Vikings Need a Win Vs. Arizona. Duh.

There’s no way of finessing the situation – the Vikings need a win against Arizona or their season will be lost. At 2-5 they still have a decent shot at the playoffs, given the weakness of the NFC. But if they slide to 2-6? You can kiss any realistic hope of a 2010 playoff run goodbye. And, if last week’s reports are to be believed, you can probably kiss Brad Childress goodbye as well.






















Judging from the sentiments being expressed by most Viking fans, there will be few tears shed if Childress is indeed sent packing by Zygi Wilf. The fact is that, from almost the moment of his hiring, Childress has been an unpopular figure with Minnesota fans. His manner has often seemed patronizing, his offense has often been boring, and his handling of players has often been clumsy. And I haven’t even mentioned his game management skills. However, if the Vikings should lose to Arizona this weekend, and Childress should subsequently be fired: I ask the vociferous Chilly-haters, what then? Would getting rid of Childress and elevating Leslie Frasier to head coach actually result in a run of wins? Or, would the Vikings’ problems remain even without Childress at the helm?





















I have no doubt that Childress has done things to deserve being on shaky ground with his owner. However, if the owner fires Childress simply because Childress irritated him…well, how then would Wilf be any different than Childress himself, who got on the hot seat precisely because he allowed Randy Moss‘ comments about him to bother him personally? At some point, somebody in the Vikings organization has to put personal feelings aside and run this thing like a professional organization. In my mind, Childress getting fired now would demonstrate that Wilf is no more in command of things than Childress. The firing of the coach would not restore my faith in the organization; on the contrary, it would prove to me that the organization is in profound disarray, from the top down.





















The fact is, a lot of what’s gone wrong this year has not been Childress’ fault. Did Childress injure Sidney Rice’s hip? Did he cause Brett Favre to suffer a bad elbow and bad ankle? Did he hurt Cedric Griffin’s ACL? Did he cause the pass rush to mysteriously vanish? Blaming Childress for everything that’s gone wrong in 2010 is, I think, a little too easy. And thinking Childress’ firing would magically fix the Vikings is naive at best.





















No, the best thing for the Vikings now would not be a Childress firing but a win Sunday against the Cardinals. If the Vikings are going to get this much-needed victory, it appears they will have to do so without Percy Harvin, who injured an ankle early against the Patriots and has spent the whole week hobbling through practice. With Moss gone and Rice and Harvin hurt, the Vikings would be left with Bernard Berrian as their #1 receiver…but even Berrian was listed on the injury report this week with a bad groin. If you want to find a healthy Vikings receiver you have to go down the list to guys like Greg Camarillo, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett. Needless to say, Brett Favre himself is not exactly 100%.





















With Favre still not fully himself and the receiver corps greatly diminished, it figures to be another rough week for the passing game. At this point we should’ve long-since resigned ourselves to the reality that, if the Vikings do manage to put together some wins this year, they will not be pretty wins. The 2009 offense ain’t walking through that door. The only thing that’s working this year is running the ball with Adrian Peterson…and if Childress elects to leave Peterson on the field, maybe he will even have a chance to carry the team. If Childress has any survival instinct at all, he will scrap his “mixing in Toby Gerhart” plan and just ride Peterson. I wouldn’t presume to tell Mr. Childress how to do his job, but it seems to me that when you do get some offensive momentum going, it would be a good idea not to yank your best player.





















