Strange end to the Chicago Bears-Minnesota Vikings game. Blair Walsh hit the game-winning field goal in overtime. Hold on. A facemask penalty against the Vikings negated the kick. The longer attempt was no good. Bears turn. Robbie Gould missed a 47-yard attempt. Vikings turn. Adrian Peterson took over. Blair Walsh got his third shot at the game winner. 34 yards. Good! Vikings win, 23-20.
Adrian Peterson was a beast! Again. 211 yards on 35 carries. He went over 10,000 rushing yards for his career. It has been an absolute honor to see every single one of those yards. I look forward to the next 10,000. Congratulations Adrian Peterson.
Only Jim Brown and Eric Dickerson hit 10,000 yards faster than Peterson.
Peterson also went over 1,000 yards on the season for the sixth time. He missed the milestone once. In 2011 he shredded his knee and ended with 970.
In the past two weeks the Vikings have seen six two-minute warnings.
The Vikings ended their first three possessions of the game with third down sacks. I know that quarterback Chrisian Ponder wants to avoid stupid interceptions but he has to get rid of the ball. The offensive line also has to give the quarterback more time.
In Ponder's three seasons, I find two quarterbacks. There's the quarterback that simply plays football. Then there's the one that's trying to avoid mistakes. The latter played yesterday.
Ponder suffered an apparent concussion at the end of the first half. That brought Matt Cassell in for the second half.
Cassell moved the team. Instead of 28 second half points the Vikings scored 13. He had two touchdown passes that weren't. Tight end Rhett Ellison bobbled a pass into the hands of Bears linebacker Khaseem Greene for an interception. Jerome Simpson dropped a potential game-winning touchdown. The Vikings had to settle for a game-tying field goal. And overtime.
4th and 11 from their own eight-yard line with under two minutes. Cassell hits Simpson for twenty. Nice.
One thing that I can certainly say for Cassell is that he makes terrific use of the skills of receiver Greg Jennings. Getting the ball into the hands of Jennings shouldn't be a struggle.
The Bears safeties, Cal's Chris Conte and Craig Steltz, made many, too many, saving, diving, grasping tackles on Peterson. Those were the desperation tackles that kept Peterson under 300 yards.
The Vikings scored one rushing touchdown. It wasn't Peterson or Toby Gerhart. Rookie receiver Cordarrelle Patterson lined up in the backfield, Gerhart split wide, and had a nifty 33-yard touchdown run. It was a formation and play from the Percy Harvin days. Patterson can make an offensive impact similar to that of Harvin.
I'm getting a little tired of Brian Billick and Thom Brennaman being assigned to announce Vikings games. Once is more than enough. I actually like Billick when he pops up on NFL Network for commentary but he leaves a lot to be desired in the broadcast booth. It always seems like he'd prefer to be somewhere else. He hacks up player names and game situations regularly. Jared Allen was Gerald Allen for a few years.
Brennaman brought a lot of love for Bears kicker Robbie Gould to the game. At one point, he said that one can make the case that Gould is the greatest kicker to ever play the game. He added that would surprise some people. Well, it surprised me.
Gould saw the birth of his baby early in the morning and then raced to the game.
Watching Matt Forte run the football is a real treat. I'm surprised that his 120-yard game was the first career 100-yard game against the Vikings.
I was immediately concerned when the Bears traded up in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft to select South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery. Pairing a big, talented receiver opposite the big, talented Brandon Marshall was and is a very scary prospect. Jeffery had an up and down rookie season due to injuries. He's stayed on the field and been an impact player this season. He and Marshall will both haul in over 100 catches this season. Jeffery nearly had that many in the first half yesterday. Tight end Martellus Bennett was a nice addition last offseason. If quarterback Jay Cutler can stay on the field and stays in Chicago, the Bears have an extremely potent passing attack. Actually, they have a potent passing attack with Josh McCown.
The stats show that Vikings corner Chris Cook gave up an 80-yard touchdown to Jeffery to start the second half. Cook was right there in coverage. His reach to deflect the ball was better measured with the metric system. Jeffery scored a 46-yard touchdown against Cook later in the third quarter. Again, his coverage was right there. Jeffery simply made a great play on the ball. Cook has to get better at making plays on the ball. His coverage is routinely right there. Whether it's timing his jump or his reach, he's got to make it more difficult for the receiver when his coverage is perfect.
Cook made matters worse when he grabbed the officials shirt and was ejected. Little Marcus Sherels, more suited to the slot, was tasked with covering receivers about a foot taller than him.
Cook is a free agent after this season. I really hope that he and the Vikings can agree on a contract extension this offseason. Injuries have been his biggest problem so an extension is a bit of a gamble. I think that it's a gamble worth taking. I really like the Vikings corner duo of Cook and rookie Xavier Rhodes.
For some reason, the Bears got a little conservative after Cook was ejected. Most teams would have gone after Sherels for the rest of the game.
The Indianapolis Colts are sure in a funk. They have got to get out of it quick. With their win against the Tennessee Titans they have a big lead in their division. They have to play a lot better if they expect to do anything in the playoffs. The team that defeated the 49ers, Broncos, and Seahawks is way too talented to be playing like this.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles has been playing great. His team is getting hot and he's the main reason. The Arizona Cardinals came into their game against the Eagles as hot. This was a huge win for the Eagles. The NFC East race between the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys will likely come down to their game on the last weekend of the season.
Before the season, Houston and Atlanta were considered Super Bowl contenders. Now, they are contenders for the first pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. Despite their difficulties this season, these are teams with a lot of talented football players. At the top of the draft, they'll be adding some elite talent. Both should be the contenders next year that they were supposed to be this year.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan missed receiver Roddy White at the start of the season. As White was starting to return to form receiver Julio Jones was lost for the season. That was a lot of offense to lose. The Falcons offensive line hasn't made things easy for Ryan. The Falcons should be in position to select the top lineman in the draft.
The Buffalo Bills had two turnovers in their game against Atlanta. The first came on their last possession of regulation. The second came on their first and only possession of overtime. Each came at the end of big plays. Each ended chances to win the game.
The Denver Broncos have defeated the Kansas City Chiefs twice in the last three weeks. Now, the AFC playoffs likely go through Denver. The most significant thing to come out of the two games is that the Chiefs were able to hang with the high-scoring Broncos. The Chiefs have been tagged with the great defense, game-managing offense label. They've actually proven that they can keep up with the Broncos on the scoreboard.
The officiating screw-up at the end of the New York Giants-Washington Redskins game was one of the worst that I've ever seen.
I was saddened to hear that Jerry Seeman passed away last Sunday. I remember well his on field officiating of the '70s and '80s. He was the Senior Director of Officiating from 1991-2001. Hugh "Shorty" Ray is the only official honored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I can see Seeman being the second.
RIP Jerry Seeman
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