Ponder looked like a pro against the 49ers.

The expectation of nearly everyone prior to the game today was that the Vikings would have no chance against the 49ers.

In the immortal words of Charlie Sheen… Duh… Winning!

There was tiger blood on the field today as the Vikings started with a very strong first drive. It looked like it might stall in the red zone after 2 consecutive incompletions by Ponder. However, the Vikings managed to get to the 2 yard line on a great catch by Rudolph… and then another stall as Musgrave called 3 running plays up the middle in a row. He’s awesome, isn’t he? Run isn’t working up the middle? Let’s try it again! In a move I did not see coming, the Vikings went for it on 4th and goal and a Ponder to Rudolph connection put 6 points on the board for the Vikings. Wow. I did not anticipate any of our coaching staff actually having the guts to make a bold move. Of course, when you’re playing the team that everyone is talking about (hint: that’s not the Vikings), you either go big or go home.

The first half was a strong showing by the Vikings; however, the defense got progressively worse as the game neared half-time. Poor coverage in the secondary (of course) but also minimal pressure on the quarterback. Allen missed a sack, Randy Moss was wide open – it really looked like the 49ers were going to march right down the field for a touchdown just before the half. Instead, the Vikings D finally held AND Letroy Guion blocked a field goal. I know what you’re thinking – but I’m not even kidding. And then, the Vikings get the ball back, march it downfield and Walsh stuffs a 52 yard field goal. First placekicker in the Vikings’ history to have 3 consecutive games with 50+ yard field goals. So – the Vikings went into the locker room at half-time with a 17-3 lead.

Starting the 2nd half, a Blair Walsh kick off, 9 yards deep in the end zone, resulted in the 49ers returning it 94 yards, nearly for a TD. The Vikings’ D held the Niners to 3, miraculously enough. Unfortunately, the Vikings went 3 and out for their 1st offensive series of the 2nd half. Later in the 3rd, Walsh had another deep kick off that the 49ers again returned, this time for 50 yards. Special teams for the Vikings are decidedly unspecial. Toby Gerhart tried hard to give the game back to the 49ers 3 different times, and the refs gave Harbaugh more challenges and time outs than were legal under game rules. But despite ALL of that, the Vikings managed the biggest upset of the weekend. Kinda makes me wish I had picked them to win, but let’s all be honest: no non-homer Vikings fan thought that they were going to win today, and yet, win they did.

Greenway produced big today!

The Good

Chad Greenway. 8 tackles in the first half alone. He was all over the field. He ended the day with 10 solo tackles, 3 assists and 2 sacks. For those who’ve been saying he needs to earn his contract, I assume he salutes you.

Christian Ponder. He made a lot of good decisions today, not the least of which was his 23 yard run for a TD. He came out strong and stayed focused the entire game. He said during the post game presser that he had prepared differently for this game – as had the whole team. Well, whatever they did, it should be the weekly standard. He ended the day 21/35 for 198 yards and 2 TDs, no interceptions (although one could argue he should have had at least 1).

Adrian Peterson’s productivity may be down, but he’s testing his leg and not getting hurt as he gets back into a rhythm. On the post-game Fan Line show on KFAN, they pointed out that he wasn’t making good decisions about which way to run. I agree with that to an extent, but I think it’s partly still being afraid to really let loose on his leg. I think he needs a little time and he’ll be back.

Antoine Winfield. Not only is he a tremendous player for the Vikings but he also addressed the team this week and I credit him with their new-found sense of purpose.

Kyle Rudolph. That guy can catch anything apparently. 2 TDs on the day.

Toby and AD need to have a heart to heart about how to hang onto the ball.

The Bad

Charlie Johnson. What is that guy still doing on the roster? Watching him play, it’s beginning to make sense that Peyton Manning has a neck issue.

Toby Gerhart making Adrian Peterson look like he really knew how to hang onto the ball in 2009. Frazier and Musgrave made a HUGE error in continuing to give him carries when the on-going fumbles (and the horrid officiating) could have still impacted the game. The coaching staff needs to be willing to bench primary players when their focus isn’t there.

The Ugly

Chris Cook. He’s crappy both on and off the field. He needs to be benched – or, better yet, cut like I wanted him to be last year.

Special teams coverage on kick offs. What a bunch of inept buffoons! 94 yard return, 50 yard return. For Odin’s sake – put Audie Cole in there or someone equally as solid if these starters can’t stop a damn return on balls 9 yards deep in the end zone.

Half-time adjustments. The coaching staff decided to go ahead and demotivate the team back to their usual 50% level of effort entering into the 3rd quarter. Luckily, the team remembered the inspiration provided by Antoine Winfield earlier this week and re-engaged for the win. It’s worth noting that Frazier said in his post-game presser that the coaching staff didn’t prep enough for the Colts and they decided to really focus in on this game. Guess what, Les… you should be doing that EVERY week. You should have been doing it since the day Chilly was shown the door! Frazier, Musgrave and Williams – what we need is for them to be fired and for the little old lady from Poltergeist to come to Winter Park to say “This house is clean.”

I saved most of my ire this week for the replacement officials. I haven’t said much about them to date because I think they are trying very hard in a difficult situation; HOWEVER – to not be able to count the number of time outs a team has. To give a head coach 2 challenges to which he is NOT entitled is unforgivable. Even fans at home have that basic level of ability. Those officials could have really impacted this game and so now, after that kind of absolute ineptitude, I will now officially say: NFL, you need to settle with the real officials. Real officials, you need to get reasonable with your demands and find a way to get back onto the field. Enough is enough.

