Week 4 Thoughts

Finally, the Minnesota Vikings get a win. At home. In London.

Finally, the Vikings defense made a play to seal the game.

This game was different from the first three games in that the Vikings were in control pretty much throughout the game. It was just like the last two games in that the Vikings defense looked like they might give it away in the final minutes. Fortunately, defensive end Everson Griffen sacked Ben Roethlisberger, forced a fumble, and Kevin Williams recovered about 8 yards from their own goal line. Vikings defeat the Steelers 34-27.

Blair Walsh's 54-yard goal to cap off the game-opening drive started the scoring. This was, strangely, the Vikings worst start to a game this season. Adrian Peterson took the first play of the season for a 78-yard touchdown. Cordarrelle Patterson took the opening kickoff of the second game 105 yards for a touchdown. Last week, Christian Ponder directed a crisp 80-yard drive for a touchdown. Yesterday, they got only a field goal.

Walsh is a machine. It's a real surprise when he misses a field goal. This was the case in the second half when he missed on a 43-yard attempt. Not only does he rarely miss, his kicks are rarely far from right down the middle. The miss opened the door for a Steelers comeback. Fortunately that comeback fell short.

Vikings starting quarterback Christian Ponder was out with a fractured rib. Matt Cassel got the start. He completed 16 of 25 for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, no interceptions. No turnovers at all! He likes throwing to receiver Jerome Simpson. The first five completions went to Simpson.

Simpson had his second game of over 100 receiving yards. 7 receptions for 124 yards.

Greg Jennings had a nice game too. His impact came more on big plays. While Simpson moved the ball between the goal lines. Jennings crossed the goal line. He took a short pass for a 70-yard touchdown in the first half. He scored again from 16 yards in the third quarter. He finished with 92 yards on 3 receptions.

It's been a while since the Vikings have had such an impact from a receiver, let alone two.

I would sure like to see the coaching staff get rookie receiver Cordarrelle Patterson more involved in the passing game. Cassel threw deep to him early. Didn't connect. Then he caught a another little screen that he nicely took for a 9-yard gain. He's gotten one of those little passes in at least three of the games and that's it. He's too dynamic to be kept so quiet on offense.

Then there was Adrian Peterson. He was fantastic again. 60-yard touchdown. 7-yard touchdown. 140 yards rushing. Games like this just feel routine for the best back in the league. He probably liked having fullback Jerome Felton back on the field.

With as great as the Vikings run the ball with Peterson, they seem to struggle at running the clock to seal wins. They'd be, at worst, 3-1 this season if they could just keep the ball and control the clock at the end of games.

Despite giving up 27 points, the defense played better. They got the big play from Griffen to seal the game. They sacked Roethlisberger 5 times. Hit him several other times. Proving, again, how difficult it can be to bring down that big quarterback. Linebacker Chad Greenway had an interception.

Vikings rookie corner Xavier Rhodes is going to be a good one. He's already the best on the team. Chris Cook could be but he doesn't stay on the field enough. He was out for this game. He has the week's bye to get healthy. With Cook, I really like the Vikings corners. Without Cook, there is a lot of inexperience. Rhodes is a rookie. Josh Robinson is in his second year. Marcus Sherels is on the team as a punt returner. Sherels has actually filled in pretty well on defense due to all the injuries. Despite a 48-yard pass interference penalty, Robinson had a nice game. Especially with run support. 12 tackles. You don't like seeing a corner get that many tackles but many of his twelve were near the line of scrimmage. Comparing anyone to Antoine Winfield is a stretch but that is an Antoine Winfield stat line.

Steelers receiver Antonio Brown had a monster game last week. He had smaller numbers yesterday but he was still impressive. I really like rookie Markus Wheaton. With Brown, Emanuel Sanders, Wheaton and Jerricho Cotchery, I can see why the Steelers weren't too broken up when Mike Wallace bolted for the Miami Dolphins.

It's very early but Le'Veon Bell looks like the back that the Steelers are looking for.

Mostly because I really like Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin I don't like seeing them at 0-4. They are a better football team than that. Still, I'd rather see them at 0-4 than the Vikings.

It looked like Vikings had the fan support advantage in London.

Cassel played well. I still think that Ponder is the starter. Hopefully, seeing the game from the sidelines, seeing the way Cassel plays the position helps Ponder going forward. Sometimes you just need a new perspective. Seeing Cassel play could be that new perspective.

The Houston Texans handed that game to the Seattle Seahawks. The throw that Texans quarterback Matt Schaub gifted to Richard Sherman should never, never be thrown by an NFL quarterback. At worst, the Texans were in position to ice the game with a field goal and a 10-point lead. Instead, Sherman had an interception, a touchdown, and a tie game. Stupid penalties helped the Seahawks win in overtime.

One of worst sites in the NFL is a happy Pete Carroll.

The Detroit Lions were all over the Chicago Bears early in their game. So much so, that I was a little surprised that the final was 40-32 Detroit. The Bears entered the game at 3-0. It was a lucky 3-0 in that they could so easily have been 0-3. It was great to see them get the loss that they have deserved since week one.

NFC North now stacks up like this:
Chicago 3-1
Detroit 3-1
Green Bay 1-2
Minnesota 1-3

No matter how many times I see him do it I'm amazed at how easily Peyton Manning fits passes into tight spaces.

The Denver Broncos slapped down the Philadelphia Eagles 52-30. The Broncos offense had 35 first downs. My goodness, they are going to break the New England Patriots season scoring record by week 10.

The Cleveland Browns are now 2-0 with 3rd string Brian Hoyer at quarterback after their 17-6 defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals.

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is playing like it's 2006. The Chargers and Chiefs could be real pests to the Broncos all season long. Maybe not.

The Atlanta Falcons are making an unfortunate habit of finishing games a few yards short of game changing touchdowns. Now, they're a very surprising 1-3.

During the Steelers-Vikings game, I saw the sad news that former Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood passed away. He was an integral part of the fantastic Steel Curtain defense. Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, and Mel Blount got so much of the attention. Certainly much deserved as all are honored in Canton but I always thought Greenwood brought it all together. Plus, I loved his yellow shoes. RIP L.C. Greenwood.