Well, well, well. Week 1 is in the books for the Vikings and
it didn’t quite go the way that Vikings fans wanted it to go. When the game
came to a close, the scoreboard read 34-24 in favor of the Detroit Lions. Here
are some thoughts about what the heck happened:
Reggie Bush is a
beast and an excellent pickup for the Lions
- Reggie Bush had 191 yards overall. 101 via the
air and 90 on the ground. Bush only crossed the goal line once for the Lions,
but he was the main spoke in the wheel that ran over the Vikings. What’s more
impressive is that Bush did all of this after dislocating his thumb early in
the contest and right after that pulling a groin.
It could have been
uglier, much uglier
-
Detroit had some really bone-headed penalties throughout
the contest on Sunday; the Lions racked up 11 penalties for 88 yards. Take out
those 88 penalty yards and give Detroit a couple touchdowns for about the four
times they missed the goal line by inches, the Vikings could have left that
game much more scarred than they did.
Umm, Adrian?
-
I
believe my exact tweet was “Oh my god. Adrian bleepin’ Peterson”, when Peterson
busted up the gut for a 78 yard touchdown scamper on the Vikings first touch as
an offense this season. It was quite incredible and everyone on Twitter seemed
to think the same way. Then he kind of went away. Adrian had three touchdowns
on the day, but only rushed for an additional 15 yards after that first touch.
Adrian was getting bunched up behind the line
and that could be for various reasons, one could be that every other team in
the league knows the Vikings are going to run it and they might as well put a
million people in the box. It helps when Christian Ponder is able to stretch
the field, but we all know that doesn’t happen too often. Bottom line is if the
Vikings want to be successful this season, Adrian needs to get more going.
Pondering about
Ponder
-
In all honesty, Ponder didn’t look terrible, but
he didn’t look good either. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it
does if you think about it. You have to look somewhat decent. I’m not a Ponder
basher, but I understand why some people are. He has a leash and he’s not quite
to the end of it. Other than the three interceptions, which I know isn’t a
thing we can just ignore but alas, Ponder’s stats didn’t look all too bad. He
went 18-for-28, 236 yards, 8.4 yards a toss and one TD toss to Peterson.
Ponder looks good… okay decent… on
paper, but when you watch him live, it’s not pretty. The Vikings have a very
early Bye Week this season, scheduled for Week 5 after the Week 4 London trip
against the Steelers. This could be a good thing for the Vikings and Vikings
fans, but a very bad thing for Christain Ponder’s job security.
Come back, Kevin
Williams
-
It may have just been that Reggie Bush went
beast mode in his Detroit debut, but it may have been a slightly different
story with Kevin Williams fronting that defensive line. Football teams are well
oiled machines and it really don’t matter how much oil you got if you take out
one of the major cogs to the machine.
Jared Allen looked
good
-
I think we can all admit that Jared Allen never
looked real great last season, but today against Detroit he was one of the few
bright spots for the Vikings. Allen had four tackles, including a sack, and he
lead the team with two pass deflections.
Hello, Jerome Simpson
-
Maybe it’s because Tom Pelissero left the
Vikings beat, maybe it’s because he wasn’t suspended at the beginning of this
season, but Simpson looked good today. Simpson had seven catches for 140 yards
on eight targets. Solid, solid day for Mr. Simpson.
Fun with the box
score
-
Adrian Peterson had more tackles than Ndamukong
Suh today. Adrian Peterson registered a solo tackle while Suh only registered a
pass deflection and QB hit on the day.
