Vikings get points aplenty on defense

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If the Vikings were waiting for Tarvaris Jackson to take a firm hold of the starting quarterback position in Friday night's preseason game against the New York Jets, it didn't happen. And it wasn't Jackson's fault.

The Vikings defense was the real culprit, keeping the quarterback off the field by scoring two first-quarter touchdowns on interception returns in a 37-20 victory at rain-soaked Giants Stadium.

Playing before an announced crowd of 75,851 that wasn't even half that because of afternoon thunderstorms, the Vikings continued to pile up points on defense and a national television audience got a glimpse of first-round pick Adrian Peterson's explosiveness.

The defense gave the Vikings a 14-3 lead after the opening quarter.

Safety Darren Sharper returned an interception of a Chad Pennington pass 40 yards for one score and linebacker Chad Greenway followed with a pick that he took 16 yards into the end zone. Defensive end Brian Robison got in on the act in the third quarter, recovering a high snap at the Jets 3-yard line in the third quarter and walking into the end zone.

Through two exhibition games the Vikings have scored four defensive touchdowns, including three off interceptions, and have six interceptions overall. The offense has gotten into the end zone once.

"They are pressuring good, and I think along with that they are disguising well and holding things until the very last second," coach Brad Childress said of the defense. "I know on [Greenway's touchdown] they did a great job of showing a Cover-2 look and kind of rolling out of it. I think it confused Pennington."

There was little doubt Jets cornerback Andre Dyson ended up plenty confused when he went to tackle Peterson on the rookie running back's first carry of the game in the second quarter. Peterson, who rushed for only 33 yards on 11 carries in his debut a week ago against the Rams, eclipsed that total on his first carry against the Jets.

Taking a handoff from Jackson on a first-down play at the Vikings 23, Peterson cut right and executed a spin move that left Dyson grabbing for air. Peterson then turned the corner and went 43 yards to the Jets 34. Peterson completed the drive by scoring on a 3-yard run behind left guard Steve Hutchinson, and the Vikings led 21-6.

"I definitely felt more explosive [than the first game], more relaxed," said Peterson, who rushed for a game-high 70 yards on eight carries. "Just picking up the speed of the game and really adjusting to it."

The production by the defense early in the game played havoc with Childress' desired quarterback rotation. Childress wanted to get a good look at Jackson and Brooks Bollinger with the top offense. That didn't happen. The Vikings led 14-3 after the opening quarter but had the ball for only 58 seconds.

The plan to play Jackson for only one quarter was aborted, but he still only got in for two series and was 2-for-4 for 12 yards. Bollinger, who has received far fewer reps with the first team in training camp yet according to Childress is competing for the starting job, played the last two series of the half. He also was 2-for-4 for 27 yards and was sacked once, losing a fumble that led to a Jets touchdown and cut the Vikings' lead to 21-13.

Jackson admitted he tried to politic for another series but that didn't happen. "It's tough" to play so little, Jackson said, "but it's part of the game. We just wanted to be ready when our time came, and our defense did a good job getting turnovers. That's how it goes sometimes."

Asked if he thought of keeping Jackson in the game longer, Childress said: "I just thought since our ones were going to start and play the first half, you've got to see Brooks with some of those good players to really make a true evaluation at times."

With several members of the first-team offense and defense in for the opening two quarters, the Vikings also got an idea of some things that need to be cleaned up. Childress said the top special teams units did a better job on coverage but admitted the defense needs to do a better job of open-field tackling. The Vikings also took eight penalties, two more than the Jets, including an offensive pass interference mistakenly called on Sidney Rice (it should have been Troy Williamson) that put the Vikings in third-and-long.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com