Sorry for the lack of updatery yesterday, folks. Had to finish my final paper for my most recent class and had a couple of other things get in the way, but here we are with a couple of quick notes, both at this past Sunday's domination of the Chicago Bears and a look ahead to the Vikings' next opponent, the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals.
To put it bluntly, the Vikings were amazingly dominant in the second half of Sunday's 36-10 victory over Chicago. How dominant? Here's how Chicago's four second half drives went:
Drive #1 - 3 plays, -12 yards (yes, minus twelve)
Drive #2 - 3 plays, 9 yards
Drive #3 - 3 plays, 3 yards
Drive #4 - 3 plays, -3 yards
Four three-and-outs, and a second half yardage total of minus three yards. As a result, the Vikings more than tripled the Bears' total yardage on the afternoon and remained the only one-loss team in the NFL.
In addition, Percy Harvin reached a personal milestone against the Bears with the first 100-yard receiving game of his career. His sixth catch, on which he got blasted by a member of the Chicago secondary, gave him 101 yards on the afternoon, and he also scored Minnesota's first touchdown of the day. Anyone remember when it was a mistake for the Vikings to draft this guy because he didn't know how to run routes properly? Yeah. . .neither do I.
Looking ahead to Sunday night, Cardinals' quarterback Kurt Warner, who missed Arizona's loss to the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday, is not a shoo-in to play against the Vikings, either. It all depends on how his recovery from a concussion comes along over the course of this week. In Warner's absence, the Cardinal offense is being run by Matt Leinart. As a rookie in 2006, Leinart led the Cardinals into the Metrodome and lit the Vikings up for over 400 yards, but in terms of the quality of the Vikings' defense, that seems like a lifetime ago. In the six quarters since Leinart took over for Warner, the Cardinals have scored ten offensive points. If Leinart starts on Sunday for the Cardinals, the Vikings job should become significantly easier.
In addition, if the Vikings should be victorious this Sunday, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the post-season for the second year in a row. They can clinch the division this week with a win on Sunday and a loss by the Packers to Baltimore on Monday night, but if they beat Arizona, they'll punch their ticket to the NFL's post-season tournament.
And that's everything for this evening, folks. . .just wanted to get a quick update out there to make sure everyone knew we were still alive. There will be something significantly more substantial tomorrow. Big thanks to everyone that hung out for the Monday night game last night, too. . .if the Saints keep winning, we might have to have more threads based on watching them.