The Minnesota Vikings defense disappeared several years ago. They have been searching for it ever since. It magically re-appeared in Green Bay on Sunday and intercepted Brett Favre 4 times!
The Vikings came out with a huge play on their opening drive and quickly ran out to a 14-0 lead. Favre got them back to 17-10, and later to 24-17, but the Vikings were able to keep scoring when they really needed it. And the defense kept coming up with the big play; interceptions, run-stops, and a huge sack late in the game.
Daunte Culpepper played a great game and threw 4 TD passes and no interceptions. He also made a couple of timely runs and used his legs to buy some time for his receivers. He kept the Packers defense off-balance.
Mike Tice also appears to have learned a few lessons from the late-season collapse that had many, including me, calling for his firing. His late-game coaching was terrible in the last two months. But on Sunday the Vikings came out with an excellent game plan. Early in the 4th quarter, with a 2 TD lead, Tice kept wanting to throw and produced two straight 3-and-outs. But in the last 8 minutes, Tice finally figured it out and began using his running game to burn the clock.
The Packers did not play well and were hit with some key injuries. The biggest was to WR Javon Walker. Without Walker and Ferguson, Favre struggled and Green Bay suffered another big home loss.
The Vikings used the controversy with Moss and some other distractions to motivate themselves this week. Apparently Randy Moss thinks this is a good strategy, so he is looking for new ways to tick people off, create controversy, and motivate his team. After his 2nd TD catch of the day that put the Packers away, Moss feigned mooning the crowd and then made it worse with another tasteless gesture. It's time to stop trying to talk sense to Moss and just slap the snot out him! More on that later.
The Vikings showed how they ran out to 6-0 and 5-1 starts in the last 2 seasons. Now they have a rematch with Philly, and if they play like they did in Green Bay on Sunday, they have a real chance to beat the Eagles.
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