Monthly archive: November, 2012

A Big Stop Followed By Nothing Much

November 4, 2012, by 2 comments

It looked like the Vikings weren’t going to be able to stop the Seahawks at the end of the third quarter but some decent pressure did the trick, and Seattle had to punt from midfield at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The punt landed at the Vikings five yard line, leaving a daunting task ahead of Christian Ponder and the Minnesota offense.

Percy Harvin amazingly reentered the game after suffering an ugly looking hit to his ankle on the previous drive.

Needing to drive 95 yards, Christian Ponder began the drive by scrambling away from pressure for a short gain, but then a simple handoff to Adrian Peterson did the trick to move the chains.  Then a short pass from Ponder to Peterson set up a manageable second down, which was followed by an off-the-mark pass from Ponder towards a tight end.  On third down, Ponder missed badly on a crossing route and the drive ended.

The Vikings will have to get more production from their offense, and perhaps a miracle from their defense, if they are going to come out of this smiling.

Harvin Goes Down In Pain

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

Following a 28 yard run to Adrian Peterson, the Vikings called a toss to the left to Percy Harvin.

Harvin got stuffed for a loss, but what is worse is how Harvin went down writhing in pain and clutching his left ankle.  Earl Thomas laid his shoulder into Harvin’s ankle and it looked very bad, but Harvin was able to slowly walk off on his own power.

The Vikings chose to enter this game with only four wide receivers, so they now only have three.  Jerome Simpson, Michael Jenkins, and Devin Aromashodu will have to pick up the slack.

Once again, Toby Gerhart only has one carry so far in this game, which has to make one wonder.

After getting gifted a penalty and a first down, the Vikings sputtered on offense, setting Blair Wlash up for a 55 yard attempt.  Walsh nailed it, despite arguments from the Seahawks that the play clock ran out before the ball was snapped.

The Vikings got a few gifts from the refs here, and the Vikings are down by only seven points.

Starting To Pile It On

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

The third quarter, thus far, has pretty much been dominated by Seattle’s patient and steady offensive effort.

Marshawn Lynch and Golden Tate helped quarterback Russell Wilson plod down the field in organized fashion, as did a pair of offsides penalties against Brian Robison and Everson Griffen.  A three yard touchdown from Marshawn Lynch capped the impressive drive.

With four minutes left in the third quarter, the Vikings now trail by 10 points, and may have to rely on (gulp) the arm of Christian Ponder to get them back into this one.

On second thought, just keep running it, please.

At Halftime, Things Are Close

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

Percy Harvin blew up at Leslie Frazier on the sideline following three awful plays on offense, and then the Vikings defense had to take the field following the go-ahead field goal.

The defense had some nice plays but a failed fourth down stop, a Chad Greenway penalty, and a couple of missed tackles gave the Seahawks just enough life on their final drive of the half.

The drive ended on a screen pass to Golden Tate, who appears to be our Achilles heel today, how flew across the goalline for a touchdown.

The silver lining here, however, was that Steven Hauschka missed the extra point following the touchdown.

With 38 seconds and three timeouts, the Vikings got the ball at their 40 yard line on a short kickoff.

A one yard pass to Percy Harvin on first down resulted in a timeout being used.  Then Ponder threw and incompletion to set up third and nine.  Gerhart, on a draw, gashed Seattle for a first down however, which kept the Vikings alive with one more timeout to spend.

On first down, Ponder inexplicably held onto the ball forever and he was sacked.  The Vikings then used their last timeout.  Predictably, a three yard pass to Michael Jenkins, who was too immobile to get out of bounds, ended the half.

Your halftime score:  20-17, Seahawks.

I hate to say it, but I am incredibly close to hopping onto the Joe Webb bandwagon.  I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.

Running Sets Us Up For A Touchdown, Pass Attempts Make It A Field Goal

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

Adrian Peterson is running like an absolute animal, generating 144 yards with a few minutes left in the first half of this game, and even Percy Harvin had a nice run with a little bit of attitude.

The run, run, run type of offense being ran set the Vikings up at Seattle’s 14 with a first down and they seemed to be knocking on the door of a touchdown.

A short pass to Toby Gerhart followed by a horribly inaccurate short incompletion towards Harvin set Christian Ponder up with a third down attempt where he got blown up in the backfield, ending our hopes of a third touchdown.

A Blair Walsh field goal put the Vikings up by three.

Run, Musgrave, run.

Another Peterson TD Ties It Up

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

Following Sidney Rice’s gimme touchdown, the Vikings were able to move the ball efficiently (with help from a pass interference call) and Ponder looked a little improved over his couple of first drives.

Adrian Peterson, however, continues to steal the show and tied the game at 14 with a forceful four yard run on second and goal.

Just a little ways into the second quarter, Peterson has rushed 10 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Harvin Miscue Changes Momentum

November 4, 2012, by No comments yet

After the Vikings went for seven in the opening drive by riding the shoulders of Adrian Peterson, things got a whole lot less good for Minnesota.

After forcing Seattle to punt because of their own inability to catch a football, the Vikings failed passing attempt on first down eventually led to a third and long attempt.  Bill Musgrave opted to hand the ball to Percy Harvin who was stripped of the football while trying to stretch the play for a first down.  Seattle recovered and Golden Tate caught a touchdown in front of A.J. Jefferson at the end of the drive.

The Vikings were unable to do much, despite Peterson’s best efforts, on the following drive.  For some reason, Christian Ponder is still allowed to roll to his right, which suggests to me that perhaps nobody in Winter Park watches any game tape of themselves… ever.  Nothing good seems to happen when he roles to his right.

The Seahawks seem able to move the ball well against this Vikings defense, even with Sidney Rice throwing passes, and that needs to change if the Vikings want to come out of this with a road win.  Sidney Rice, with about three minutes left in the first quarter, caught a third down touchdown to put the Seahawks up by seven.