In the third Karate Kid movie, the crazy instructor gives his theory of fighting to Daniel: "A man can't stand, he can't fight".
Well, today the Minnesota Vikings proved that if "a man can't pass, he can't win".
Actually, the Vikings did quite a few things right in front of a road crowd and facing a potentially deadly offensive attack.
Percy Harvin had one of his electric plays on the opening kick return of the day...
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Adrian Peterson rushed for 98 yards and looked as spry as we've ever seen him...
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Even the defense played pretty well against SD's variety of offensive weapons...
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However, what the Week 1 loss ultimately boiled down to was that the Vikings could not pass the ball while the Chargers could...
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Even with that being said, however, Donovan McNabb actually didn't look all that bad (despite his only 39 total yards through the air, a pitiful number by any criteria)...
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He was moving around pretty well, didn't make any egregious errors, and the throws seemed pretty sharp. However, the wide receiving corps just isn't competitive in this league yet. Harvin can be doubled, Bernard Berrian's hands are still stone, Michael Jenkins doesn't have burner speed (although I like his hands), and the rest of the crew are C-players at best.
Put simply, if we can't salt away a ten-point lead with nearly 100 yards from Peterson and a pretty stout defense, our passing attack is as weak as its ever been (even in those dreadful 2006-2008 seasons).
Oh yeah, and it doesn't help that Mike Tolbert was a bowling ball and we were his pins...
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A tough loss considering it was such a winnable game. It doesn't help that all our other NFC North foes won, leaving us in the basement.
Perhaps a little Dome Magic can get us in the left-hand column next Sunday against Tampa Bay.