Vikings Scoring Analysis (Week 16)

I hated everything about this game. First of all, I wasn't even excited for the game. If the Vikings won it wouldn't be noteworthy because it's against the terrible Bears. But I wasn't even expecting a Vikings win going into the game, so I was bitter from the start. After the Vikings' first offensive series (resulting in a grand total of 8 yards) I knew the Vikings weren't going to win. They just had no mojo. I was right, the Vikings did lose, but it didn't look how I expected it to.

That's the big problem with the game. I went in bitter and expecting a loss and the Vikings proved me right in the first half. So I wasn't even disappointed at that point, but then the Vikings still managed to play with my emotions. They sucked me back in just enough to make me think they were going to come back and win. I was getting excited and even forgot about how bad it is that the Vikings were in a close game with the Bears to begin with.

Then the Vikings blow it. They rip my heart out once again. I hate this game so much I don't even want to analyze the points, but I will.

Quarter 1
Bears 22 Yard Field Goal:
Vikings Offense (-1) - The offense starts off slow and fails to get a first down deep in Vikings territory. This set up the Bears at their 40.

Vikings Defense (-2) - The defense lets the Bears go all the way down to the 4 yard line for the field goal. Already it was shaping up to be a long night for Vikings fans.

Quarter 2
Bears 42 Yard Field Goal:
Vikings Offense (-1) - The offense was actually producing until the offensive line falls apart at the Chicago 33. Brett Favre's sacked and fumbles and the Bears recover it at their 40. This would be the first of many missed opportunities for the Vikings. Each opportunity could have meant a victory instead of a loss.

Vikings Defense (-2) - This time the defense only let the Bears down to the 24 yard line. But the end result is the same.

Bears 7 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Special Teams (-1) - A 15 yard punt when you have a chance to pin the Bears deep in their territory? Unacceptable..

Vikings Defense (-6) - Of course the defense could stop the Bears from going 66 yards for the touchdown, but they didn't. Bad defense and worse special teams will become the theme of this game.

Bears 41 Yard Field Goal:
Vikings Offense (-1) - The Vikings got the ball with 3:14 left in the half. If they could have got a first down or two than this field goal may never have happened.

Vikings Defense (-2) - Once again this season, the two minute defense is horrible. This time it's 59 yards in 1:48. This was the end to an awful first half. Oh, and not being able to prevent a field goal at the end of the half is missed opportunity two.

Quarter 3
Vikings 1 Yard Touchdown Run:
Vikings Offense (+7) - Finally, some signs of life from the offense. 80 yards in 5 plays (including one penalty). Perhaps Brett Favre was finally doing things his way?

Vikings Special Teams (-1) - Ahhhh...the blocked extra point. At the time I didn't think this would haunt the Vikings. I figured they were going to lose by at least seven. But this turned out to be missed opportunity three.

Bears 2 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Special Teams (-4) - Something positive for the Vikings is immediately followed by something negative. Get used to that. This time, after the touchdown, the Bears return the ensuing kickoff to the Minnesota 34 yard line.

Vikings Defense (-3) - Hold the Bears to just a field goal? Not on this night.

Vikings 6 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Offense (+7) - Dueling touchdowns. Where was this offense the first half? Shockingly, I blame Childress for the first half goose egg, but more on that later.

Quarter 4
Vikings 41 Yard Field Goal:
Vikings Defense (+1) - Finally, a big play by the defense. They intercept Jay Cutler. At this point, the Vikings started sucking me back in. Will I ever learn?

Vikings Offense (+1) - The Vikings offensive drive stalls at the 22. Still, that was good enough to get the Vikings within a touchdown.

Vikings Special Teams (+1) - Longwell makes the kick in some tough conditions.

Vikings 1 Yard Touchdown Run:
Vikings Offense (+7) - 79 yards to tie the game. Great job by the offense. At this point I was into it. I actually thought the Vikings were going to pull this off. That is, of course, until...

