Reliving Packers going down in the dome

A day that meant everything to the Vikings team and fans in the end did not disappoint. As a 13 year season ticket holder I have seen devastation involving losses at home where the Vikings were favorites and ended up breaking my heart. Sunday just brought feelings of jubilation like I have never felt.

The day started out as we got to the dome 2 hours early and went in to watch warm ups. The amount of Packers fans in there was extremely disturbing.

We made our way up to our seats and this year we have not had the same people by us at all so we had no idea who we would be sitting by. The question was soon answered as Packers fans were all around. It is the worst feeling to see this much green and yellow and to hear the chant Go-Pack-Go. My thought is Go home Pack. We did have an interesting fan sit 2 seats down from me. He was a Bears fans dressed in his Bears colors amongst the Packers fans. He was leading the cheer Go Pack Go. I thought this is all we need to hear this over and over.

I was impressed at least in my section that was very fan friendly. It was jawing back and forth with smiles, beer held up and no swearing from people. This might be the best crowd I have been involved with in this great rivalry game.

The first quarter really started out nice for the Vikings and kept the Packers fans quite in our section. I know in my heart Green Bay can score at will so I did not feel that secure up 10-0.

The fans base was actually fun as the chants of MVP MVP rang throughout the dome many times. I was even hearing Packers fans today admitting they were impressed with Peterson.

Adrian is known for his yards and ringing up all sorts of records but I would like to point out something that is not a stat. The roll out by Christian Ponder and finding Jarius Wright for a touchdown was helped in a big way by AP. I do not know if you noticed but on that play Clay Mathews appeared to have a free run at Ponder when Adrian stepped in and threw a beautiful block on Mathews knocking him down to the ground.

The Packers I thought were going to go into halftime down 20-7 but Aaron Rogers orchestrates a drive that ended up in a 50 plus field goal. My heart told me this may come back to haunt. Packers’ kicker Mason Crosby has had such a bad year and then we see him boon it through. This was an emotion we do not need to give the Packers back. The second half the Pack gets the ball back and if they score in the 3rd quarter they are right back in it. They scored a touchdown and now we have a battle.

I was so impressed with the Vikings offense Sunday with the ability after a Packer score the Vikings would march it down and score.

I watched the NFL network all week prior to the game and when it came time to break down the game one of the analysts made a comment that the Vikings offense cannot keep up with the Packers offense. I guess he was wrong.

The scrutiny of the receivers for most of the year was not to be on Sunday. I feel this is the best the receivers looked all year. The lack of the deep ball questioned weekly saw Sunday Christian throw as nice of ball as he thrown all year. The touch Ponder had putting air under the ball letting it fly and have Jarius Wright run under it. He was a step from scoring. What a throw!!

I also thought Michael Jenkins and Jerome Simpson came up huge Sunday. The saying is December is when the good teams play good ball is happening in Minnesota and the receivers are coming through as well. The catch by Jenkins in the end zone was simply amazing.

I thought the offensive line played well once again in pass protection as well as run blocking. These guys have really had a great year and playing all 16 games together has been a huge asset.

The defensive line what can you say except they busted their butts all day. The effort put in every play is so impressive. The stat of 5 sacks is just a number and does not tell the story the line put on Rogers chasing and harassing him all day. What a great day by Everson Griffen in fact what a great month as the game in St. Louis he had the interception td. The man is playing like a man possessed.

I really thought the Packers would run more screen plays than they did. One frustrating thing was the Packers were able to run the ball at times. Things will have to be buttoned down big time in the rematch.

It was awesome to be at a game where the team wins and is in the playoffs, and to see Adrian become the 7th man in NFL history to run for over 2000 yards. If he is not MVP something is wrong in the system. It is hard to believe so close to Eric Dickerson’s record but not meant to be. It can’t be too bad to have the 2nd most rushing yards ever in one season. I think we have just seen the beginning of this man.

The run by Peterson to set up the game winning field goal was electrifying. Blair Walsh comes out and with that is a thought of a previous game. In 1998 Gary Anderson made 35 field goals and missed 0 until the crucial one in the NFC Championship. I closed my eyes and said a prayer.

The snap by Cullen Loeffler, the place by Chris Kluwe and the kick by Blair Walsh is good. The dome erupted as I look around and see all the green and yellow sitting in shock.

It was so rewarding for this fan who has had heartbreaks over the years and now Sunday can leave the dome with a smile and a heart beating 2 million miles a minute. I will say the fans did not leave for quite some time even after the games was over. Fans waited for Adrian Peterson to get done with his interviews so they could cheer as he made his way to the locker room.

Walsh has been money all year and even kicking his 10th field goal of 50 plus yards. The field goal to win the game was his 35th field goal of the year tying Gary Anderson’s team record of 35. I could not be happier for this young man. Oh by the way, his kickoffs were magnificent Sunday as well.

The win putting the record at 10-6 also goes down in the Vikings history book. The jump of 7 wins from one season to the next goes down in Vikings history. The previous was 6. It is incredible to go from 3 wins to 10 wins and now is in the playoffs.
I thought the fans Sunday did a tremendous job of making noise and just being there for this team.

I am emotionally wiped, my hands hurt from clapping and my voice is shot. I am so thankful for this season. A team of youngsters and a young coach experience wise who would have known? I said in early August I felt like the team can get to 10-6. Guess what? Here we are.

Thanks for reading
Purplestick