The Vikings
hosted the Washington Redskins on Thursday night football with another chance
to show America the team is not as bad as a 1-7 record would indicate.
We got to the
dome and one of my first observations was the amount of Redskins fans that made
the trip. It was incredible to see that much red. My next observation was of
all the Redskins fans I would say 90 percent of them had RG III jerseys on.
The next
thrill was to go down early in pregame and get as close to the field as
possible and take in the NFL Network pregame. The quality of players and Coach
Mariucci on the set is priceless. The price became even higher as Cris Carter
made an appearance on the set wearing his Hall of Fame jacket. He was one of my
favorites so to see him one more time in person meant the world to me. I took a
ton of pictures just to add to the memories.
Carter
played a major role in the game. The pregame saw him blow the Gjallhorn signaling
the Vikings were coming then ran to the Vikings ship and got on his motorcycle
and helped lead the team onto the field. The place was going crazy watching
this.
The defensive players were introduced tonight
with the first player being Xavier Rhodes carrying the American flag as he ran
onto the field. The last player to be introduced was Jared Allen as he too
carried the flag. The American theme was carried out very nicely by the
organization.
The fans
were involved with the National Anthem as each fan had a colored card in their
seats that they were to hold up and look through the slot in their card. We
looked around the stadium to a beautiful sight of red white and blue along with
the word Thank you Military. What a night of awesomeness and to be a part of
this was once again a memory never to be forgotten.
The game
finally began and it did with a chorus of boos. The Redskins kicked off
avoiding Patterson and that is where the booing began. The game had it fair
share of booing. The first drive by the Vikings ended up with the interception
thrown by Ponder led to a season high booing sound by the fans.
The Redskins
moved the ball at will in the first half. It was so hard to sit in my seat and
watch the Redskins run wide open in the middle making for some easy pass
completions. I know I remember seeing on the scoreboard the Redskins were
completing third downs at an 83 percent clip. It was so embarrassing to watch
this. The tackling in the first half was as bad as I have ever seen and it led
to several times of booing by the fans.
I still can’t
believe as I am writing this how the Redskins scored 15 seconds before the
half. I was and still am in shock how 2 Redskins players were standing all alone
for maybe the easiest touchdown any team may ever score this season.
The Redskins
kickoff to the Vikings and my hope was with 4 seconds left the team just throws
the ball as far as possible. It did not happen and with that angry fans booed
even more.
The first
half was filled with booing but I will say on a positive note that after the
Ponder interception he started playing much better. We will see what the second
half will offer up.
The halftime
fans saw Cris Cater get his Hall of Fame ring. I was so happy for Cris. It
seemed each time I saw Carter including pregame his smile just seemed to be
getting bigger.
The second
half was incredible to watch as the team I love to death showed up in a big
way. I was so proud of these guys. It was so fun to watch Kevin Williams get
some much needed sacks. The second half was just simply fun to watch.
It is hard
to believe the Redskins did not punt the entire first half and score on four possessions
and the second half Washington get held to 3 points.
I thought
the play of Ponder was as good as I have seen in many games. The run he made in
which I thought he scored at first was amazing. The collision at the goal line
showed me just how bad he wants to succeed. I know next season he may not be
the man but to see a guy who has been through the ringer with fans and media
showed me something. The injury came at the worst possible time for Ponder. His
quarterback rating was over 100 and he was finally making some very good decisions
and throw.
I was
impressed with Ponder but some other guys I need to mention were John Carlson
and J’Marcus Webb.
It was
refreshing to see Carlson have the night he had including his first touchdown
as a Vikings. I love the effort to stretch the ball across the goal line.
Webb filling
in for Loadholt I thought did a wonderful job of helping keep the quarterbacks
clean from hits.
I will add
on the defense the Kevin Williams had a fabulous night but also the play of
backup safety, Andrew Sendejo who had 16 tackles. This team has a ton of
injuries so to see guys like Carlson, Webb and Sendejo come through was a nice
sight.
This team
has been through so many emotional losses this season so for Thursday night to
get a win was huge.
The problem
now becomes with fans who want to see a high draft pick in April every win
hurts the team. I want a nice high pick too but am very happy to get a W
especially at home and on National TV.
I will add
in the end the fans played a major part in not such a good way. The amount of
paper airplanes coming out of the upper deck was too many to count. The fans
would cheer for planes that had a chance to land on the field. We had policemen
along with security all second half trying to catch the culprits who threw
them. Fans can be kicked out of the game if caught.
The other disappointment
was talking to fans next to me and in front of me the price they paid for their
tickets. I pay 40.00 per seat. The 7 guys in front of me paid 4.00 per ticket
and the 2 guys next to me paid 8.00. My wife said and I can’t disagree is we
could go to every game and buy cheaper tickets but sitting in different parts
of the stadium. I guess I enjoy knowing I will sit in my same spot and cheer
for the purple.
Thursday’s
game had a wide variety of emotions but in the end my team came through with a
win.
Thanks for
reading
Purplestick
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