Week 3 Thoughts

The Minnesota Vikings defeated the San Diego Chargers 31-14 in Minnesota. The Vikings are now 2-1 on the season. The Chargers dropped to 1-2.

The Vikings won this game with defense and Adrian Peterson.

Peterson gained 126 yards on 20 carries. Two of those carries resulted in touchdowns. A 2-yard score in the first half. He scored from 43 yards on the Vikings first play from scrimmage in the second half.

That 43-yard score seemed to take a lot of wind out of the Chargers. It put the Vikings up by 10 at 17-7. There was still over 12 minutes left in the third quarter but the Chargers struggled to get anything going after that. They ended the first half on a high note with a touchdown. It looked like they might have some momentum. They received the kick to start the second half. Instead of the Chargers grabbing momentum the Vikings forced a three-and-out, Marcus Sherels had a nice punt return, and Peterson took that first offensive play for a touchdown. It felt like the Vikings had the game. The play of the defense had a lot to do with that.

The Vikings gave up two touchdowns. The first was that score at the end of the first half. The second was a garbage score at the end of the game against mostly backups.

The Vikings defense was terrific. They even added a score of their own. Down 24-7, the Chargers offense showed a bit of life in driving to the Vikings 14-yard line. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers' pass bounced off the hands of receiver Stevie Johnson. Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway corralled the ball on the nine-yard line and started a 91-yard journey to the end zone. He had a convoy of about ten Vikings making the journey with him. Several players on the sideline ran it as well.

It's always cool to see offensive players celebrate with the defensive players after a defensive score. In this case it was cool to see Peterson, Charles Johnson, Teddy Bridgewater, and others celebrating with Greenway.

Chad Greenway's excellent, ten-year Vikings career is winding down. He renegotiated his contract, essentially taking a pay cut, to stay with the team. His playing time has been cut as younger players are populating the defense. He's a team leader as evidenced by his being voted a team captain. He can still play a role. He can still make an impact as evidenced by his 91-yard interception return. It's no surprised that the entire football team was happy for Greenway. And the game-clenching score.

Peterson's score might have taken the air out of the Chargers. Greenway's interception return took the life out of them. The game was essentially over about a minute into the fourth quarter. 31-7 at the time.

Outside of Peterson's fine game the Vikings offense did just enough. Barely. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater completed 13 of 24 passes for a slight total of 121 yards. He threw no touchdowns and an interception.

Bridgewater's statistics would have been a bit more robust if tight end Kyle Rudolph hadn't dropped what would have been a 24-yard touchdown on the team's second possession. Bridgewater threw the interception on the next play. Rudolph makes that catch and the Vikings have a touchdown and a game without a turnover.

Bridgewater was a game-manager yesterday. That will happen. With Peterson running like he was running and the defense playing like they were playing, this was the sort of game that Bridgewater needed to play. It was the sort of game that offensive coordinator Norv Turner scripted. Turner doesn't care a bit about statistics. He takes what the opposing defense gives and cares only about a win.

The Vikings best drive of the game took up nearly half of the third quarter. It was a 16-play, 86-yard drive that consumed 7:19 of the third quarter clock. It was helped nicely by a Chargers holding penalty on a successful field goal attempt. The Vikings took advantage of the Chargers special teams mistake and turned that field goal into a Zack Line touchdown plunge and a net gain of four points.

Despite an overall excellent game from the Vikings defense. There were still some issues. The Vikings forced the Chargers into a 3rd-and-18 from the 12-yard line late in the first half. They have to get off of the field in these 3rd-and-long situations. They just have to. They didn't this time. They gave up a 39-yard Rivers to Malcolm Floyd pass for a first down and some much needed momentum for the Chargers.

That big play led to a Rivers 34-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen a few players later. This touchdown felt like a game-changer. It cut the Vikings lead to 10-7 and cornerback Xavier Rhodes suffered a concussion on the play. The Chargers received the second half kickoff and the Vikings best corner was out for the game.

Hopefully Rhodes is back next week. They need him. He's one of the best young corners in the game but the loss might have been a blessing yesterday. It gave first round pick Trae Waynes some playing time. He did some good things. His tackling was sure if not always immediate. His coverage was often solid. He was successful covering Floyd but had some issues with Allen. It was a great opportunity for Waynes and both he and the team will be better for it.

I've always liked Philip Rivers. He's always been in the shadow of Rodgers, Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger, and Brees. The lack of a Super Bowl win will do that but he's an elite quarterback. Tough too. He had to be tough yesterday.

