it is a fan driven league and that men’s jobs and paychecks are determined by performance. Every football contest is the equivalent of ten baseball games. There aren’t many infractions worthy of this type of suspension.
Quarterback Kevin Kolb turned the ball over three times to the Vikings. This led to Minnesota’s high point total, in spite of the lack of production from McNabb. Larry Fitzgerald was also kept in check with only four catches and sixty-six yards. This has to be a disappointing performance for him as he returned to his hometown looking to justify his insane contract. Beanie Wells only averaged three yards a carry on his twenty attempts. These men are counted on for more production for the Cardinals.
Linebacker Chad Greenway was extremely active on Sunday afternoon. His nine tackles led the team on a day where the entire defense shined. All is not doom and gloom in Minnesota because the team has scored more points than its opponents overall for the season. The squad has also won the turnover battle throughout the year. The national stage awaits the team next Sunday night.