Ben Roethlisberger marched the Steelers down to the 6-yard line in the final drive looking to tie the game with a touchdown. With 19 seconds left in the game and the Vikings clinging to a 34-27 lead, Everson Griffen strip-sacked Big Ben and Kevin Williams recovered the ball to seal the first win of the season for Minnesota.
The 83,518 fans that packed Wimbley Stadium in London saw a hard-fought exciting football game that was full of big plays.
Greg Jennings made two touchdown grabs, Adrian Peterson had two touchdown runs, Matt Cassel was 16 of 25 for 248 yards and no turnovers, and the defensive line lead by Jared Allen’s 2.5 sacks put pressure on Roethlisberger all game.
It’s hard to get excited after just one win in four tries, but the Vikings took five important steps forward:
A) The defense got the monkey off their back by making a play late in the game to preserve a win.
B) The offense didn’t turn the ball over or make costly mistakes.
C) The offensive line looked more like the O-line from last season.
D) The wide receivers finally found the end zone.
E) The defense was able to consistently put pressure on the QB.
If the Vikings can continue to do those things well… they will be a very difficult team to beat.
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The Vikings defense sucks!!!!
Well put Carl. A win is a win...take it anytime anyplace. Cassel did well, can't knock him.
With Ponder probably out in two weeks (Maybe)...He'll get another shot. I think he should.
AD was great, Oline was better than it has been the last few weeks. Defense played okay...but not as good as they should.
Step in the right direction. Bout time!
Oh, and the Steeler O-line got away with some blatant holding. There were times I could NOT believe there was no call!
I saw a minimum of four of those holds, all of them happening within a couple feet of the QB, so I'm really unsure how they missed the calls. If the defense can continue to get turnovers and pressure the passer I don't care too much about giving up yardage, but we came 6 yards from having a 17 point lead erased in the 4th quarter. I hope todays pass rush is a taste of what we can expect to see the rest of the season, but that Pittsburg line is probably the worst unit in the league at the moment. Nice to get a win, hopefully they can build on it. Cassel wasn't lights out, but I thought he did a good job moving in the pocket and not bailing on plays to quickly when things got uncomfortable. He and the line did a better job than I thought they would in this game.
It was nice to see both Jared and Chad make some plays today.
Cassell looked good, hope he can build on that. Maybe he can pull out a rabbit. . . .
Regarding the non holding calls, this is a perfect example of the NFL on a world stage and the league instructing the officials to "let 'em play" to create a more watchable product. Too bad for us that the Steelers coaches knew this and the clueless Viking coaches did not.
Am I the only person expecting Dugan to materialize out of no where and flatten a ref on Jennings catch and long run for a TD?
Yes.
it was a fun, exciting game, good to see all the purple in the stands. glad we won, but our pass D needs to heal and improve
First game of the season that I had time to actually watch. That #41, Mistaken Raymond is turrible
I thought both Raymond and Sendejo played better than Sanford has the first three weeks. I don't understand the decision to have those two split reps though. Pick a guy and let him get a feel for the game. It has to be difficult to get a feel for things when they keep switching back and forth. I'm hoping they just did it so they can watch film on both guys and pick one to be the permanent starter after the bye week. I will be disappointed if they instantly give Sanford the job back when that hammy heals up. He really hasn't earned the starting role with his play this year.
Play of the game: Griffen letting go of Rapistberger's horse collar just in time.
Close second: Recovery of Cassell fumble for a first down after 2 Steelers let it slip through their mitts. If we had gotten that same break in the Cleveland game under very similar circumstances, we are probably 2-2. (I know all about "ifs and buts"... just sayin')
Man that was lucky. It's nice to catch those breaks once in a while. Helluva way to get a first down.
Strange - when you agree with me, Tomb, it causes me to second-guess myself.
I agree you should second-guess yourself.
OK, that makes me feel better. (think about that one)
Bud
Scary huh. Don't 2nd guess, Tomb is right on.
Vikings defense is horrific! They have been allowing an average of 31 points/game. That is unacceptable for a unit that was "suppose to" be a strong point of this team.
Couldn't agree more, Norse. Amazes me that people are all over Musgrave (Vikes averaging 29 pts./game), yet the defensive guy never even gets his name mentioned while his unit is at the bottom of the league. We just allowed 27 points to a team who had been averaging 14.
I don't think it's amazing. Ponder was bad enough to draw attention his way. Cassell does enough that he doesn't draw the eye for worst play, so it's easier to focus on the fact our defense couldn't cover a sleeping grandmother in a quilt factory.
