The Vikings Red Zone Review, Sponsored by Comcast

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.

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.