The key word when addressing the defense this week is “bounce back.” As in, these guys need to bounce back from getting undressed in the second half by Tom Brady and the Patriots. Asher Allen got exposed as not a very good football player last week, and overall, the tackling was just not good enough – sort of shocking when you consider that, for the last few years, the Vikings have sported one of the best tackling units in the league. Obviously, with the secondary looking shakier by the week, the onus falls more-and-more on the front-four, which has not exactly been rising to the challenge. I could do the easy thing here and blame it all on Jared Allen, but the fact is, the line in general has just not been getting consistent penetration, and that’s showing up both in the pass rush and the run defense. If the guys in the middle – the alleged strength of our defense – get more penetration, quarterbacks will get flushed more and Allen will run into more sacks. Frankly, I’m beginning to believe our real problem is that Kevin Williams has hit the downslope of his career. Outside of the occasional batdown, what plays is he making? The Williams Wall this year has looked more like the Williams Chicken Wire Fence. I don’t want to sound too harsh, but frankly, Brett Favre isn’t the only old washed-up guy on our team. Pat Williams is about done; and if you want to extend this discussion out to the team as a whole, I think you can add Antoine Winfield and Steve Hutchinson to the list of guys who are fading quickly. We knew the window was going to close on this team this year, but what we didn’t realize was that, for a few of the key veterans, it was already down to a crack.





















Brad Childress can’t stop Father Time any more than he could stop Randy Moss from being a prick. But, when you’re a coach in the NFL, the reality is that you’re going to be blamed for everything, even the stuff that’s out of your hands. Childress’ problem this year is that everything came to a head at once: certain key guys got old, certain young guys got hurt, and a certain desperation set in that led to the single most disastrous personnel move of Childress’ tenure. Of course, Chilly still deserves plenty of blame, for the sometimes bizarre and boneheaded way he reacted to all these issues. However, I reiterate, firing Childress won’t make that stuff go away. Only a win, ugly or otherwise, will dispel the Cloud of Doom currently darkening the Vikings’ skies.

Moss Takes The Podium After Loss To Former Team



Brett Favre Has His Chin Lacerated



Randy Moss Sheds A Tear For His Former Team

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Randy Moss got fined $25,000 by the NFL this week for not cooperating with the media. The Vikings receiver had plenty to say Sunday after catching only one pass in a 28-18 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.







In one of the strangest "news conferences" you'll ever see, Moss announced that he will not conduct any more interviews the rest of the season.







Moss then said that if he does grant an interview, he will ask the questions and provide the answers. Wearing a black Boston Red Sox hat, he spoke nearly five minutes about his affection for the Patriots organization, his former teammates and coach Bill Belichick and the relationships he made during his three-plus year tenure. He said he "shed a tear" over an ovation he received after the game.







Moss then criticized Vikings coach Brad Childress' decision not to kick a field goal at the end of the first half and said he was disappointed his coaches and teammates didn't listen to the insight he gave on the Patriots last week.







Moss concluded by literally saluting the Patriots and Belichick.







"I love you guys, I miss you, I'm out," Moss said.







Moss was basically a nonfactor in his return. He caught one pass for 8 yards and was targeted only three times, one of which drew a pass interference penalty. The Patriots used deep safety help to take away his vertical threat. He also had a classic Moss moment in the fourth quarter. Moss drew an interference penalty on safety Brandon Meriweather on a deep pass down the sideline near the end zone. Meriweather fell down on the play, leaving Moss wide open with the ball in the vicinity. But he let up and inexplicably did not try to catch the ball.







Reporters gathered around Moss' locker after the game and he informed everyone that he would be talking on the podium. Did he ever.

Despite Win, Issues Still Exist

Does The Minnesota Vikings  Offensive Line Have Problems?



I tried to keep it fairly positive around here following the Vikings three point victory against the Cowboys, but there is no doubt that there are still some issues, negative in nature, that plague this team.







The Vikings made some unusual moves when deciding who would be active for the game. They had Fahu Tahi inactive and instead Albert Young suited up. The idea seemed to suggest that the Vikings would protect Favre to the max with multiple tight end sets and having Young in there to pick up blitzes and take some third down duties.







Additionally, Jon Cooper became the third different center to start for this team this year.







I can’t honestly say that despite the effort in shaping the active roster, the pass protection did not seem to improve and the run blocking may have declined.







