Vikings: Week 3 - We Win!

I have to be honest in saying I was not expecting the Vikings to win this past Sunday. Adrian Peterson was dinged up all week with a strained hamstring. We were starting a stinky old towel in Gus Frerotte. We had a coach in Brad Childress who was saying that these were "desperate times" that call for "desperate measures". Add all this up and throw into the equation that Carolina was 2-0 and had last minute wins at San Diego and defeated the stinky Bears at home. Plus, the Panthers welcomed back Steve Smith from suspension. I figured we Vikings fans would be in for another frustrating afternoon of head scratching. Turns out much of the first half was exactly that until A Winfield made a play and turned the game around.

Positives

• Vikings D - Does anyone remember the days of Denny Green when we absolutely could not stop anyone! I mean we'd have to score 28-30 points minimum to win games! On Sunday the Vikes D gave up 204 total yards. What was encouraging was the fact that gunslinger Jake Delhomme w/ Steve Smith, M Muhammed, and D.J. Hackett could only muster 157 yards through the air. Again our rushing D continues to be suberb allowing only 47 yards on the ground. The secondary looks a lot better when we have a pass rush that can make a difference. Getting 5 sacks was super encouraging. Kevin Williams and Jared Allen are starting to make a big difference.
• Gus, Gus, and more Gus - Next week Gus could get absolutely crushed by a great D-Line in Tennessee, but for one week at home in the dome it was very evident that the Vikings offense was different.
• Bernard Berrian - Finally we get to see what we paid so much for in this ex-Chicago Bear. Eight and Nine defenders in the box will not happen any longer if Berrian can make big catches down the field like the 48 yarder he had on Sunday.
• EJ Henderson - man is this guy just flat out good. 11 tackles again - a couple of them going for a loss - I especially enjoyed his superman dive over a block to drill the running back for a 3 yard loss.
  
• TOP - Time of Possession. The Vikes controlled the clock in the second half and ended with holding the ball almost ten minutes more than the Panthers. (Vikes - 34:18, Carolina - 25:42)

Negatives

• Penalties - The Vikings were terrible in this department. This usually costs a team a game when they have 9 penalties for 100 total yards. More discipline is needed in this department.
• Special Teams - I know I harp on this a lot, but the Vikes special teams are flat out terrible. We have absolutely zero threat unless we put AP back to return kick offs of anyone getting us half way decent field position. Our coverage as witnessed again on Sunday is terrible. Jonathen Stewart ran right by us a couple of times and for not a block in the back that was questionable the Vikes wouldve been in trouble when they were up 17-10. We also got lucky on a blocked field goal that the Panthers blocked when John Fox called timeout prior to the play. Vast improvement is needed in this area.
• Free Garrett Mills! - We need more Garrett Mills! Much like Twins blogger Aaron Gleeman's plee to free Jason Kubel - we need more of G Mills in the offense. Free this man up. Anyone who watched him in last years Denver game knows what this guy is capable of.

I expect the Vikings to be very competitive at Tennessee and have a chance to win this game. Can we continue to have a respectable passing game. The odds with Gus are much better than with TJack. I think that was made clear this past week.