The pregame was emotional for me like any other parent as I have 4 daughters and after Friday makes loving my kids even more meaningful. I thought what the NFL did was outstanding. The 2 players from each team wearing 26 representing the number of lost lives in Connecticut standing at midfield along with Coach Fisher and Coach Frazier all holding hands in a moment of silence. A sight I will never forget.
This young team just does not quit and an end up with a huge victory in St. Louis. The playoff talk can still occur by Vikings fans. The Rams had been such good football lately I just did not know what to expect.
The series of the game and maybe the season in my mind occurred in the first quarter. I liked the call to go for it on 4th and 1. The effort Ponder made in the scramble to get 3 yards before going out of bounds was outstanding. My thought, could this be the momentum Ponder needed to get his game going? Then an even more unbelievable play was the 3rd and 5 from the Rams 5. I thought for sure the Rams had Ponder for a sack but to the credit of Ponder he just did not quit as he dives across the goal line. This is just another example of how the Vikings do not quit this season.
It all started with the first home game against Jacksonville when the Vikings made the improbable late game rally to send it into overtime and then win it in overtime.
Sunday was just another example. Ponder has been getting hammered by the press and fans of late with the lack of a passing game. No, the touchdown was not a pass but I have to give credit to the line for blocking and Ponder for being alert to run.
One win on the road until Sunday this team needed any jump start it could get. The efforts by Adrian Peterson make it tough to come up with words that have not already been used. It is breathtaking to watch him hit the hole and away he goes watching the scoreboard to see if anyone can catch him.
The runs when AP comes upon a defender, lowers his shoulder and lays some wood into the smaller man leaves me thinking how bad that has to hurt on impact as the defender is driven back. It makes me almost laugh when Peterson puts his arm out and shoves people down like they are 95 pounds. The appearance that Peterson makes things look so easy.
The last 2 weeks the defense has come up big with interception returns for touchdowns. The play Sunday by Everson Griffen was a beautiful sight. The drop back into coverage, the ability to make the interception and ability to take it for 6 is something we as Vikings fans just have not seen enough in the past couple of seasons.
The pass rush Sunday was awesome with 4 sacks. The number of sacks was nice to see but even nicer was the consistency of getting to Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. The hits the defense got on him was so nice to see.
The Rams in the fourth quarter ability to drive the ball with just 4 Vikings pas rushers was concerning as even the announcers pointed out. I like the adjustment defensive coordinator Alan Williams made in missing in some extra pass rushers made me feel better.
The final of 36-22 sounds closer than how I thought the Vikings really did dominate. I am not a big fan of a prevent defense so to see the end of the game Rams quarterback Bradford had almost 400 yards passing was deceiving. I still am very excited to see the Vikings have a great 3 phase game with offense; defense and special teams all come through.
I know Ponder did not rip it up with stats but I was excited to see him get receivers involved Sunday. Jerome Simpson came through with some big catches as well as Michael Jenkins making a big 3rd down catch. Ponder found 7 different receivers finally. The names not normally heard lately such as Stephen Burton even had 3 catches.
The tight ends end up with 6 catches which is a good start but the stat I liked was 3 of the catches were made by offseason acquisition John Carlson.
The kicking game was impressive today. The Rams kicker Steve Zeurlein kickoffs that at times appeared they were going into the stands. I thought Walsh had a big leg but Zeurlein might be the biggest leg I have seen as far as kickoffs.
The better story to write about is Vikings record holder Blair Walsh. He goes into the Vikings record book with the rookie scoring record passing the record held by Randy Moss in 1998. The fact that Walsh is now 8 for 8 over 50 yards which now put him in the Vikings history book for most 50 yarders in one season. He also tied an NFL record of 8 in one season is unbelievable. A 6th round pick out of the University of Georgia and having a season like this. All I can say is, thank you Blair Walsh for your contributions to the team.
You might have seen this when the Rams receiver Danny Amendola caught a touchdown spikes the balls and it bounces up and hits the guy in the face knocking off his glasses. My thought that had to really smart. Then later did you notice when Amendola caught the two point pass from Bradford he handed the ball to someone standing in the end zone?
I am proud the Vikings to going on the road and winning a game they had to have. It does not get any easier next week but for now I will enjoy the victory. I had predicted 10-6 to start the season. Who knows?
This season so far has been wonderful and makes me even prouder to be a huge supporter of the purple.
Thanks for reading
Purplestick
No comments:
Post a Comment