Favre was hit many times, especially early in the game, and the Vikings gave up three sacks. Anytime Favre tried to extend the play by holding onto the ball, it seemingly ended in disaster, which is why the longest pass play of the day was a 20-yarder to Jimmy Kleinsasser of all people. On a number of occasions, the Cowboys defense was daring Favre to go deep but even if his injured arm could chuck it down the field, he never had the chance to show it.







Peterson, on the other hand, was given his biggest opportunity of the year to be “featured” with 24 carries. It seemed like Peterson was constantly hitting a wall on his way to 73 yards, a three yard average per carry.







Peterson was able to break a fifteen yarder, but it seemed like every other time he broke a long run, it was negated by a penalty along the offensive line.







The Vikings only ended up having five penalties for 45 yards, but they all seemed to come at inopportune times (as if there is ever a good time for a penalty).







To make Peterson’s day even rougher, he came up limping after one play and was the self-proclaimed culprit of the bad exchange that resulted in the Vikings only turnover, despite Favre being credited with the fumble. Peterson’s only catch went for negative two yards.







Presuming Favre’s arm is hurting him, and considering the leaky offensive line, he did a decent job of not throwing the game away. He was pretty darn accurate as he went 14 of 19, but the type of game played is shown by the fact that he only gained 118 yards on those 14 completions. Seeing Favre manage the game was a positive, but seeing him so utterly ineffective only furthers the already existing worries that he is declining rapidly this season.







However, with every week that goes by, Favre can really only develop better chemistry with his receivers and guys like Sidney Rice are only going to get healthier. Speaking of injured pass catchers, Visanthe Shiancoe (hamstring) was once again nearly invisible, and his name was only really called on a penalty that negated an Adrian Peterson run.







In the end, the Vikings offense only managed 188 total yards, and it seems that most of the problems begin and end with the offensive line play.







It is kind of difficult to be too picky about this defense, as they played really well overall, yet again. They held the Cowboys potent running game in check, and Romo’s 220 yards passing was his lowest of the season so far.







Despite the victory and solid performance, there are always areas which can be improved on. The pass rush was better this week, in my opinion, despite the absence of any sacks. Jared Allen and Kevin Williams were able to be disruptive enough to cause at least one turnover, and Romo seldom was able to set up a long pass to his main playmaker Miles Austin who was held to 12 yards.







Perhaps Austin’s lack of production can be explained by the fact that he was never lined up against Lito Sheppard. Sheppard was a nightmare after playing somewhat solidly this season. All three touchdowns, two from Roy Williams and one from Dez Bryant, were the result of poor play from Lito Sheppard.







Asher Allen was almost the victim of a long touchdown caught by Austin Miles. The play was negated by offensive pass interference. By all appearances, however, Allen may have gotten lucky as the contact was quite minimal and the Cowboys may have had good reason to be upset about the call. Allen also got picked on a few times, and when it came time to end the game with an easy interception, he let it go right through his hands.







Husain Abdullah left early in the game with a concussion and was replaced with Jamarca Sanford at the strong safety position. There was no real notable drop off, and solid tackling all around for the Vikings made up for other shortcomings.







While there are always things to improve on, and the Vikings have their share, Sunday was a day to be celebrated. After all, the Vikings (who we love) beat the Cowboys (who we hate), and were the only team from the NFC North to win on Sunday.

Brett Favre Hints That He Could Sit Out

Brett Favre has started 289 consecutive regular season games…but that streak appears to be in serious jeopardy thanks to the elbow tendinitis the quarterback is currently battling.



The elbow issue first came to the media’s attention during practice week leading up to Monday night’s Jets game, though Favre says the situation has actually been around for a lot longer. During the game, Favre seemed to have full velocity, but was at times wildly inaccurate. This inaccuracy prevented the Vikings from finishing the furious second half comeback Favre started by flinging a long touchdown to Randy Moss.



In his Wednesday presser, Favre acknowledged that the elbow affected his throws.