Not the "couldn't cover" metaphor I would have chosen, but I see your point.
Next we'll be giving Cassell credit for the defense stopping Pittsburgh on the final drive. "They didn't stop those drives when Ponder was QB!!"
So we go from "Cassell does enough that he doesn’t draw the eye for worst play," to "next we’ll be giving Cassell credit for the defense stopping Pittsburgh on the final drive"
Evel Knievel hisself wouldn't try to leap that chasm.
I don't think Ponder hits Jennings in the back of the end zone. And that slant pattern that he can't seem to complete? Yeah.
Have you seen the stat that shows Cassel in his one game as a Viking outplayed Ponders best...in his 29?
I don't think anyone has been giving the defense a pass at all. The biggest reason Musgrave was getting called out was because of obvious things such as personnel and formation alignments that have been ongoing issues since he took over as the OC. Like Tomb said, Ponder's shaky play magnified the issues on offense so Musgrave was (and still is) an easy target. If his unit can play consistently good football like they did yesterday he won't have to deal with criticism about not using the weapons he has at his disposal. I personally was willing to give the defense a bit of a break in the first couple games because that unit had a lot of changes this off-season, but we're now a month into the regular season and it's time to man up and start getting some stops.
Im gonna suggest that for most of the game, our secondary covered fairly well. Seems to me that Big Ben had a long time in the pocket on many of the sacks, and other plays.. Wasnt due so much to lack of pressure, but the way he shifts around around back there. Once the 4th quarter hit, I see us go into rush 4, drop everyone else prevent. I liked so much more, the aggressive D we started off with.
Ponder was not on the field when the defense folded like a cheap lawn chair in the last minute of the games against the Bears and the Browns. The Vikes scored enough points to win those games but the defense gave those games away. I also have another question. Where in the hell is Patterson!? Get him out on the field!
I actually own one of those lawn chairs, Norse. I know exactly what you're saying.
Josh Robinson seems Overwhelmed a lot.
Tomb is right, Erin Is terrible in pass coverage...
Charlie, did you lose a bet to Tomb, or what? Tomb isn't right twice in a month, much less in one post. Snap out of it, man.
Bud,
You just swatted the Hornets nest. :)
Well, if Charles lost a bet to me, that would indicate I was correct yet again about something.
Coach, your confidence in my abilities feels good. Thank you.
does he still have both eyebrows?
Norse,
Agreed, I really hope they can get it together soon.
So thankful we have a Bye ...
Time to bury that soft Tampa-2 defense. It is obsolete and very easy to attack. Denzel needs to swallow his pride and change schemes, too painful to watch anymore. I think we can put the Ponder experiment in the rear view mirror now. It was nice to see what a poised qb with a decent arm could do. Cassels presence elevated the whole offense and it's obvious Muskrat is more comfortable with him under center.
Agreed. With our LB corps, a Tampa 2 should be off the table.
Do you mean LB corpse? Except for Greenway, they play like they have no life. Or am I dead wrong?
Johnny,
Was enjoyable to see Cassell in there. It made a difference in the way the Offense played. A lot smoother.
Whether we should or not, johnny, I think you are going to be disappointed in thinking the "Ponder experiment" is in the rear view mirror. Cassell was acquired to address situations like the Packer playoff game last year, but in the eyes of the organization, Ponder is the QB of the future. I know a lot of people disagree with that thinking, but I think that's where things are. Cassell may have afforded the Vikes to allow Ponder to heal an extra week, but as Denzel said after the game, Christian is our starting QB. I think it is a philosophical and long-range position.
Yes, because actually hitting a receiver in stride is not part of our philosophical and long-range position. Ponder's our guy.
That is so beneath even you. C'mon man.
Erin Henderson is a nightmare in pass coverage. He was duped several times on mini pump fakes, and was almost always out of position.
How about Jerome Simpson? The dude is coming up big so far....and the way Jennings looked, I'm suddenly very high on the receiving corps. Still surprised they are not going to Cordarrelle more....but his play on that pick in the endzone was certainly a huge one, and showed his nose for the football instincts.
BTW, welcome back Jerome Felton. He looked rusty, but destroyed some people on AD's bigger runs.
"Erin Henderson is a nightmare in pass coverage."
From your lips to God's ears. He's brutal.
Fozz,
They looked good, And Cassell's pass in the end zone to Jennings was nice !