Ugly Wins Count Too: Vikings 24, Cowboys 21

couple things:

1) that tackle of Dez B near the end of the game. if he wasn’t in the endzone, his knee was at the foot yard line. so why was the ball placed up near the 8? i don’t understand.

2) i’m not a football savvy as many of you – and i’m a newbie Viking fan since last year – but why is it when i watch the offense of the Colts (watching game right now) and compare it to our Vikes, it’s like Pop Warner versus professional? i’m not talking players – talking calling the plays, offensive coordinating, coaching….Colts look like a well-oiled machine and we look like we have our heads up our asses. i know – Chilly sucks. but WHY?

3) in God’s name what is wrong with our offensive line?? Peyton Manning has time for a pedicure for Christ’s sake and Favre was running for his life the ENTIRE GAME! it wasn’t this bad last year (except for the NFC Championship), was it?? our Loadholt and McKinnie that crappy? who else is missing their blocks OR not opening up running lanes. it’s ridiculous….

I am a phins fan and I just wanted to give a shout out to Camarillo. I don’t know if he has been a disappointment or just not involved enough, but he made a nice move to get open on that TD reception. I hope he has some more clutch plays for you guys (that’s basicaly all he did for us – a couple of clutch plays a game.) He was never a star but always loved by fans.

good luck and congratulations again

It may have been sloppy but I’ll take it. The team didn’t quit and as usual, the second half belonged to the defense. My only plea right now is for Chris Cook to get well so Lito Shepherd can go back to the bench. He got burned badly on three plays. The last ball was slightly underthrown to Bryant and could have been an interception if Lito hadn’t jumped too soon. Other than that, E.J. came up big. Jared Allen did a better job of pressuring the QB and the run defense looked like it was back to form.

Other than the miscue between Favre and A.D. in the 1st quarter, the offense played much better today and is slowly getting on the same page with each other. The penalties were down and the line looked better but still needs to work on protecting Brett. Randy didn’t have a huge game but he’s still learning the system and did come up with some timely catches. The one he missed, he usually catches with his eyes closed. All in all, I’ll take the win.

Definitely should have had the TD catch on the play prior to the Longwell FG, but you can’t fault him for not having any big explosive plays. Allan Ball was playing 30 yards beyond the line of scrimmage on just about every play, and was always shaded over top of Moss. Dallas obviously decided we could have whatever we want underneath but we weren’t getting up to to 84. Kind of disconcerting that we didn’t do more with Harvin and Shiancoe on offense.. And I honestly don’t know why we didn’t continue to exploit the 10 yards of cushion by throwing more of those quick hitches to Moss.

That said, I COULDN’T BE MORE THRILLED. It’s a beating living in Dallas as a non-Cowboy fan, and I would have been berated endlessly down here had we lost. Doesn’t matter how we do it, as long as we do it. And we’re right back in the NFC North race with the Bears and Packers losing.

Also of note- every single NFC team has at least 2 losses, meaning we are only one back in the loss column from the NFC’s best record! Wild ride so far, let’s take down the Pack next week and we’ll REALLY be in business.

What is good for you guys is a win next weekend and you can almost control the NFC North. I still think the Bears might lose 10 games this year as their 4 wins have been largly with smoke and mirrors. I think your offense will only continue to get better (Tendonitis pending) but your defense really isn’t as dominating as it used to be, but is still well above average.

Congrats on the win, I still really like watching the Vikes.

What a difference a week makes. Vikes win. Packers and Bears lose. The whole NFC North is now one big logjam. Hang on to your seats. It’s going to be a wild ride.

But the one thing id like to point out is that if we cant protect Favre, you can forget about a Moss explosion. Favres been forced to get rid of the ball quick all year, and the worst part is that the pressure is coming right up the middle, he cant step into his throws.