“There were some throws that, blind-folded, I felt like I could have made, and made some good throws but missed on some that I don’t miss on,” Favre said. “That’s what I don’t want to happen. You’re not going to make every throw, but I would have made some of those throws.”



Favre also addressed the possibility of sitting out a game to rest the elbow. Perhaps surprisingly, the quarterback noted for his supreme toughness didn’t rule out the idea.



“Sure, I think any player would have to consider that,” Favre said. “Going through that type of situation where, I can [play], but will rest help? Yeah, that’d be a consideration.”



The Vikings face the Cowboys this weekend, in a game that could very well degenerate into a shoot-out. That being the case, this would be a very inconvenient time for Favre to hand the keys over to Tarvaris Jackson.



After that the Vikings face the Packers – there’s no way Favre misses that game – and then the Patriots, another team the Vikings probably can’t handle with T-Jack at the helm. The home game against a weak Arizona squad Week 9 would probably afford the best chance for Favre to sit and have it not badly cripple the team’s chances of winning – but by then the Vikings might already be out of serious playoff contention, rendering the whole situation moot.



Of course, there are some who have argued that an injured, distracted Favre isn’t any good to the Vikings anyway, and they would be better off if he retired now and they went with T-Jack the rest of the season. To these people I can only say, what short memories you have.

Emptying Out The Vikings-Jets Notebook

Darrel Revis

<> 

Adrian Peterson

        VS.












  The Jets' offensive line has helped sustain an impressive early-season performance by the offense, which is averaging 167.8 rushing yards per play and 5.1 per carry and has allowed only five sacks of Mark Sanchez. As successful as the line has been thus far, it will certainly have its work cut out Monday night when the Jets face off against the Minnesota Vikings and their imposing defensive line.















“I think we recognize what a good run defense they are,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “They’ve got the big guys inside. The linebackers are really good players. They’re all underrated. They’re fast. With the bright lights of Monday night, we expect to get their best effort and they’re a really good unit.”















The members of the Vikings front four are perennial Pro Bowl right end Jared Allen, tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, and unsung stalwart left end Ray Edwards. The matchup on everyone’s mind will be Jets Pro Bowl left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson going against Allen. Ferguson is charged with the duty of protecting Sanchez’s blind side, and Coach Schotty is confident that his man will be solid as a rock.















“He tends to always step up and do a great job in these situations,” Schottenheimer said. “It will be a good matchup. We have some things protectionally where we recognize what a good front four they are. We have a lot of confidence in all those guys and Brick is a guy that we expect to play really well.”















Also along that left side is second-year guard Matt Slauson, who has had some ups and downs so far but whose play the past two games has been solid. The Nebraska product and his coaches believe he has matured through the first quarter of the season as a starter, but he still realizes the daunting challenge ahead of him.















“We’ve looked at everything,” Slauson said. “We know that they’re going to run a lot of games. They aren’t going to blitz a whole lot because they’re so confident in their front four so it’s going to be all about 1-on-1's and really locking them down.”















Schottenheimer praised Slauson and indicated that since the Jets' five linemen have about 200 snaps under their collective belt, they’re better adjusted to play as one. That was evident in the game at Buffalo during which the Green & White rushed for 273 yards and two touchdowns on 49 attempts. That breakthrough performance will hopefully spill over to Monday night against the Vikings' active 4-3 front.















“We have gone against a 3-4 every week this season,” right tackle Damien Woody said. “Now this is our first opportunity to go against a 4-3, so obviously your techniques and stuff like that changes somewhat because you’re going against a totally different style of defense. This is when your preparation really has to be on point.”















Schottenheimer, line coach Bill Callahan and running backs coach Anthony Lynn have formulated a plan that will help the Jets' running attack counteract the Vikings strengths up front. Even so, the big fellas in green will have to communicate, take care of their matchups and use proper technique to give LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene running room in addition to protecting Sanchez.















