The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored By Comcast

Well, there's going to be at least one more of these during the course of this week, but that one's going to be a more comprehensive look at the Vikings' red zone prowess. . .or, in many cases, the complete lack thereof. . .this season. Today, we're just going to focus on today's game against the Bears. And, really, it shouldn't take long. . .at least, not on the offensive side of the ball.

The Vikings' offense made three trips into the red zone this afternoon against the NFC North leading Chicago Bears. The first one came on Minnesota's first drive of the football game, as they went down the field in 11 plays, covering 62 yards in the process, and wound up denting the scoreboard first on Ryan Longwell's field goal from 36 yards out. Technically, the only play the Vikings ran in the red zone was the field goal attempt, but hey. . .the folks at NFL.com apparently count it, so we will, too.

The next one for the Vikings' offense came on their next drive, as Minnesota moved the ball well again, this time getting to the Chicago 11-yard line. However, things quickly went south after that, as a questionable intentional grounding call on Favre. . .there were receivers in the area that he threw the ball, if memory serves correctly, pushed the Vikings back, and Ryan Longwell smacked a 39-yard field goal attempt off of the upright.

The final try for the Viking offense came on their third drive of the third quarter, after a big pass interference penalty resulting from Brett Favre trying to find Percy Harvin deep. However, as we all know, the Vikings couldn't turn it into a touchdown, and had to settle for another Longwell field goal, this one from 33 yards away.

And that was it for the Vikings' offense. The Vikings' defense, on the other hand, let the Bears go crazy in the red zone, which was in keeping with the way they performed for most of the afternoon. Chicago got into the red zone on five different occasions, and came away with four scores, including all three of Jay Cutler's touchdown passes on the afternoon. The fourth was a Robbie Gould field goal, and the fifth actually wound up being an interception by Husain Abdullah (Oblongata). Abdullah actually had two interceptions on the afternoon, and was one of Minnesota's few defensive bright spots today.

So there you have it. . .in summary, the Vikings were terrible in the red zone today, and the Bears were really good. (Well, I guess the Vikings weren't terrible in the red zone. . .they just didn't get there nearly enough times.) Guess that makes it less surprising that Chicago won, huh?