This is great! A re-enactment of the final play of the Vikings game against the 49ers when Brett Favre hits Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone to pull out a victory with twelve seconds on the clock. Found at YouTube from MrNFL.
Brett Favre’s Game Winning TD Pass to Greg Lewis – Vikings vs. 49ers
Brett Favre game winning TD pass to Greg Lewis with 12 seconds left. Favre drove the Vikings down the field 80 yards with no time outs for the win: Minnesota Vikings 27, San Francisco 49ers 24. Found at YouTube from BSONFL.
400 Yards For Adrian Peterson?
The offensive line has excelled since Anthony Herrera was inserted into the starting lineup. Tarvaris Jackson is maturing, realizing that he needs to study more. It’s showing. And then there’s the rookie phenom of the decade, Adrian Peterson.
Peterson has amazed us since the first game of the season, long before our offensive line pulled it together and became an machine. So with the line opening up gaping holes, the receivers opening things up with their downfield blocking, and the credible threat of a passing game, could Adrian Peterson run for 400 yards in a game, as I suggested last week?
I really don’t see why not, especially today. While the 49ers are not the least effective team against the rush, they rank 27th in the NFL against the rush. They are giving up 124 yards a game to running backs not named Adrian Peterson. And there’s the rub.
Such gawdy numbers are not all that implausible when you consider that the guy had 361 all-purpose yards against the Chargers. All Peterson needs to do is rip of three or four long runs–a feat for which he’s entirely capable–and he’s easily within striking distance of four hundred.
The Vikings need to account for 49ers cornerback Nate Clements and their outstanding rookie linebacker, Patrick Willis. Willis has 128 tackles and the season ain’t over yet. He’s supposed to be a sideline-to-sideline terror so watch for the Vikings to run between the tackles today, right at him and bet that our offensive line and Adrian Peterson can overpower him.
I absolutely believe Peterson can run for 400 yards in one game. The greatest limitation to that accomplishment may very well be Brad Childress himself by pulling Peterson before he’s through.
1987 Vikings Upset 49ers In Playoffs
Today, Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman called the 1987 Minnesota Vikings victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs, the Vikes greatest upset. He’s right. The Vikings absolutely blew away the 49ers. Watch some of the highlights:
The Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship game and came within a fourth and four play and overtime with momentum on their side to advancing to the Super Bowl that year:
2007 Minnesota Vikings Season Preview
The thing about this season is that the Minnesota Vikings just have to get a little better than last year to win a lot more games. Consider the games the Vikings lost last year:
- In September, the Vikings lost to the Bears, 16-19
- In October, the Vikings lost to the Bills, 17-12
- and to the Patriots, 7-31
- In November, the Vikings lost to the 49ers, 9-3
- to the Packers, 17-23
- and to the Dolphins, 24-20
- In December, the Vikings lost to the Bears again, 23-13
- to the Jets, 13-26
- again to the Packers, 9-7
- and to the Rams, 21-41
The two games against the Packers and Bears each were winnable. The margins of victory for each of those four games were 3 points, 6 points, 10 points, and 2 points. The Vikings lost to the Bills by 5 points; to the 49ers by 6 points; and to the Dolphins by four point.
Instead of 6 and 10, they could have easily been 10 and 6 and division winners.
With the addition of Marcus McCauley, Chad Greenway, Ray Edwards and Brian Robison, I think the defense has gotten much stronger and much harder to pass against than last season.
But the defense, of course, wasn’t the problem last year. The offense was.
We improved on offense significantly with the addition of Adrian Peterson. I am officially a converted fan of Bobby Wade, who has proven very adept at making yards after the catch. Robert Ferguson is a great addition if he can stay healthy. Sidney Rice is a nice big target who has shown he’s got good hands, is not afraid to catch the ball in a crowd, is very athletic and has excellent body control. And if we can get Troy Williamson to catch a few long bombs, we’ll at least have the semblance of a deep threat.
The offensive line returns with one year together playing the zone blocking scheme, so they’ve got to improve simply because they are more familiar with one another and with zone blocking.
The big question is Tarvaris Jackson. He looks very poised and by all accounts is a smart kid, a quick study, and a quick decision maker. The main thing for Jackson is to avoid mistakes, which is to say turnovers, while he learns the ropes.
The most glaring weakness of this team is the coverage units, which are absolutely horrible. I’m not too confident that they’ll improve that much.
Looking at the schedule, I think it’s reasonable to think that the Vikings could go 9-7 or even 10-6 this year. I’m giving the Vikings both games against the Detroit Lions, even with Calvin Johnson. That team has to prove to me they can win, cause they’ve never done it before. I’d split the Chicago Bears series as I would the Green Bay Packers series, though I think the Vikings could sweep them as well.
We should beat the Vickless Falcons to open the season. We play the Oakland Raiders, the Washington Redskins, and the New York Giants, all of which should be wins.
So that’s eight wins.
The Kansas City Chiefs are beatable with Damon Huard at QB. The Dallas Cowboys are beatable. They’ve got a rookie coach and we don’t yet know whether Tony Romo is the real thing. The San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos look as if they will be good, but they’re sorta at that stage where it’s too early to tell. Even the Eagles could be beatable because you never know if Donovan McNabb will be healthy.
Thee only guaranteed loss is to the San Diego Chargers.