Vikings-Cardinals Thoughts

Well, it wasn't supposed to end like that.

The Vikings offense had already done the hard part. They had moved the ball 49 yards in the final 1:23. They had the ball somewhat comfortably in field goal range on the Cardinals 31-yard line with 13 seconds to play. No timeouts. Considering that Vikings kicker Blair Walsh had already made a 44- and 54-yard field goal there was a real good chance that this 23-20 game was going to overtime at 23-23. The list of things not to do in this situation is quite short.

1. Don't turn the ball over.
2. Don't take a sack.
3. Don't run a play that ends in the field of play.

It's easy to remember those "don'ts." Courtesy of Cardinals ageless, defensive end Dwight Freeney's strip of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater the Vikings did #1. Actually, on that single play the Vikings committed all three of those "don'ts." The Cardinals had the ball and the win. The Vikings had the loss.

Two of the Vikings five losses have been by the score of 23-20. The first was to the Denver Broncos in Week 4. That game also ended with a strip of Bridgewater. The Vikings were just outside of Walsh's range in that game. They still had some work to do. The Vikings were where they needed to be last night. It should have gone to overtime.

I don't blame Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner for taking a final shot at the end zone. If that was the intent. I feel that teams in this situation too often take their foot off the gas when they get to field goal range. Why not try to win it in regulation? I know that you don't want to jeopardize what you have by why leave the game to the chance of a coin toss and overtime? Win the game when you can. Just don't do any of the "don'ts" to jeopardize the opportunity to tie the game.

It's a real shame that all losses cost the same. The Vikings were taken apart by the Seattle Seahawks just four days ago. There wasn't a single positive thing that could be taken from that game. There were a lot of good things in this game. It could even be argued that the Vikings performance against the Cardinals was their best overall performance this season. The Vikings battled one of the best teams in the league, in their house, on a short week, to what should've/could've been an overtime game.

The Vikings turned the ball over three times. That was the difference in the game and that's a very big difference. Possession of the football is a pretty important thing.

1) The light probably shines brightest on that final, game-sealing fumble but the other two fumbles were pretty big too. The first ended a terrific scoring opportunity early in the second quarter. Jarius Wright was stripped of the football at the Cardinals 15-yard line to end an oh-so-promising 74-yard drive.

2) The Vikings opened the second half with another promising dive. First-and-10 at the Cardinals 35-yard line they decided to get tricky. The Vikings offense had been moving the chains on a pretty consistent basis against an excellent, fast Cardinals defense. Maybe that was the reason for a trick play at that moment. The play just felt wrong from the start. They went no-huddle for, I believe, the first time in the game. That just made me feel that something different was about to happen. Maybe the Cardinals felt it too. The Vikings attempted a reverse. Bridgewater-to-Adrian Peterson-to-Mike Wallace. The Peterson-to-Wallace exchange never happened because the Cardinals defense, led by Josh Mauro, was in the backfield too fast. The play never had a chance. On paper, the play does seem like a safe way to get the ball into the hands of Wallace but it turned into such a disaster that it's so easy to question it. That's the big difference between coaches and critics. The critics have the benefit of hindsight.

3) Freeney's strip of Bridgewater to end the game.

The Vikings defense had a couple of chances to take the ball from the Cardinals but couldn't corral that damn ball.

1)The most glaring was a potential pick-6 for cornerback Xavier Rhodes. He jumped a route, had the ball in his hands, and open field in front of him. He didn't catch it. Rhodes had left early in the game with a wrist injury. He was treated, taped and returned to the game. That injury might have made catching a football a bit difficult. That Cardinals possession ended in a field goal.

2) Rookie safety Anthony Harris had a deep Carson Palmer pass in his hands at the goal line. It even looked like the pass was thrown to him rather than the receiver that it was intended. Harris couldn't hold it and the Cardinals scored a touchdown on the very next play.