Bears 20 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Special Teams (-6) - Really? The Vikings rally back to tie the game and the special teams give up another big run? If this is your run of the mill kick off to the Bears 30 yard line I think the Vikings win this game. But that return gave the Bears life again. Missed opportunity four.

Vikings Defense (-1) - Who here thought the Vikings defense could hold Chicago to just a field goal? Just raise your hand....I'm not seeing any raised hands.

Vikings 6 Yard Touchdown Pass:
Vikings Offense (+7) - Vintage Brett Favre, 'nuff said. Even so, I still didn't have a good feeling. I figured the Bears would be in field goal range after the kickoff.

Overtime
Bears 39 Yard Touchdown:
Vikings Offense (-3) - The fumble...we all saw it.

Before this game a lot was made about Adrian Peterson's "fumble-itis." A lot of people said Adrian Peterson's fumbling would someday cost the Vikings a game. I didn't buy it. Not literally anyway.

I recognized that the fumbling was an issue. So I could see a bad fumble in the third quarter hurting the Vikings. Then the Vikings end up losing that game by four and you look back at the fumble and say it was a huge play that changed momentum. But in those games there are usually a bunch of plays after the fumble that the Vikings failed to make that also contributed to the loss.

To literally cost the Vikings the game Adrian Peterson would have to fumble in overtime deep in the opponent's territory. I mean, what are the odds of that happening?

The sad part is Adrian Peterson had been doing so well with not fumbling. Although his rushing yards took a hit. Coincidence? Who knows?

The offense was moving on this drive too. This is missed opportunity six. (Missed opportunity five was the Vikings first offensive possession in overtime when Favre seemingly got sacked 3 straight plays.)

Vikings Defense (-3) - The offense put the Bears darn close to field goal range, but the defense made sure there was no chance of another Robbie Gould missed field goal. Instead, they immediately give up the game winning touchdown pass. And just so it's as devastating to Vikings fans as possible, the pass was right over the head of the once reliable Antoine Winfield.

Inexcusable First Half

Brad Childress (-30) - I know I'm getting a bit wacky here, but Brad Childress has to take some heat for this loss, right? I didn't know how many points to deduct him, but then I thought about the ongoing theory that the first half was the offense playing the "Childress" way and, since that didn't work, Brett Favre took over in the second half and was able to score almost at will.

So, if the offense could score 30 in the second half, they could have scored 30 in the first half if Brad Childress hadn't shackled them. If that's not enough to convince you that Childress should be docked points, here are some other points.

First, Brad Childress didn't have the Vikings practice outdoors last week because he thinks that's overrated. Did the Vikings look like a team that was prepared for the conditions? (It also reminded me of this football special I watched involving Bill Belichick and his practices. At one point he said he was going to hose down the balls and the field because he that wherever they were heading to it was going to be rainy. So I'll trust Belichick over Childress and think that practicing in the conditions you're about to face is a good thing.)

Also, this is the third road game in a row that the Vikings started flat. Shouldn't the head coach take some responsibility for not pumping up his team and getting them ready to play?

Game Totals:
Offense: +23
Defense: -18
Special Teams: -11
Brad Childress: -30

Yeesh. I haven't seen the defense and special teams drag down a good offensive performance like this since the Tice era.

Season Totals:
Offense: +275
Defense: -140.5
Special Teams: -3.5
Brad Childress: -29
The Referees: -6
Mike McCarthy: +3
Donald Lee's Inability to Catch A Pass: +4
Brady Quinn's Greasy Hands: +0.5
Kyle Boller's Tendency To Panic: +2
Big Time Pressure On A Young Kicker: +3
Johnny Jolly's Short Temper: +2
Mason Crosby's Inaccurate Kicking Leg: +1
Rey Maualuga's Lack Of Discipline: +1
Shayne Graham Kick Out Of Bounds: +1

The biggest hit this week was to special teams and, of course, Brad Childress. I don't know, this team is collapsing. The only sliver of hope is that Brad Childress learned a lesson and that, with the stark difference between the first and second half, he will now be forced to let Brett Favre do his thing. We'll see, but he can be awfully stubborn. Maybe I should have given him a -60?