Big Pat Parties In the Backfield

Picking which Viking was most responsible for Sunday's victory was not an easy decision. The Wisconsin women and I debated well into the night (What? You thought they didn't get some say in the matter?) trying to determine who they were going to spend the week with. There were just so many valid choices--Chester Taylor, Pat Williams, E.J. Henderson, Napoleon Harris, Ben Leber, Ray Edwards and arguments could be (and were) made for almost every major defensive player.

Make no mistake about it--that was a dominating performance by the defense, and one that likely saved the Vikings' season. That conclusion, along with his inability to get into the end zone in three tries from the seven yard line, eliminated Chester Taylor. If he continues to run the ball this well (4.73 yards per carry!), however, he'll be in the discussion in upcoming weeks.

And so that leaves us with the defensive standouts. E.J. Henderson and Ben Leber both managed to house turnovers, Napoleon Harris continued his fine play by picking off a tipped Jon Kitna pass and Ray Edwards had a sack and forced Kitna to rush the pass that Henderson picked off. In the end, though, Pat Williams' play topped them all. He was the one who destroyed Kitna in the midst of his play fake (that's how quickly he got through the line), forcing him to fumble in the end zone. And he is the centerpiece of the Viking's rush defense, which held the Lions to 16 yards. 16 yards!!! Kevin Jones didn't even average a yard a carry! I don't care how bad the Lions' line was, that kind of dominance is astonishing. And that's why he's going to spend the bye week (heeding Childress' call to behave, of course) with the Wisconsin women.

More of my thoughts on the game are at The Ragnarok