This was a great effort by the Vikings defense. They were tasked with slowing one of the most explosive offenses in the league. They had a short week to prepare for that offense and they had to do it with some of their best players sidelined with injuries. Nose tackle Linval Joseph was out. Linebacker Anthony Barr was out. Safety Harrison Smith was out. Those three are the Vikings best defensive players. They are also among the best in the league at their respective positions. 7th-round rookie Edmond Robinson took Barr's linebacker spot. Undrafted rookie Anthony Harris got the start at safety. Injuries to safeties Andrew Sendejo, Antone Exum Jr., and Robert Blanton forced corner Terence Newman to the other safety spot. Newman's move to safety gave rookie Trae Waynes his first career start at corner. That forced infusion of youth went a long way to the broken plays/blown coverage that led to the Cardinals two explosive touchdowns. This makeshift defense still played well enough to give their offense a chance to win this game. They exceeded the expectations that most outside of the organization had for them.

Vikings Youth Movement
Three rookies started for the first time last night:
Trae Waynes, CB
Edmond Robinson, LB
Anthony Harris, S
Those three join the following five to bring to eight the number of rookies that have started games for the Vikings this year:
T.J. Clemmings, T
Eric Kendricks, LB
Stefon Diggs, WR
Danielle Hunter, DE
Mycole Pruitt, TE
That's a lot of early contribution from a single class of rookies. Clemmings, Kendricks, and Diggs have been weekly starters for weeks now. If the Vikings near future is a bright one the 2014 NFL Draft that brought Barr and Bridgewater to Minnesota will be looked at as the draft that made it all possible. That's because it contained the quarterback. It's all about the quarterback. That draft also had a player that looks a lot like a franchise-changing defensive player in Barr. It's still real early but the Vikings 2015 NFL Draft class looks really solid. A class that will play a big role in any future team success. Anthony Harris isn't technically part of the draft class but he's part of the rookie class. He looks like he brings the sort of safety play that the Vikings have been looking for years to pair with Harrison Smith. The hope here is that last night's start is the first of many for Harris.

Especially coming a few days after the disaster against the Seahawks it's easy to feel better about the Vikings after this game. They fought evenly with one of the best football teams in the league. The score was close. They had a chance to make it closer at the end. The statistics were close. It wasn't a fluke that this game was close. They drastically cut down the penalties. Especially the mind-numbing, stupid penalties that have plagued them the last three weeks. If they had protected the ball better they probably win this game. The bottom line is that the Vikings team that played last night is a lot closer to the Vikings team I know they can be. A team that can make some noise in the playoffs. Still, this game ended in a loss. Just like the one on Sunday.

The good thing about playing a game on Thursday is the 10-day rest that follows it. The Vikings have three games remaining. Chicago Bears, New York Giants, @Green Bay Packers. They have ten days to prepare for that final stretch. As important, they have ten days to get their players healthy. At least healthier since no NFL player is healthy in December. At 8-5, I think that they need to win two games to make it to the playoffs. One could do it but I doubt it. The Packers have a half-game lead now in the division and there's a real good chance that the season finale in Green Bay will be for the NFC North title. The Vikings are in control of their playoff hopes. That's a very good thing. They have to take advantage of that opportunity.

The Arizona Cardinals are a serious Super Bowl contender. They are strong on both sides of the ball. Carson Palmer is playing quarterback at an MVP-level. Rookie running back David Johnson looks great. Their receivers run four-deep and each is scary in their own way. Their defense is sound and their secondary is ridiculous. Then there's Tyrann Mathieu. I think that Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is the best defensive player in the league. He can wreck an offense. So can Mathieu. There was a three-play sequence last night in which he simply ended a promising Vikings drive. That sequence forced the Vikings to attempt a 54-yard field goal. They made that field goal but they were moving the ball in a manner that suggested a touchdown was eminent. Mathieu put an end to that. He was a defensive menace for nearly all of the fourth quarter. At about 5'9" and 185 lbs he's probably the smallest player on the field every single week. He plays like the biggest. A crazy, good football player.

I wish that the Vikings had a Mathieu.