Hey, there's a highlight for everyone, eh?
After getting down 13-0 to the Buccaneers, the Vikings actually managed to put together a pretty impressive scoring drive, going 80 yards in 5 plays. The drive started with a screen to Percy Harvin for 32 yards into Tampa territory, and it ended with the play you see above, as Christian Ponder threw a very nice pass to Harvin for an 18-yard touchdown catch. Those were the first offensive points for the Vikings since the second quarter of the game against Arizona. . .not surprisingly, another touchdown by Percy Harvin.
Adrian Peterson has been having a whale of a game thus far, carrying the ball 10 times for 60 yards. Unfortunately, he also had his first fumble of the season midway through the second quarter that led to a Tampa Bay touchdown to make the score 20-7. The fumble was the first one lost by Peterson since December 28, 2010.
(Cue the "Peterson has a fumbling problem" analysis from people that don't know squat about squat.)
The Vikings did manage to add a 51-yard Blair Walsh field goal towards the end of the second quarter to cut the lead to 20-10. They've managed to shoot themselves in the foot with two lost fumbles and a couple of awful punts from Chris Kluwe, but they're still in this game. Tampa Bay will get the ball to start the second half of play, and if the Vikings can get a stop, they'll be able to attempt to get the momentum back.
The Vikings are again getting killed by an opposing running back, as rookie Doug Martin has 106 yards on 14 carries, including a long of 41. This is the third consecutive week the Vikings have allowed a 100-yard rusher. Josh Freeman has completed just 10-of-22 passes for 85 yards, but two of those completions have gone for touchdowns. If the Vikings want to come back in this one, it appears that it's going to start with stopping the run game, just like it always has.
There's one half of football to go, and the Minnesota Vikings need to get on their horses and start coming back. Can they do it? Well, we're certainly going to be here to find out.