The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

by Christopher Gates on Nov 27, 2009 5:01 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings 2009 Season

Once again, it's time to take a final look back at the Vikings' most recent conquest by reviewing their Red Zone performance. And, as always, the Vikings Red Zone Review is sponsored by the good folks at Comcast, who bring you the NFL Red Zone channel every Sunday afternoon. Whether you're killing time waiting for the Vikings to play a late afternoon game (like we will be this weekend) or unwinding after celebrating another Vikings' victory, the Red Zone Channel can take you around the league for all the best action around the National Football League. It's great for tracking your favorite fantasy players, too. For the best way to see all the action around the NFL every Sunday, there's nothing that beats the NFL Red Zone Channel.

So, how did the Vikings do in the Red Zone against the Seahawks? Well. . .you could say they did alright.

Vikings Red Zone trips - 3
Vikings Red Zone scores - 3 (3 TD)
Red Zone touchdown percentage - 100%

After a. . .yawn. . .terribly exciting first quarter that concluded with no scoring, the Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the second on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Percy Harvin. The Vikings finally made a visit to the red zone midway through the second quarter. Starting from their own 30, the Vikings put together a drive largely aided by Seattle penalties. The scoring drive was 70 yards, and 35 of it came courtesy of two personal foul penalties and a defensive offsides call. The second personal foul, a tripping penalty on Seattle safety Deon Grant after a 24-yard reception by Sidney Rice, set the Vikings up with first and goal at the Seattle 8-yard line. After one of Favre's three incompletions on the day, he found Visanthe Shiancoe, who had lined up wide left, on a slant into the end zone to put the Vikings up by two touchdowns. That Viking drive moved 70 yards in six plays, taking 2:32 in order to complete.

Minnesota found themselves back in the red zone again almost immediately, as Seattle return man Ben Obomanu fumbled the return on the ensuing kickoff, and after an 11-yard pass to Harvin on third and two, the Vikings were at the Seahawks 15-yard line. Adrian Peterson moved the Vikings down to the 5, and two plays later, Favre found Bernard Berrian for a three yard score, his third different touchdown pass of the day to his third different receiver. It put the Vikings up 21-0 and they were cruising. The drive moved 34 yards in six plays, and took 3:34 off of the clock.

After the teams came out of the locker room at halftime, the Vikings and Seahawks exchanged punts. With the Vikings starting out at their own 11-yard line, the Vikings made their way downfield. Everyone got involved in the act, as Favre found Harvin for a 25-yard strike on 3rd and 9, and that was immediately followed up by a 13-yard sprint to midfield by Adrian Peterson. A mix of the best running back in the NFL and a couple of short passes kept the drive moving, and Favre hit Shiancoe for a 13-yard reception to move the ball into the red zone again. Another pass to Shiancoe moved the ball down to the 7, and from there, Favre avoided the Seattle rush, scrambled to his right, and lofted one high for Sidney Rice, who outjumped all the Seahawk defensive backs and came down with Favre's fourth TD pass of the day, a 7-yarder to make the score 28-0. #4 was nearly perfect on the drive, completing 6-of-7 passes for 67 yards and the scoring pass to Rice. Overall, the drive covered 89 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:37 to accomplish.

That was the last Red Zone trip for the Vikings on the day, as their final touchdown came on a 34-yard pass from Tarvaris Jackson to Sidney Rice.

With their perfect Red Zone performance against the Seahawks, the Vikings have made an even 40 trips into the Red Zone this year. On 22 of those 40 trips, they've come away with touchdowns, a 55% pace. They still have 12 Ryan Longwell field goals (30%), and on six trips they've come away with no points (15%). Defensively, the Seahawks managed to reach the Red Zone twice, and came away with one touchdown and one field goal. That means the Vikings have allowed opposing teams into the Red Zone 25 times, and have allowed 11 touchdowns (44%), surrendered eight field goals (32%), and held their opponents scoreless six times (24%).

Here's hoping that the Red Zone success can continue this next week against the Chicago Bears.

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Running game must get better

“Peterson ranks fourth in the league with 28 runs of 10 or more yards. But he also has 23 negative-yardage runs, third-most in the NFL.”

This must change if the Vikings hope to go deep into the play-off’s, and be a serious threat for the SB. Favre has been fantastic. But the Vikings running game has been the weakst link, and not exactly much of a weapon. Between RB’s Peterson and Taylor the Vikings rushing yardage should be will over 200 yds. per game.

