Week 10 Thoughts

On this Veteran's Day and every day, a big THANK YOU to all those in the military for all that you do.

I can't believe that it's already week 10. It seems like I was just getting ready for that Vikings-Jaguars game.

I enjoy my Sunday morning pregame routine. Best served when the Minnesota Vikings play the early game. Which is usually the case. I start it all by feeding and walking the pugs. Then I turn to three Vikings programs courtesy of Fox Sports North. "Vikings: Beyond the Glory" at 8:00. "Vikings Game Plan" at 8:30. "Vikings Country" at 9:00. If I'm on schedule, I have about 30 minutes to get settled for the Game at 10:00. I miss nearly all of the marathon NFL Network pregame show but that's mostly a recap of everything that's been talked about all week. I prefer the Vikings concentration from my shows.

The Vikings really needed this 34-24 win against the Detroit Lions. They've been struggling and they really needed to go into their bye week with smiles. They return to action with an extremely brutal final six games. They have all four of their games against the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Add in games at Houston and at St. Louis and you have a real tough path to the playoffs. Four of the six are on the road. Five of the six are against three of the best teams in the league. Simply brutal. If the Vikings make the playoffs they will have been seriously tested.

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder's 54-yard strike to rookie receiver Jarius Wright on the fifth play of the game might have been the Vikings most significant play in several weeks. Ponder might have found his missing confidence and as a result the passing game came alive. Wright caught a short touchdown pass a couple plays later. Ponder needed this. He was efficient. Completing 24 of 32 passes for 221 yards and 2 TDs. Magical numbers compared to anything that he's done in about a month.

It was great to finally see Wright in the lineup. It's too bad that it took Percy Harvin to be out for Wright to be in. Hopefully, the Vikings can find a way to get both speedy receivers in the lineup at the same time. Wright provided a spark yesterday.

If Wright provided a spark, tight end Kyle Rudolph started a fire. In Ponder's recent struggles Rudolph has disappeared. He's too much of a weapon to not be active in the passing game. He had 7 receptions for 64 yards and a 20-yard touchdown against the Lions. Not a ton of yards but important yards. Most converted first downs.

Receivers Jerome Simpson, Devin Aromashodu, and Michael Jenkins all made contributions. Even tight end John Carlson made an important, drive extending 11-yard reception. Ponder was throwing to everyone, including himself. He mistakenly caught his own deflected pass for a loss of 15 yards. In all, Ponder completed passes to 10 different players, including himself. That's spreading the ball around.

Ah, Adrian Peterson. He's a beast. I love that he's a Minnesota Vikings football player. 171 yards on 27 carries with a 61 yard TD against the Lions. He might be having his best season. He seems to be running wiser. I don't know if that's from working, growing and learning in his rehab from the knee injury. There's something different. And better. Over 1100 yards in ten games.

I don't have the actual numbers but I'm fairly certain that Peterson sees far more 8 and 9 man defensive fronts than any back in the league. I've seen the Chicago Bears concentrating on Peterson for five years now. Ever since he tore them apart for 224 yards as a rookie in 2007. Last night the Bears used standard fronts against the Texans and Arian Foster for most of the night. Part of it was likely due to Texans quarterback Matt Schaub being able to take advantage of such an emphasis to stop the run. Brett Favre's great run in 2009 was the only time during Peterson's career that the Vikings have had a quarterback that could consistently take advantage of defenses that stacked to stop Peterson. Hopefully, Ponder becomes that kind of quarterback. He's already so much closer than most that lined up under center for the Vikings.

Despite giving up 24 points, the Vikings defense played well. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford threw for over 300 yards but most were in serious catch up mode late in the game. Coming into this game, the Lions had been running the ball well. The Vikings stopped that. The Lions offense is scary. They can score points in bunches and a three score lead in the fourth quarter didn't feel comfortable. Stafford never seems to panic and with Calvin Johnson as a target no lead feels safe. The Vikings defense closed out that offense.

Johnson is a monster. The Vikings seemed to have him in control and suddenly he's over 200 yards and a nice lead is gone. Great, great football player.

Nick Harris was punting and Jason Hanson was kicking when leather helmets were worn.

It's unfortunate that consideration of defensive ends is often so dependent on sacks. They can be all over the field, tackling the ball carrier, applying pressure, disrupting the offensive timing. If they don't get those sacks, they rarely get acclaim. Despite that complaint, sacks are nice.

It shouldn't be too much of a shock to see the Atlanta Falcons lose their first game to the New Orleans Saints. That rivalry has been terrific for a few years now. The Falcons have been finding ways to squeak out wins recently. They looked prime for that first loss and the Saints can score on anyone.

Saints running back Chris Ivory made a beautiful cut to get away from the sideline and complete a 56-yard touchdown run. Most impressive.

The St. Louis Rams and the San Francisco 49ers put on a great show. Each team scoring in the last minute. The Rams to take the lead. The 49ers to tie it up. The Rams had a stupid procedure penalty that negated an 80 yard pass and run by Danny Amendola that opened the overtime. 49ers kicker David Akers missed a 41-yarder. The Rams had a stupid delay of game penalty that negated a 53 yard field goal. He then missed the 58-yarder. Ties feel pretty empty but that was an entertaining game.

Amendola is a tough little sucker. You love having players like him on your team.

I didn't see all of the game but it looked like 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did a pretty good job in replacing the injured Alex Smith. He didn't look overwhelmed in his first extended action. Ever since I saw him take apart Cal while he was at Nevada I thought that he had a bright NFL future. He's got some skills.

Gutsy call by Rams coach Jeff Fisher on a fake punt from his own end zone. I've never seen that before. Punter Johnny Hekker completed a 21-yard pass and run to gunner Rodney McLeod. Chris Culliver completely uncovered McLeod to rush in for a punt block and Hekker was simply playing catch with a friend. There were only 49 seconds left in the first half but that was a huge gamble. It fails and the 49ers have an easy field goal or touchdown to end the half. It didn't end up amounting to much as the Rams ran out of time. Another fake punt late in the game was important. Hekker completed his second pass of the day to Lance Kendricks for a key first down. It extended a drive that would end up producing the go ahead touchdown with about a minute to play.

49ers receiver Michael Crabtree has been outstanding the last few weeks. I was beginning to doubt that he'd ever amount to much as his effort has frequently seemed less than interested. He's been playing like that dynamic receiver we saw at Texas Tech. Nice work, Crabtree.

The Texans-Bears game was more than a matchup of two of the best teams in the league. Those two teams are the Vikings opponents for half of their remaining six games. It's easy to say that the game was sloppy and lacked offensive punch. Games like this are often the result when two teams with terrific defenses play each other. The rain and soft field didn't help much. Bears quarterback Jay Cutler left the game with a concussion at the half. There were a lot of things that led to the low scoring affair. The most significant one was the defenses that were on that soggy field.

I have often been critical of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher in recent years. I think that is mostly due to his level of play being so high only a few years ago. There were several years when he took over games like few players ever have. While he's no longer that player he still makes some plays that you make you go, "Wow." I need to show him the respect that he still greatly deserves. Despite his playing for the Bears.

So, with the Texans sending the Bears to their second loss the Vikings control their own destiny. They just have to win and win often.

Days are happy when the Vikings win. It's a good time for their bye.