“It’s a great challenge,” Woody said. “As a competitor it gets you fired up because it’s like two titans going against each other. We’re second in the league in rushing and year in and year out they’re one of the top three or four teams in run defense. So it’s going to make for a great battle. So for people who like to see a battle in the trenches, this game, this matchup might be the best of the whole year.”

Moss Might Help Run As Much As Pass

Randy Moss Threat  Takes Men Out Of The Box

Adrian Peterson said the acquisition of Randy Moss made him feel like a kid in a candy store. He also compared it to Christmas.



His excitement is understandable. While most of the trade talk has focused on Moss' potential impact on the Vikings struggling pass game, the threat of his big-play capability and downfield speed also should loosen things up for Peterson and the running game.



"That was my initial thought when I heard the news," Peterson said. "It's going to make the offense more dynamic, definitely give us that deep threat and open up the run game."



Both Peterson and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell used the phrase "pick your poison" to describe how Moss' presence could affect defensive game plans.



Opponents routinely have committed an extra defender or two near the line to clog up running lanes and neutralize Peterson. That plan doesn't always work, and it's not an every-down strategy, but it's certainly made life difficult for Peterson and the offensive line.



The Vikings said they believe the addition of Moss will force defenses to play more honestly and not have their safeties help as much in run support.



"It definitely loosens things up," Peterson said. "When you got a player like Randy Moss, it loosens it up even more. When I heard the news I was excited and overwhelmed. I'm just looking forward to taking that first snap with him."



It's not as if Peterson has struggled in the absence of a consistent passing game. The Vikings rank fifth in the NFL in rushing. Peterson is tied for third in rushing with 392 yards, is averaging 5.6 yards per carry and had a career-long 80-yard touchdown run against Detroit.



But with Sidney Rice sidelined after having hip surgery, the Vikings had virtually no vertical passing game the first three games, or even the threat of one. They are ranked 24th in passing, and their longest pass play is 33 yards.

Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress Quotes

Minnesota Vikings Coach Brad Childress Is Optimistic About Slow Start

Good work today; you guys won’t be here, but we’ll get a little extra work tomorrow with these guys all working together. They’ll have their day off Wednesday. Tonight they have Taste of the NFL and they have their NFL life skills seminar at 2:30. We got a few things we like to get done during the bye week. Everybody came back none the worse for wear. I had a chance to watch a little college football and a little pro football. It’s a long season. The big thing is to continue to improve and I think these few days will help us do that.



Q: How wide open do you think the NFC North potentially is?



A: I would say that about probably every team in the NFL. Before it’s over, if they don’t have issues now; Kansas City is the only undefeated team and I’m sure there are issues no one is aware of. It becomes a war of attrition at times; who’s healthy, and who’s not. Certainly the NFC North is always competitive. It was a game last year; it’s always going to be in there being fraught with different things. We’re playing a couple pretty good divisions in our crossover, so I would expect it to be a pretty good battle.



Q: How pleased are you with the defensive line at this point?



A: I think they are doing okay. I think the edge pressure has been decent. Jared Allen has seen a variety of different looks. As important as anything I would tell you would be the pocket push, pushing up the middle. Quarterbacks can step up from edge rushes and not giving them something clean where they can step in to is as big as anything. I think we’re doing a decent job with that inside push as well.



Q: What’s it like having only three weeks of film to look at during your bye week?



A: It was different from the standpoint of body of work. You don’t have as many plays to look at and see situational, for instance snaps on the goal-line, which we had an unbelievable amount throughout the course of last year. There’s not that much evidence there yet, so people will go back to last year to look at us. We’re doing a decent job of running the football right now. We want to continue that. We want to throw in a couple of areas there. Like I said before, pass game needs work and we’ll continue to address that and look at that.



Q: Are you surprised you got a call from the league addressing Jared’s “roping”?



A: I was. It was Friday before the game. Somebody must have called it to somebody’s attention, but it has been going on for a long time and everybody was certainly aware of it when we started this season. It wasn’t on the DVD that we get for rules changes. Ed Hochuli was very good about it before the game just in my conversations with him. They weren’t going to try and make an issue out of it.