This has no negitive refliction on the running backs at all. But does reflict on how poorly the Vikings are blocking, for the runningbacks.

I suggest the Vikings draft 2 or 3 great offensive linemen come the spring draft. And lets start blocking for our two great runningbacks, and QB,.

by vnbushman on Nov 28, 2009 7:04 AM CST reply actions

Yes but....

Agree that is of concern so we remain a balanced and formidable offense for our opponents….Having said that, AD is still 4th in the league at the moment, so remains a force to be reckoned with….Those negative yard runs are something needing looking at though…

Take us back a bit….Last year…Before we had Favre…the O-line was finding ways to make holes for AD to make successful runs. Now it seems they are focusing maybe more on protecting Favre? Think they have to do both…protect Favre AND make the holes on running downs….

Certainly something to address in the now, and in the future through drafts as well…It is a kudo to the team that they are getting into this stage of fine-tuning on offense….remember a year ago we were shuddering every time we were on the field and HAD to count on AD!

I do think the team wil have to continue to drill down like this and address any perceived weak areas ( a year ago maybe not issues, but this year yes, because we are THAT good)…This is the mark of a team that can REALLY gel at the end when they need to….NO weak areas for the playoffs…and no team that can best that!

Let’s see, starting with Sunday…..

GO VIKES!

I would rather be IN the Arena than watching from the stands...That is my life!
* Read Teddy Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" if you need further explanation...

by vikingfanfrom afar on Nov 28, 2009 7:23 AM CST up reply actions

Focus on Pass Protection

I often wonder if the o-line spends more time preparing for pass blocking then they do for run blocking. Realistically they only have so much time to prepare, choices must be made. If AD loses yards on some plays because of less preparation thats a problem. If Favre gets hit too often and does not make it through the season thats a disaster.

If this is the case, I have no problem with it. You make your choices and live with the consequences.

by Dave_M on Nov 28, 2009 9:41 AM CST reply actions

O-Line

A good O-line is not limited to EITHER run-blocking or pass-protection; they can do both. The Vikings O-line has not been able to do both, they’ve good at one OR the other, so far. We can all see that trend pretty clearly.

But there’s a caveat to be considered. Well, two of them, really. Sullivan and Loadholdt. Both are newbs. Sully has been in a year longer than Load, but he’s only just started this year, now that the Vikings let go of Matt Birk. Those were some big shoes that he had to fill and we’ve seen that he’s improved each game. Same with Load. So by the time we get to the playoffs, both may be playing much better ball than they have so far. Next year will definitely be a marked improvement.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that more often than not, when AP makes a run expecting a lane to open for him, he runs into the backs of the O-linemen. Then he hesitates a step or two, looking for the opening that should be there, before either finding it or trying to go around. By this time he’s screwed, he’s lost his momentum and the opposing D has had enough time to lock in on him. The result is that he gets stuffed, or limited to low yardage.

So I question, 1) where are the openings he’s expecting to find (because I can’t see a play designed to run into his own teammates), and 2) Seeing what keeps happening, why isn’t the playbook modified send AP around the log-jam instead of straight into it? This is Chilly’s failure to adapt.

The fact is, when AP gets a good opening and lane to burst through, it’s not uncommon for him to be good for 10-60 yards at a pop.

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!

by DCPurple on Nov 28, 2009 1:19 PM CST up reply actions

Some opportunities to improve

AD still runs better out of single running back formations than he does behind a fullback. Maybe we should clear the fullback out of AD’s way more often, or use an extra tight end in more situations.

The other o-linemen say that Sullivan is making good calls at the line of scrimmage. For some reason, the running game isn’t going great.

Using Chester Taylor more would be a good idea, especially with AD questionable for the Bears game.

by medicineball on Nov 28, 2009 2:12 PM CST reply actions

O- :ine is perplexing

Its been a work in progress all year. Simply stated it is very hard for the two new guys to push upfield. Sully is smallish and Loadholt is built for pass blocking. When the holes open up it is against 7 in the box formations. We see a lot of 8. Therefore the line has had to establish the pass to loosen up the run game. I expect this week to be even less productive with Hutch and AP hurt.

I mentioned about a month ago that AP seemed to get to the line to quickly. It seems that’s because the hole is suppose to be there. He might have to be a touch more patient until this line gets into perfect harmony. When it happens it will be a big day for AP.

by lifelongvike on Nov 28, 2009 2:39 PM CST reply actions