Skol Vikings Nation!

You may recall that I was feeling hopeful after pre-season game 2 but terrified after pre-season game 3. During Sunday’s Vikings game, we saw both of the teams we saw during pre-season. The first half was full of the lacklustre play we saw 2 weeks ago and then, during the 2nd half, the Vikings improved (dare we say that they actually made half-time adjustments?) right up until Cook got burned (not for the first time) on a deep ball from Gabbert to Shorts for the go-ahead TD in the last minutes of the game. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The star of the first half, unfortunately, was Chris Kluwe. It’s never a good thing when your punter is making an appearance on the field series after series. It’s a good thing we have a solid punter with as much time as he was spending on the field. Missing this week was his Gangnam Style Celebration. Bring it back, Chris!

Let’s look at some of the stats that concern me. Third down efficiency in this game for the Vikings: 20%. That’s totally unacceptable. You’re not going to win too many games if you can’t convert 3rd downs. Worse, the Jaguars converted 50% of their 4th downs. It’s critical to stop teams when they go for it on 4th down – you cannot let teams convert 50% of their attempts and win a lot of games. The Vikings offense and defense need to clean these stats up. Another concerning stat: Time of Possession. The Jags had the ball 10 minutes and 44 seconds longer than the Vikings. To put that in perspective: the Vikings had possession of the ball for 10:44 during the entire 1st half! That’s ridiculous, but it’s directly related to the team’s inability to convert 3rd downs to prolong drives.

Adrian Peterson’s Return: Triumphant!

The Great

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the impressive return of Adrian Peterson. He said he would play in the first game of the season, and play he did. It was no token start. He rushed for 84 yards and scored both of the touchdowns the Vikings put on the board during the game. As icing on the cake, All-Day is now the all-time rushing leader in the history of the Vikings. With his first TD of the day, Peterson broke Robert Smith’s record. AD now holds both the all-time rushing and all-time rushing TD records for the Vikings. Without a doubt, he will go down as one of the best running backs in the history of the NFL. I didn’t agree with Frazier’s decision to start Peterson initially, and I still have angst about it during what will, undoubtably, not be even a play-off bound season; however, for Adrian’s confidence and for the good of the team, it’s a good thing. Not to be all Martha Stewart about it.

The Good

Chad Greenway celebrates breaking up a pass in the 4th quarter.

Percy Harvin. Percy was 7th in the league last year in receptions. Still, he wasn’t happy with the way Musgrave was using him in the offense (and neither was I, as you might remember). Percy made his point in the off-season and Musgrave relented – so we saw Percy in the slot, down the sideline, lined up as a tailback and returning kick offs on Sunday. As I tweeted yesterday: Percy Harvin is the answer to our woes. Keep him on the field and target him often. Chad Greenway had some significant tackles during the game. In many cases it felt like he was our last line of defense after the front 4 failed to stop the run. He had 9 solo tackles and 4 assists on the day. One has to wonder if having Audie Cole on the 53 man roster is a little extra motivation for Greenway to hop in front of passes like he did in Sunday’s game. We hadn’t seen that from him since the 2009 season.

In other “good news”, we have a tremendous new place kicker, without whom we’d be at the bottom of the NFC North (with the Packers!). We also have a spectacular punter (both on and off the field, if I do say so myself). Blair Walsh may be the leading scorer on the team if we keep getting field goals instead of touch downs. Hopefully next week we can celebrate a passing touchdown (not that I begrudge Adrian his 2 rushing TDs).

The Bad

Rotating Jared Allen in and out of the defensive front 4. Stop it, Williams! Jared doesn’t like it (per a post-game interview) and neither do we. Jared is fired up to break the single season sack record he almost shattered last season. He needs to be on the field to do that. Leave him on the field, man! Letroy Guion and his slip-n-slide maneuver when Gabbert was already on the ground, costing the Vikings the sack and 15 yards. Totally idiotic.

Intensity. Urgency. The team lacked both of these early in the game. Ponder rightly took responsibility for this in his post game presser, at least as it pertains to the offense. He needs to be ready to go from the first play of the game.

The Ugly

The Vikings are the proud owners of the longest streak in the NFL (33 consecutive games) with an allowed sack. C’mon o-line! You guys need to step up and protect the QB! Charlie Johnson and our first round draft pick at left tackle better step up on the blind side and Phil Loadholt should put as much effort into being a superior right tackle as he did skipping down the sideline after Sunday’s win.

Coaching. You’ve heard me say it before and I’m going to say it again. The team rallied yesterday to win despite the coaching staff, starting with Frazier. Given their lack of intensity hitting the field during the home opener, the fact that Frazier cannot motivate this team continues to be apparent. It’s by luck and some OT-inspired passion that the Vikings came out with a win. We need a new head coach. If the team continues to find a way to win, Frazier’s tenure will be artificially buoyed. For those of us lucky enough to be around when Bud Grant was the head coach, we know that Bud Grant would never have tolerated the weak offensive display of the 1st half. The Wilfs should be looking around for Frazier’s eventual replacement.

Based on Sunday’s performance, how are you feeling about next week’s game?