Vikings pull off yet another miraculous collapse

Clearly, the Detroit Lions had little to worry about as they trotted off the field at the half time down 20-0 against the Minnesota Vikings.

These Lions aren’t your mother’s Lions. They are not as prone to curling up in a fetal position when things aren’t going their way. Detroit also knew the 2011 Vikings have made a habit of committing boneheaded penalties, leaving the middle of the field wide open for opposing quarterbacks and tight ends and failing to convert on third down (or any down) in the second half in the squad’s previous two losses.

The Vikings did it again Sunday in the team’s first loss to the Lions at the Metrodome since 1997. Of the 10 penalties the Vikings committed in the game, seven came in the second half. Detroit QB Matt Stafford frequently found tight end Brandon Pettigrew (11 catches for 112 yards) open underneath coverage and over the top of it. The Vikings offence went 0-6 on third downs in the second half.

To look so competent in the first halves of this 0-3 start and look so bad in the second halves defies description. So I’m not going to try to describe it. But once a train like this gets going, it’s very hard to stop it. If head coach Leslie Frazier thought he had some challenges to overcome last year when he took over for the fired Brad Childress, he ain’t seen nothing yet. Can the Vikings even beat the Kansas City Chiefs next week – a team that has not looked competent in any half this year?

A few other observations about another game Vikings fans would like to forget.

Donovan McNabb
This was McNabb’s best game yet as a Viking (22-36, 211 yards, one TD pass), but it was still a pretty ho-hum performance. We’re still seeing him miss badly on several throws that a good quarterback should make. We’re also seeing him face a collapsing pocket on just about every throw.

I know there will be many Vikings fans looking for Frazier to switch to rookie Christian Ponder right about now. But Ponder isn’t going to make his offensive lineman pass block better and he isn’t going to turn Bernard Berrian and Devin Aromashodu into deep threats. I wouldn’t throw the rookie into this mess.

Bernard Berrian
O catches.

I could stop right there but I feel I have to write more, so I will. Once again the Vikings “deep threat” didn’t catch a ball. He has one catch in three games this season. His inability to be a legitimate receiving option really hampers this offence because McNabb has no choice but to throw short stuff all the time. It makes it harder for this unit to move the ball when it has to gain it in short chunks and the defence knows it. Is there any reason to even dress Berrian at this point?

Offensive line
A pretty poor showing by this unit. Left tackle Charlie Johnson couldn’t handle Kyle Vanden Bosch’s speed or his effort. Right tackle Phil Loadholt was just as bad. The entire line couldn’t get any push on the Lions defensive line. I was holding my breath on every pass and run play.

3rd and one
Early in his tenure, Frazier has me thinking he’s a game strategy meathead as a head coach. Apparently he makes none of those vaunted half-time adjustments. And that whole fourth-and-one sequence early in the fourth quarter was bad, and I don’t just mean the play call to give it to Toby Gerhart instead of Adrian Peterson. First, the Vikings have struggled to get anything done offensively in the second half this year. So three points is better than none at that stage of the game. A 27-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell is as automatic as it gets in this league.

But you’ve also got to know your personnel in that situation. Did Frazier really think his Vikings offensive line was going to be able to win the battle at the point of attack against the Lions d-line when they hadn’t done it all day? Frazier’s call struck me as a desperate move, rather than a confident move. The three points the Vikings gave away there sure hurt when the Lions kicked the field goal in overtime to win it.