Q: The league said he [Allen] can’t go down to the knee?



A: I think you can’t go down to the ground to celebrate. It’s the same as you can’t go down to the ground in the endzone to celebrate after a touchdown.



Q: What do you look for when a team comes back from a bye week?



A: It’s important that they have a fresh attitude, fresh outlook and that they come out here and don’t forget everything they knew before the bye. I thought we had a pretty crisp practice today, just kind of getting back in the saddle. I just look for them to come back with the right mindset, come back ready to work, come back ready to improve, not to come back and just hang out. We’ve got work to do. We can only do work on one opponent right now. As I mentioned to you, offensively we face a number of 3-4 teams here, one after the other.



Q: The Jets are getting Santonio Holmes back for this game. What does he bring to the offense?



A: They already do a nice job of running the football; Jerrico Cotchery is a good player and Braylon Edwards is a very good player. The more weapons they have, the more variables. They have a very good tight end; I think he gives them more of those explosive components. He’s a good player in his own right.



Q: How impressive is it that they [Jets] only have one turnover through four games?



A: That’s huge. They don’t put themselves in trouble.



Q: What is the status on Visanthe Shiancoe and John Sullivan?



A: They are working through their different muscle issues. They are making progress and they stayed all last week and actually treated last night. They’re coming.



Q: Are you surprised at how successful Ladanian Tomlinson has been this season?



A: No, I thought he was still a pretty good talent. Live-legged. I know they are changing it up with Shonn Greene a little bit. He’s got football instincts and he’s still got the physical wherewithal to be able to make you miss and he’s quick enough to square around the corner and run between tackles.

Is It 2001 All Over Again?

 We remember. It was a season coming off of one of the harshest losses the Minnesota Vikings had ever suffered in an NFC Championship. Beaten on the road after a decisive win at home in the previous round. Fans who disliked the coach for his lack of playoff success grew. But their was hope by many as the team had a new quarterback who had played very well in getting the team to the NFC Championship.



And Then, Tragedy Struck.



A player would not be available to start the season. It would be a blow to the offense, who had counted on this player for its' success. They would start poorly without him, losing their first two games. Then they would win one they should at home to be 1-2 in the standings. A tough schedule lay ahead.



The 2010 Minnesota Vikings you say?



Or maybe the 2001-02 Vikings. Back then it was Daunte Culpepper, fresh off his successful first year with the team. The much maligned Denny Green had disappointed in the playoffs again. The New York Giants disposed of Minnesota 41-0 at the end. During the following training camp, Korey Stringer died tragically, and the team was scrambling to replace such an important member of the offense.



They started the season by losing 24-13 to Carolina. The Panthers would win only one game the entire year. Next, Minnesota lost 17-10 to Chicago. After a 31-26 win over Tampa Bay, they stood at 1-2. The city was nervous. Things were not clicking like they had in the previous year. And they were right to be nervous. Minnesota would make it to 3-3, and then proceed to lose nine of the last eleven games, to finish at 5-11.



Dennis Green was let go before the end of the year. He had not done enough with the talent he was given. That final year, Minnesota had an exceptionally poor Draft, with Michael Bennnett being the top selection with the 27th pick. Mike Tice replaced Green in the final game, and would go on to a mediocre few years before being let go. Both Green Bay and Chicago had success in those years while Minnesota floundered.



Flash forward.



The loss of Sidney Rice just before the season has had an obvious impact on Minnesota. The Vikings are 29th in total offense. Brett Favre, who tore the league up in 2009, has a 60.4 passer rating (that's really low). He has only 597 yards and two touchdowns in his first three games. Despite the number two rusher in the NFL, the offense is just not getting it done.



