If Packer Junior was still a vikings fan maybe he and luv yu longtime guy would give me pointers on those what if...... posts after watching that game! Secondary and defense as whole played solid. Touchdown called back hurt. Stupid penaltys but was a good game
Yes, secondary stepped it up - nice game plan by Leslie. However, the offense pretty much stunk it up in terms of being efficient. After four punts to begin the game, the passing game finally made some head way, although the running game was absent again - not a real good sign of things to come.
I'll say it again - there really is little proof that the Vikings have a dominant rushing attack. It appears to be dominant because AD rips one off per game, but what about all the runs for negative yardage this season? That has to be a record already thru 7 games - at least for those teams perceived has having a dominant running game.
The fumble by Brett wasn't good, but what was worse was Brett failing to bring down a defender he was clearly faster than - he made the most feeble attempt at a tackle that I have ever seen. I expect more from a guy who was reared as a safety. You fumble or throw a pick and you have the angle to make a tackle, you MAKE THAT TACKLE. I don't care what position you play.
The screen pass that was intercepted was a HORRIBLE call at that juncture. For God's sakes - you've got 75 seconds left in the game and only 15 yards to go. You have at LEAST a tie in the bag. Your enemy (especially considering Minny's prevent secondary which gives up TD's at the end of games in bunches) is the clock, NOT the scoreboard. Second worst to the play call was the pass - horrible throw. The attempt by Taylor wasn't the greatest, but Brett's tossed enough picks on screen passes to know better by now. There is really no excuse for such poor execution in the red zone, with a chance to seal the deal and at worse, live to see overtime.
Really, a pathetic display of efficient offensive football from the Vikings. Again, less than 100 yards rushing from supposedly the most potent rushing team, and a mere 6.5 yards per attempt in the passing game - even though the Pitt defense was CLEARLY making it top priority to stop the run - Minnesota could not ultimately take proper advantage and expose an overrated defense.