Turnovers and one very costly penalty cost the Minnesota Vikings the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints yesterday.  Brett Favre had the biggest turnover, which basically cost the Vikings the game.  With under a minute to go and just outside field goal range, Favre rolled to his right and committed one of the biggest sins a quarterback can do:  throwing across his body to the opposite side of the field.  The throw floated in the air too long and the Saints’ Tracy Porter easily picked it off to send the game into overtime.  Favre wasn’t the only one to blame down the stretch, as the Vikings had a penalty for too many men in the huddle and it pushed them out of field goal range right before Favre’s costly interception.  The Vikings played very sloppy football and did not take care of the ball.  They had 6 fumbles as a team, losing three of them, and Favre threw two interceptions.  Favre finished with 310 yards, 1 touchdown,  and 2 interceptions on 28/46 passes for a QB rating of 70.0.  Although Favre was not sacked, he was pressured all game and the Saints roughed him up with 6 hard QB hits.  Adrian Peterson had a big game, but he too struggled to hold on to the ball with 2 fumbles.  None were lost though and AP finished with 122 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries.  The Vikings’ offense racked up a ton of yards (475 yards) but they lost the turnover battle 5-1, which cost them the game.

The Vikings defense held the Saints explosive offense to only 257 yards, but all of the turnovers gave the Saints offense some great opportunities.  Also, the Vikings defense could not stop the Saints in the red zone, as they went 3-3 in red zone situations.  Drew Brees was held to 197 yards, but he had 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions on 17/31 passes for a QB rating of 106.5.  The Vikings defense actually played pretty solid, and if it weren’t for all of the Vikings’ turnovers they probably would have won pretty easily.  The Vikings still should have won this game, despite all of the turnovers.  When you have that many turnovers though, things are bound to eventually go the other team’s way.  The Vikings should be disappointed they missed out on a trip to the Super Bowl, but they should be proud of a very strong 2009 season.  Now the big question:  Will Brett Favre finally retire?

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings proved they are one of the top teams in the NFC with the beat down they gave to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Round over the weekend.  Favre looked like vintage Favre, dodging pass rushers and firing bullets down field for touchdowns.  He and Sidney Rice have found some great chemistry together and they hooked up for some huge plays against the Cowboys.  Favre had 4 touchdown passes, and 3 of them went to Rice.  Favre went 15/24 for 234 yards, while Rice caught 6 balls for 141 yards.  Adrian Peterson worked hard for 63 yards on 26 carries, helping the Vikings control the clock.  The Vikings offense is clicking at a great time.

The defense was perhaps even more responsible for the win than the offense.  They were all over Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who was leading one of the hottest teams in the NFL with a lot of confidence.  Well, Jared Allen (1 sack, FF) and the Vikings defense harassed Romo all game, sacking him 6 times.  Ray Edwards had 3 of those sacks, which tied a Vikings record.  The Vikings defense forced 3 turnovers, with 2 fumbles and 1 interception.  They also kept a Cowboys running game that rushed for 198 yards a week earlier, to 92 yards.  This was a great all-around effort by the Vikings and its looking like they have a great shot at the Super Bowl.

The Vikings absolutely dominated the Giants yesterday.  Brett Favre was on fire completing 25 of 31 passes for 316 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Tarvaris Jackson finished up the game by completing 4 of 6 passes for 42 yards.  The Vikings got Adrian Peterson in and out of this game as he carried the ball 9 times for 54 yards (6.0 ypc) with a TD run.  Albert Young pitched in with 40 yards rushing on 10 carries (4.0 ypc).  Sidney Rice led the way in the passing game for the Vikings yesterday with 112 yards receiving on 6 grabs (18.7 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  TE Visanthe Shiancoe was also great yesterday with 7 grabs for 94 yards (13.4 avg) with a TD grab.  Rookie WR Percy Harvin finished the season strong with 7 grabs for 59 yards (8.4 avg) and he also carried the ball 1 time for 22 yards.  The Vikings finished up with 487 total yards in this game (129 rushing, 358 passing) as they hogged the ball for 36:52.

LBs Ben Leber (5 tackles, fumble recovery) and Chad Greenway (4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and a INT) led the way for the Vikings yesterday.  DE Jared Allen pitched in with 2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and a sack yesterday.  The Giants finished up with a paltry 181 total yards on offense (35 rushing, 146 passing) in this game.  The Vikings finished the season with a 12-4 record earning a first round bye in the playoffs.

The Vikings slept walked through the first half as they were down 16-0 before waking up in the third quarter.  The Vikings outscored the Bears 30-14 in the second half to get to O.T. where they lost.  Brett Favre was outstanding in this game completing 26 of 40 passes for 321 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Adrian Peterson led the way on the ground with 94 yards on 24 carries (3.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 3 passes for 43 yards (14.3 avg).  But, A.P. also lost a fumble in O.T. that set up the Bears for the game winning TD pass.  Chester Taylor pitched in with 29 yards rushing on 8 carries (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 26 yards (13.0 avg).  Bernard Berrian (3 rec, 58 yards), Sidney Rice (6 rec, 56 yards, TD) and Visanthe Shiancoe (4 rec, 40 yards, TD) all had decent games for the Vikings in the passing game last night.  The Vikings finished up with 423 total yards on offense (123 rushing, 300 passing) in this game.

The defense was awful last night for the Vikings.  Safety Madieu Williams (9 tackles) and LB Chad Greenway (9 tackles) were the busiest players on D for the Vikes last night.  CB Cedric Griffin also made some plays with 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT.  The Bears finished up with 363 total yards on offense (105 rushing, 258 passing) in this game.  The Vikings are now 11-4 on the season as this was a game they could not afford to lose.

The Minnesota Vikings (11-3) had their worst game of the season by far, losing to the Carolina Panthers (6-8) by 19 points.  Brett Favre played terrible, but he got very little protection from his offensive line.  Favre and head coach Brad Childress got into a “heated discussion” in the third quarter, as Childress wanted to bench Favre and protect him from all the hits he was taking.  Being the fierce competitor he is, Favre was having none of that and kept himself in the game.  It wasn’t much help though and Favre finished with 224 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception on 17/27 passes.  Panthers DE Julius Peppers was getting to Favre all night and helped the Panthers sack him four times.  Adrian Peterson didn’t give Favre much help running the ball either, rushing for only 35 yards on 12 carries.  He did have a touchdown along with 3 catches for 73 yards, but the Vikings needed Peterson to have a big running day with the passing game struggling so much.

The Vikings’ defense played very solid for three quarters, but they collapsed in the fourth quarter and gave up three touchdowns.  They let Panthers’ quarterback Matt Moore throw for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21/33 passes.  They could not keep wide-receiver Steve Smith in check, with Smith having his best game of the season.  He caught 9 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown.  They also failed at stopping Panthers’ running back Jonathon Stewart, who rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.  This was an ugly one for the Vikings, but it didn’t matter too much as they had already clinched the NFC North before the game with the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Green Bay Packers earlier in the day.