Brad Childress is a coach walking the plank, so to speak. He has had improved success in regular season each year, but little in the playoffs. Minnesota fans are not happy with just getting there. Childress has been given plenty of talent to obtain that elusive first Super Bowl. Positive drafts have yielded players like Adrian Peterson, Rice, Percy Harvin and much more. Acquisitions, like Favre and Steve Hutchinson, have given the team elite offensive talent. Their are many veterans on the defense who are candidates for All-Pro consideration this year. It is now or never for the coach.



Some are hoping that Childress' trend of improvement every year will also apply to the playoffs. Most fans would concede that the Vikings certainly had the team necessary to win one. The humbling of the Cowboys and the strong effort in New Orleans demonstrated just that. But this year's slow start, or more specifically, the loss to the Dolphins at home, has fans on edge. The Childress haters are convinced we have no chance. The realists see a very tough schedule in the upcoming weeks and more talent on both the Bears and Packers than a true Viking fan could stand. And the optimist correctly assessing available talent, is sure that this is still the strongest team in the NFC North. They remember that this team was a play (or huddle) away from winning the NFC Championship. And they have faith that Brett Favre will begin to return to last year's form.



We did experience 2001. It was not fun. This season's start has been somewhat depressing, given the talent and expectation coming into the opener in New Orleans. If it is to be deja vous all over again, it will probably come at the expense of a head coach. Many would like that. Sacrifice a season to get a new head coach. But what if the next one is Mike Tice? I think we should just start winning again with the same coach.



We will find out soon after the bye week is over.

Vikings Defense Epitomizing Consistency Early In 2010 Season

EJ Henderson

Antoine Winfield



Ray Edwards



Jared Allen

Williams Wall

With so many different variables leading to ebbs and flows in the Vikings aerial attack along with other personnel finding a rhythm early in the regular season, the Purple are welcoming the bye week to rest and gain extra preparation for a Week 5 Monday night matchup against the New York Jets at the New Meadowlands Stadium.







Yes, the Vikings have shown irregularities throughout the first 3 weeks. But one factor that’s been a consistent force is the play of the defense. Through 3 weeks the Vikings defense ranks in the top 5 in points (3rd-12.5 PPG) and yards allowed (5th-276.3 YPG) and also boasts an 8th-ranked passing (189.0 YPG) and rushing (87.3 YPG) defense.







The Purple have prided themselves on a dominant run defense ever since Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress’ arrival in 2006. The Lions were the latest team to face this staunch unit, as they were held to a season-low 63 yards rushing in last Sunday’s contest – nearly 100 yards less than Vikings RB Adrian Peterson’s total for the game (160).







As the run defense continues its stout performance, so has the pass rush.







Obtaining such a balanced defense is one of many reasons the Vikings have yet to allow more than 14 points a game this season. Even with CBs Chris Cook and Cedric Griffin out for the first 2 weeks, the Vikings pass defense allowed only 237 yards against the pass-heavy Saints team in Week 1 and a dismal 114 yards in Week 2 against the Dolphins.







During the Vikings 24-10 victory over the Lions on Sunday at Mall of America Field, the Vikings secondary welcomed back both Cook and Griffin in route to allowing 237 passing yards. After Lions star rookie RB Jahvid Best left the game with a toe injury, Detroit turned one-dimensional with its aerial attack and the Vikings quickly adjusted. Lions QB Shaun Hill was held to a 69.6 passer rating and was intercepted by LB Ben Leber and CB Antoine Winfield late in the game, putting a halt to any sort of comeback.







As the Vikings defense continues to show its consistency in both the run and pass rush, it’s well known that everyone needs to stay confident in their specific role with 4 straight games against talented offenses – at New York, home against the Dallas Cowboys and then 2 road games against the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots.







“Going into the bye week you need to get more confidence going,” Vikings LB Chad Greenway told reporters after Sunday’s victory over the Lions. “Whatever injuries we do have, the bye week will take care of them and now we know the stretch we have coming out of the bye so we need to get at least mentally healthy.”