The Vikings just kept one step ahead of the Texans in the game last Sunday.  They did it by running the ball very effectively with Adrian Peterson rushing for 139 yards on 25 carries (5.6 ypc).  The Vikings finished up with 177 yards rushing on 35 carries (5.1 ypc) and that was a huge reason for this victory.  Gus Frerotte completed 11 of 18 passes for 182 yards with 3 TD passes and 1 interception.  The interception was returned for a TD by CB Jacques Reeves (44 yards) of the Texans.  Bernard Berrian only caught 2 passes in this game but they went for 104 yards with a TD (49-yarder).  The Vikings’ defense was again had issues with stopping the passing game as the Texans rolled up 327 yards passing.  In the end though this was a nice win for the Vikings that improved them to 4-4 on the season just one game behind the Bears for the lead in the NFC North.

Ryan Longwell kicked the game winning 30-yard field goal with only 13 seconds left on the clock but the hero of this game for the Vikings was CB Antoine Winfield.  The pint sized corner had 8 tackles and a sack of Drew Brees that caused a fumble that he recovered.  Winfield also blocked a Martin Gramatica field goal and returned it 59 yards for a TD!  Still, the overall defense did not play that well in this game for the Vikings as the Saints rolled up 375 total yards of offense.  The Saints also scored on 71 and 64 yard punt returns by Reggie Bush for TDs in the second half of the game. 

The offense was just good enough for the Vikings to hold on and win this game.  Gus Frerotte was efficient in this game completing 19 of 36 passes for 222 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  RB Chester Taylor completed his only pass attempt on a trick play that resulted in a 4-yard TD to TE Visanthe Shiancoe.  Adrian Peterson had one of the worst games of his career last Monday Night rushing for only 32 yards on 21 carries (1.5 ypc).  WRs Bernard Berrian (6 rec, 110 yards, TD) and Bobby Wade (8 rec, 64 yards) each had solid games for the Vikings.  The Vikings finished up with only 44 yards rushing on 26 carries (1.7 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 37 passes for 226 yards.  The Vikings improved to 2-3 on the season with this win.

The Vikings didn’t look good at all last Sunday against the Titans in Tennessee.  Gus Frerotte did not have a good game despite completing 25 of 43 passes for 266 yards with a interception.  Tarvaris Jackson came in for a dinged up Frerotte at the end of the game and he completed his only pass attempt for 8 yards.  Adrian Peterson was solid as usual as he carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards with 2 TD rushing (28, 3 yards).  Peterson also caught 4 passes for 21 yards (5.3 avg) last Sunday.  WRs Bernard Berrian (5 rec, 78 yards) and Bobby Wade (7 rec, 75 yards) got themselves out of mothballs to each have solid games.  The Vikings finished up with 80 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 44 passes for 253 yards.

Linebacker Chad Greenway led the way for the Vikings’ defense in this game with 11 tackles.  The Titans finished up with 76 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.2 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 35 passes for 199 yards.  The Vikings are now a very disappointing 1-3 on the season.

The switch to Gus Frerotte at QB worked out well last Sunday.  He completed 16 of 28 passes for 204 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Adrian Peterson carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards (4.5 ypc) against the Panthers as the Vikings tried to watch his workload due to injury.  Chester Taylor pitched in with 11 carries for 44 yards (4.0 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg).  Bernard Berrian finally has a QB that can get him the football as he caught 3 passes for 79 yards (26.3 avg).  The Vikings finished up with 119 yards on 32 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 28 passes for 186 yards.

The defense was outstanding for the Vikings last Sunday.  Linebacker E.J. Henderson led the way for the Vikings with 12 tackles.  Fellow linebacker Chad Greenway also had a solid game finishing with 9 tackles and a sack.  CB Antoine Winfield had 2 tackles and a sack that caused a fumble that he returned 19 yards for a TD.  The Panthers finished up with only 47 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 29 passes for 157 yards.  The Vikings improved to 1-2 on the season with this win.

Hopefully the Vikings learned a tough lesson yesterday…….that you can’t sit on a lead in the NFL, especially when you’re playing against a Hall of Fame QB.  The Vikings were leading this game 15-0 in the third quarter as they kept trying to run the clock out instead of trying to score more points and that strategy was fatal in the end.  Tarvaris Jackson had another bad game completing 14 of 24 passes for 130 yards and he lost a fumble.  Adrian Peterson was awesome as usual as he rushed for 160 yards on 29 carries (5.5 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 20 yards (5.0 avg).  Chester Taylor pitched in with 4 carries for 18 yards (4.5 ypc) yesterday.  The Vikings finished up with 180 yards rushing on 35 carries (5.1 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 24 passes for 119 yards.

The Vikings’ Defense was awesome against the run yesterday and they were good against the pass until the 4th quarter and it helped cost them this game.  Linebackers Chad Greenway (6 tackles) and E.J. Henderson (6 tackles, sack) led the way for the Vikings’ D yesterday.  CB Cedric Griffin also pitched in with 6 tackles against the Colts.  The Colts finished up with only 25 yards rushing on 19 carries (1.3 ypc) but they completed 26 of 42 passes for 296 yards.  The Vikings are now 0-2 despite the fact that they probably have played well enough to be 2-0.