For the second week in a row the Vikings defense has given the opposing quarterback a beating. They beat up Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions last week despite sacking him once. The Vikings sacked Rivers four times and put him on the ground several more. Kellen Clemens replaced Rivers late in the game. The game was out of reach and Rivers was taking a beating.

The Chargers have a couple of very promising football players named Melvin. Linebacker Melvin Ingram was selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft to be a defensive playmaker. He's become that playmaker. Opposing offenses have to account for him on every play. The other promising Melvin is rookie running back Melvin Gordon. The Vikings held him to 51 yards on 14 carries but he looks like a good one. Nice movement and vision. He can break tackles or elude them. He never really got loose yesterday. His longest run was 13 yards but it often took several defenders to get him to the turf on nearly all of his 14 carries.

The Chargers dropped to 1-2 but they should be part of the AFC West chase. Rivers is great. They have offensive playmakers in running backs Gordon, Danny Woodhead, Branden Oliver, and receivers Allen, Malcolm Floyd, and Stevie Johnson. They will get tight ends Antonio Gates (suspension) and Ladarius Green (concussion) back soon. They have some serious offensive weapons. Their offensive line has to get healthy. Their depth up front was seriously challenged yesterday. They are dealing with some injuries in the secondary as well. When healthy they have some nice players on the defensive side of the ball. I think that rookie linebacker Kyle Emanuel will be a player to watch as we move through the season.

The Vikings defense was supposed to be a strength this season. They weren't that first week against the San Francisco 49ers. They have been against the Lions last week and the Chargers yesterday. If they keep improving each week they could be truly dominant soon. The offense has been good enough since that first week disaster due to the running of Peterson. Bridgewater hasn't had to do much. It would be nice to see more of a balance between the run and pass. But wins are all that matters.

The Vikings travel to Denver next week. I'm sure that they'll try to go after Peyton Manning like they have gone after Stafford and Rivers.

It's probably been said by a bunch of people but Chargers kicker Josh Lambo really should be playing for Green Bay.

The St. Louis Rams had a bit of a pyrotechnic incident before their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Some burning turf delayed the start of their game for about 26 minutes. The Steelers won the low-scoring game 12-6 but they lost quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a knee injury. It was reported that he'll miss at least four weeks. There's good and bad news there.

The Arizona Cardinals defense got their team off to a lightning-fast start against the San Francisco 49ers. They returned two interceptions for touchdowns before the game was even six minutes old.

Justin Bethel had the first of those interception returns. He was drafted out of itty-bitty Presbyterian College. I saw him play against Cal during his college days. He was the best football player on the field that particular day. Bethel has been one of the best special teams players in the league for a while now. Now he's making a spot for himself in the Cardinals talented secondary.

Some have been trying to retire Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald for a while now. He's still playing great. Any aspiring receiver would do themselves a great favor by watching him closely. He had 9 catches for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns yesterday.

The Indianapolis Colts entered this week at a surprising 0-2. They looked like they might exit the week at a surprising 0-3. Then Andrew Luck started playing some football. That and some defensive plays got them past division-foe Tennessee Titans 35-33.

The Seattle Seahawks finally got a win! They shut out the Jay Cutler-less Chicago Bears 26-0. Congratulations Seattle!

The Baltimore Ravens still haven't won a game. Their third loss was the third win for division rival Cincinnati Bengals. That isn't good news for the Ravens. It's still early but they are as far behind as they can get right now.

The New Orleans Saints have the same sort of deficit in the NFC South but they didn't have Super Bowl dreams like the Ravens. The 0-3 Saints lost to the 3-0 Carolina Panthers.

The Dallas Cowboys twice had a two touchdown lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter at 21-7 at 28-14.Then the Falcons scored 25 unanswered points to secure a 39-28 win. The Cowboys lost their first game of the season. The Falcons are still haven't lost their first game of the season.

Falcons receiver Julio Jones is on fire. 12 more catches for 164 more yards and another 2 touchdowns. That sort of stat line is becoming routine for him.

Falcons running Devonta Freeman filled in nicely for injured rookie back Tevin Coleman. 30 carries for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns. He added another 52 yards receiving.

All three of the Falcons wins have come against NFC East teams. Giants, Eagles, and Cowboys. They have the Redskins in two weeks.

Everybody is dissecting every one of Peyton Manning's wobbly throws. He still has the Broncos undefeated.

The Green Bay Packers host the Kansas City Chiefs tonight in a rematch of the Super Bowl I.