vikings/nfl
Dan Wiederer began covering the Vikings in 2011, enthusiastically delivering insight on the team across the Star Tribune's print and digital products. Prior to joining the Access Vikings team, he spent seven seasons covering ACC basketball at The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer. He also covered the Chicago Bears in 2003 and 2004. Follow him on Twitter @StribDW.
Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL the past 20 years, including the Browns from 1991-95 and the Vikings and the NFL since 2003. Since 2008, Craig has served as one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. He can be followed on Twitter at @markcraignfl.
Final gun report: Vikings 23, Texans 6
Posted by: Dan Wiederer under Vikings, AFC, Packers, Adrian Peterson Updated: December 23, 2012 - 2:53 PM
Postgame snapshot from Reliant Stadium, where the Vikings beat the Texans 23-6.
Good news: The Vikings delivered a complete game, playing well in all three phases. They scored on their opening possession with newly married quarterback Christian Ponder going 3-for-3 for 62 yards on the drive and capping things with a 3-yard touchdown toss to Kyle Rudolph. That put the Vikings ahead to stay with less than 9 minutes gone by. And a sturdy effort from the defense carried the day. The Vikings bottled up Arian Foster, the AFC’s leading rusher, to 15 yards on 10 carries before Foster left the game for good with an illness in the second half. Jasper Brinkley forced a first half fumble that A.J. Jefferson recovered. And the defense had two key stops in the third quarter, none more important than holding Houston to a field goal after the Texans had first-and-goal at the 1. The biggest play in that sequence was a Fred Evans sack. And now, at 9-6, the Vikings head to the final week of the season eyeing a wild card berth.
Bad news: Adrian Peterson came back down to earth – by his standards anyway. Peterson was corralled in the backfield throughout the day, stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage on many of his runs. He still managed to pile up 86 yards on 25 rushes. He is now 102 yards shy of 2,000 and 207 yards short of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
Extra point: Rookie kicker Blair Walsh continued his assault on the record books Sunday. Walsh made three field goals, including a career long of 56 yards in the second quarter. That boot matched Paul Edinger’s team record for longest made field goal. It also gave Walsh his ninth made kick from 50 yards or beyond, a new single-season NFL record. Walsh’s 32 field goals for the season currently rank as the third most in team history. Gary Anderson made 35 field goals in 1998. Fuad Reveiz made 34 in 1994
Next up: The Vikings will wrap up the regular season next weekend with a home game against Green Bay. The Packers are dominating Tennessee in their home finale at Lambeau Field, up 48-0 and rolling to a blowout victory that will give them an 11-4 record.
explore the Vikings/NFL
ADVERTISEMENT
| NY Mets - LP: J. Hefner | 2 | FINAL |
| Chicago Cubs - WP: S. Feldman | 8 |
| Seattle - LP: O. Perez | 4 | FINAL |
| Cleveland - WP: C. Perez | 5 |
| Toronto - LP: B. Morrow | 2 | FINAL |
| NY Yankees - WP: D. Phelps | 7 |
| Cincinnati - WP: B. Arroyo | 10 | FINAL |
| Philadelphia - LP: K. Kendrick | 0 |
| Chicago WSox - LP: N. Jones | 9 | FINAL |
| LA Angels - WP: R. Coello | 12 |
| Tampa Bay - WP: A. Torres | 10 | FINAL |
| Baltimore - LP: J. Johnson | 6 |
| Houston - WP: J. Cisnero | 4 | FINAL |
| Pittsburgh - LP: B. Morris | 2 |
| Los Angeles - LP: K. Jansen | 1 | FINAL |
| Atlanta - WP: C. Gearrin | 3 |
| Boston - WP: C. Breslow | 12 | FINAL |
| Minnesota - LP: S. Diamond | 5 |
| Arizona - WP: B. McCarthy | 1 | FINAL |
| Miami - LP: T. Koehler | 0 |
| Milwaukee - WP: J. Axford | 6 | FINAL |
| St. Louis - LP: J. Kelly | 4 |
| Detroit - LP: A. Sanchez | 2 | FINAL |
| Texas - WP: J. Grimm | 7 |
| San Francisco - LP: T. Lincecum | 2 | FINAL |
| Colorado - WP: T. Chatwood | 10 |
| Washington - LP: J. Zimmermann | 1 | FINAL |
| San Diego - WP: E. Stults | 2 |
| Kansas City | 1 | Bottom 8th Inning |
| Oakland | 2 |
| New York | 99 | FINAL |
| Indiana | 106 |
| Columbus | 1 | FINAL |
| Toronto FC | 0 |
| Portland | 2 | FINAL |
| Vancouver FC | 2 |
| Chicago | 0 | FINAL |
| Philadelphia | 1 |
| New England | 2 | FINAL |
| Houston | 0 |
| FC Dallas | 0 | 2nd Half |
| Seattle | 2 |
| Colorado | 1 | 2nd Half |
| San Jose | 0 |
- Hartman: Vikings defensive line can walk after season
- Hartman: Webb shifts from QB to full-time receiver for Vikings
- Hold off on buying that Urlacher jersey ...
- Chargers, Freeney agree to deal
- Scoggins: Turns out, $1 billion will buy quite a bit
- New Vikings stadium unveiled
- Vikings sign three more draft choices; only first-rounders left
- Vikings' Chris Kluwe to sign with Oakland Raiders
| Date/Opponent | Time | W | L | Score |
| 2013 preseason | ||||
| Aug 9 - vs. Houston | 7 pm | |||
| Aug 16 - at Buffalo | 6 pm | |||
| Aug 25 - at San Francisco | 7 pm | |||
| Aug 29 - vs. Tennessee | 7 pm | |||
| 2013 regular season | ||||
| Sep 8 - at Detroit | Noon | |||
| Sep 15 - at Chicago | Noon | |||
| Sep 22 - vs. Cleveland | Noon | |||
| Sep 29 - vs. Pittsburgh (in London) | Noon | |||
| Oct 6 - Bye | ||||
| Oct 13 - vs. Carolina | Noon | |||
| Oct 21 - at. NY Giants | 7:40 pm | |||
| Oct 27 - vs. Green Bay | 7:30 pm | |||
| Nov 3 - at Dallas | Noon | |||
| Nov 7 - vs. Washington | 7:25 pm | |||
| Nov 17 - at Seattle | 3:25 pm | |||
| Nov. 24 - at Green Bay | Noon | |||
| Dec 1 - vs. Chicago | Noon | |||
| Dec 8 - at Baltimore | Noon | |||
| Dec 15 - vs. Philadelphia | Noon | |||
| Dec 22 - at Cincinnati | Noon | |||
| Dec 29 - vs. Detroit | Noon |
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
inside the StarTribune
-
425 Portland Av. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55488
(612) 673-4000
- Company
- Subscriber Services
- Website
- Buy Ads
- Store
- Connect with Us
© 2013 StarTribune. All rights reserved.
StarTribune.com is powered by Limelight Networks
Newspaper Subscriptions
eEdition
RSS
Newsletters