10 Points: Vikings Over Seahawks

Is this the easiest ten points post I’ve ever done?  Probably…

1.  There are things one could quibble about here I suppose, but really, why bother?  Instead, let’s bask in the glory of the most convincing Vikings victory of the year and one of the best all-around games they’ve played since the magical 1998 15-1 season.  Okay, yes, they started out committing penalties and letting the Seahawks get to Brett Favre, but then they tweaked the protections, tidied up their game penalty-wise and…it was off to the races.

2.  Brad Childress throwing the challenge flag to get Sidney Rice a reception after the game was already in the bag was probably the best thing Chilly has done for coach-player relations this year.  It proves that Chilly has moved on from his early somewhat tone-deaf, fining players whose grandmas just died days and become more of a players’ coach.  Which is the right way to go when you have a lot of veteran leaders and don’t really need to play the disciplinarian.

3.  Chester Taylor‘s 11 carries were the most he’s gotten in a game all year, and his 73 yards were by far a season-high.  Yes, a lot of that came in garbage time, but even before Adrian Peterson was pulled from the blow-out, Chester was getting his carries.  Clearly, Chilly has decided that AD needs his workload reduced so he’ll be fresh for the playoffs.

4.  It was nice to see pressure lead to a turnover for once, late in the game when Jared Allen forced Matt Hasselbeck to make a bad throw and Asher Allen finished the play at the other end with the pick.  The Vikings are, for the season, way down the list with 7 interceptions (the same number Darren Sharper has by himself this year, incidentally).  That’s not acceptable for a team that gets as much pressure as this one does.  Maybe Allen can become a true playmaking corner instead of just an adequate Cedric Griffin-type.

5.  Sidney Rice‘s two touchdowns doubled his total for the season.  He is now 3rd in the league with 875 receiving yards, an even fifty behind Randy Moss.  The leaping TD catch he made in the back of the end zone was a fantastic grab.  This guy is more than just a beneficiary of Brett Favre; he is a legit receiver in his own right (but it still helps to have Favre, don’t get me wrong).

6.  Jared Allen continues to garner a lot of attention, and Ray Edwards continues to benefit.  Yesterday, Edwards had 6 tackles, 3 for negative yardage.  Another positive defensive sign:  E.J. Henderson blitzed and got a sack.  I thought he was becoming a brilliant blitzing linebacker before his injury last year, but that talent hasn’t really shown up much this season.  Maybe E.J. has turned the corner on his comeback and will soon recover his near-Pro Bowl form.

7.  The Vikings had a shot at holding the Seahawks under 0 rushing yards for the game until a Matt Hasselbeck run to the 1 yard line in the fourth quarter put them in positive numbers.  On the next play, Justin Forsett ran into the endzone, the first red zone rushing TD the Vikes have surrendered all year.  By the way, this all happened with Pat and Kevin Williams on the bench resting.

8.  Adrian Peterson went over 1,000 yards for the season, then took a negative to knock his total back down to 999.  The Seahawks have a pretty tough run defense and held Adrian to just 3.4 yards/carry, his second-worst game of the year in that category.

9.  Oh, Favre.  I forgot to mention Favre.  He broke the Vikings’ single-game completion percentage record by going 22/25 for an even 88%.  He also threw 4 touchdowns for the second time in the last three games.  His 141.8 passer rating was his highest of the season…but still not as good as Tarvaris Jackson‘s rating from yesterday, 144.3.  Favre’s season rating is now up to 112.1, well ahead of second place Drew Brees who is at 105.8.  And Favre’s tied with Peyton Manning for 2nd in touchdowns with 21, just one behind Brees.  And he only has 3 picks, the lowest total for any QB with at least 100 attempts.

10.  And on top of it all, Antoine Winfield got to rest for another week.  Hell, let him rest this week against the Bears too.  They suck.  Save him for the Bengals and Cardinals.