On the NFL: Harrington sinks to another low in return to Metrodome

The former Lions quarterback has never played well in Minneapolis, and he found the same issues Sunday when starting for the Falcons.

By Mark Craig, Star Tribune

Last update: September 10, 2007 - 10:43 AM

The exchange between Falcons quarterback Joey Harrington and a reporter following the Vikings' 24-3 victory was a classic snippet that perfectly sums up Harrington's 0-5 career mark at the Metrodome.

Reporter: "Talk about your interception."

Harrington: "Which one?"

Reporter: "The one that was returned for a touchdown."

Harrington: "Which one?"

Ouch.

Just when it seemed impossible that Harrington could sink any lower than his four previous losses as a member of the woeful Detroit Lions, he kicked off the Falcons' post-Michael Vick era on Sunday with some vintage Joey: six sacks, a 61.8 passer rating and, yes, TWO interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. For those keeping track at home, Harrington has 10 interceptions, 14 sacks, five touchdown passes and now a career-worst 21-point loss at the Metrodome. He's 1-7 overall against the Vikings, the only win coming last year with the Dolphins.

"It's like they say," Harrington said. "'If we didn't have bad luck, we'd have no luck at all.' Sometimes, the ball just bounces their way."

True. And then there are times when the ball is thrown right to them, which is what Harrington did on the play that defined his afternoon. With 7 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first quarter, Harrington, under pressure up the middle from a blitzing E.J. Henderson, got a little jumpy and fired the ball right into defensive tackle Kevin Williams' raised arms. Williams returned it 54 yards for a touchdown. And that pretty much put the game out of reach for the Falcons' Harrington-led offense.

Harrington called Williams' return a "bad-luck play." He blamed it on a quick snap that caught the Vikings so off guard that Williams didn't have time to rush and, therefore, "was so far off the line that he ended up just standing where I threw the ball."

That's Joey. As an NFL starter, he's 23-44 ... with 44 excuses.

The truth is there were two quarterbacks on the field, and if you didn't follow the NFL, you would have had no idea which one was the former Division I-AA kid making his third NFL start (Tarvaris Jackson) and which one was the former third overall draft pick now in his sixth season.

By unofficial count, each quarterback faced 13 blitzes. The Vikings blitzed on the first play of the game, three of the first six plays and on five of the first 11. The results on four of the plays were a roughing-the-passer penalty, the Williams touchdown, a sack and a tackle for loss.

"We looked at the film, and they hadn't shown quite as much blitzing," rookie left guard Justin Blaylock said. "We were surprised to see the frequency with which they blitzed."

Harrington said he wasn't surprised. Then again, he's been running for his life in this building since 2002.

Jackson certainly wasn't perfect against the blitz. However, the defining play of his afternoon came when he calmly lofted the ball to running back Adrian Peterson with Atlanta safety Lawyer Milloy right in his face. Peterson took it 60 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-3 with 7:19 left.

"That was a great play for us, but it easily could have been a very, very bad play that went the other way and tied the game," Vikings fullback Tony Richardson said. "Fortunately for us, Tarvaris showed a lot of composure in a tough spot."

On this day, Jackson was better than Harrington. Then again, when it's the Metrodome, who isn't?

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com