Even though he didn’t light up the Dome like we all hoped he would, the Super Freak has kept his perfect record against the Cowboys alive. Eight times Randy has took the field against Dallas in his career and eight times he’s walked off a winner. Hey Jerry Jones, don’tcha wish you’da picked him now? Hmmm?

nobody got seriously hurt today! Next week we play the M*A*S*H unit that is called Green Bay.

… this week much better.

But do you get the feeling Favre is holding the ball too long? On some of those plays he’s got to roll out and throw it away. Or something. Some of those sacks in my opinion aren’t on the O-line. But the O-line was inconsistent all day. Part of that I think is Dallas has a very good front 7, but still. Erratic at best.

And once again the blitz pickups were spotty. AP has got to improve. Favre seems to not see some of the blitzes right away too.

Berrian once again nearly invisible.

But I’m not going to complain. The Vikings have a ways to improve. But the potential is there to get better. The Cowboys are better than their record, just like we are.

How about Romo though? Could Romo break his team’s back any more than that? It was typical for him, solid throws and then absurdly bad ones to lose the game.

With Packers + Bears losses, we are set for next week. Win next week and we are in solid shape.

I seriously think I chewed off all of my nails!! Holy cow, another close game. At the end when the Cowboys started tossing the ball around in desperation, it reminded me of the crap that stinking Tony Dorsett and the rest of them used to pull. I’m glad the Vikings stopped them in their circus act. Vikings win!!! Pack, lions, and bears drop down one! I’m still smiling. I’d like to see the Vikings “O” kick it up a few notches so Brett only has to play half a game and rest up. I’m sure T Jack wouldn’t mind a few touches. Hope the Vikings have that kind of a Randy-Moss-TD-catching-AP-long-yard-running-Percy-Harvin-kick-returning-Favre-throwing-high-scoring game against the Pack! I expect a lot of SB Nation feces slinging from the moldy cheeseheads during the course of the week. Let’s all cheer, “LOSE PACK LOSE!!”

PS. The officiating in Lambeau was VERY interesting. Dolphins got the yardage on 4th down but the officials said they didn’t even though it appeared he did. After it was challenged by Miami, the play still stood and Packers got the ball. In the end Miami won. However, I hope that brand of officiating isn’t waiting to rear it’s ugly head next week. Oh of course of is, it’s Viking football! What was I thinking.

While Percy and EJ made the superstar plays and they rightfully deserve the game ball…don’t forget the AMAZING job that Winfield did today. He’s still one of the best tacklers in the NFL, and I’m glad we’ve got him for years to come. He was clutch today, and he’s a big reason why we were able to limit a lot of the Cowboys’ yards in the first half. He may have given up catches and didn’t have a pick, but he was in on just about every play and is what I like to call “damage control.” He was there all day to make sure that even if they got a catch, they wouldn’t be doing much with the YAC.

Also, kudos to Kluwe who had another good game!

EJ, Greenway and, I guess I have to admit, Griffin can actually pluck the ball out of the air, but I’m constantly amazed at how bad our secondary is at catching. Asher Allen had a ball pass through his hands at the end of the fourth quarter yesterday. WInfield drops more easy ones than he holds onto. Tyrell (thank god he’s not playing this season) Johnson dropped a ball that fell gently into his lap in overtime last year. It ended up costing us a trip to the Superbowl. I could go on.

After all the dropped balls in the secondary, it’s particularly gratifying to see our run-stopping middle linebacker haul in a couple of interceptions.

They weren’t pretty, they weren’t perfect, and, most of the time, they weren’t even particularly efficient, but the Vikings hung on to win yesterday Vikings fans breathed a sign of relief. I’m not sure why the Vikings linebackers are so underrated. They have consistently applied pressure and created or recovered turnovers. If EJ Henderson can avoid another horrendous injury, then he’s gotta be destined for the Pro Bowl.

i saw none yesterday? i don’t even know what the hell that is. line goes one way and Favre rolls in the opposite direction. why haven’t i seen this? no screens either (i think i saw one not work yesterday). just observations….