Vikings fall to Panthers, 26-7

The Minnesota Vikings turned in their worst performance of the season in a 26-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

It was a dismal effort by a Minnesota team that many believe is the best in the NFC and a true Super Bowl contender. The Panthers were starting Matt Moore at quarterback and still managed to dominate the game in every phase.

It was another rough day for running back Adrian Peterson, who managed just 35 yards on the ground and a touchdown. He seems to be having trouble finding any running room behind an underperforming offensive line.

Head coach Brad Childress said he wanted to take quarterback Brett Favre out of the game even when the team was leading by one because he was getting so beat up.

Favre was having none of it, and the two got into a pretty heated discussion on the sideline. Favre remained in the game, but his offense failed to put any more points on the scoreboard.

Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 10:06 am by steve

Favre and Childress in Heated Debate?

Three weeks ago, when the Vikings were 10-1 and coasting into the NFC’s No.2 seed, all was right in Minnesota, as Brett Favre’s annual late-season swoon didn’t seem imminent, Brad Childress was starting to show signs that he could be a competent coach for a full season, and well, they still had Adrian Peterson.

But now, after the Vikings’ 26-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night, all may not be right in Vikings-land, as TV cameras caught Favre and Childress in a heated exchange on the sideline during the game.

With the Vikings up 7-6 in the third quarter, and the Panthers’ Julius Peppers turning the Vikings’ offensive line into a turnstile, Childress made the motion to remove Favre from the game… but Favre wasn’t having it.

“Yeah, there was a heated discussion, I guess you would call it,” Favre said of the exchange. “No secret, I was getting hit a little bit. I felt the pressure on a lot of plays. We had seven points. So I think everyone in the building was like, ‘They’re not moving the ball, they’re not getting points.’ Brad wanted to go in a different direction and I wanted to stay in the game.”

Childress explained his intentions after the game.

“It was more of a stream of consciousness,” Childress said, “where he comes of the field, I’m watching what I’m watching, and I said, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m thinking about taking you out of the game here.’ I mean, [Favre was] getting [his] rear end kicked through not a lot of fault of his own.

“As I’m watching that and as I’m watching that occur, I’m giving him a stream of consciousness,” Childress added. “Obviously, he didn’t want anything to do with that, which I certainly appreciate from his standpoint. From any quarterback. He wasn’t like, ‘OK, let me get my hat on.’ That wasn’t in his makeup.”

Despite his explanation… expect the Childress/Favre saga to become one of the biggest stories of the week as teams jockey for positioning in the playoffs. Any discordance between the two could open the door for the Philadelphia Eagles to sneak in and steal the No. 2 seed from the Vikings (if the Eagles win their last two and the Vikings lose one of their last two, the Eagles move to the NFC’s second seed).

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 12:20 am by bryan

Harvin wants to play Sunday

Minnesota Vikings running back/wide receiver Percy Harvin said he wants to play this week after sitting out against the Cincinnati Bengals because of migraine headaches.

Head coach Brad Childress said he would put Harvin’s chances of playing this week at around 50-50, but he knows the rookie wants desperately to be back out on the field.

He has returned to practice and said he feels great, but the team wants to exercise a lot of caution, especially considering they probably won’t even need him against the Carolina Panthers.

Harvin said he has had this problem his entire life and that he has tried multiple treatments to no avail. It gets so bad sometimes that he just has to lay down and hope for the best.

This has to be concerning for the Vikings. It’s clear that this is a chronic problem for Harvin and could cause him to miss games in the future.

Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 2:05 pm by steve

Vikings down Bengals, 30-10

The Minnesota Vikings bounced back from last week’s loss with an impressive, 30-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Running back Adrian Peterson found the end zone twice and helped the Vikings dominate time of possession.

Give the defense a lot of credit for the way they shut down Cincinnati’s balanced offensive attack.

Running back Cedric Benson was slowed down significantly while Carson Palmer looked to be under constant pressure in the pocket.

This performance was more like the Vikings team we believe will be a serious threat to win the Super Bowl.

Friday, December 18, 2009 at 5:54 pm by steve

Henderson out for season

Minnesota Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson is out for the season after suffering a gruesome leg injury.

Henderson’s leg bent at a very awkward angle and broke.

It’s the type of devastating injury that can put someone’s career in jeopardy, so you have to hope for the best.

In the short term, the injury is also a major blow to the Vikings and their strong defensive front seven.

It will be interesting to see how and if the Vikings are able to compensate for the loss of their star linebacker.

Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 9:37 am by steve

Vikings fall to Cardinals, 30-17

The Minnesota Vikings were caught by surprise in a 30-17 Sunday night loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Vikings, which had just one loss on the season, thought they might avoid seeing quarterback Kurt Warner.

However, Warner determined he was past his post-concussion syndromes and decided to start, which was bad news for the Vikings.

Minnesota struggled mightily with pass defense, giving up over 300 yards receiving to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald.

Running back Adrian Peterson had a quiet day, and quarterback Brett Favre had arguably his worst game of the season.

Friday, December 11, 2009 at 4:14 pm by steve

LB Henderson Cleared to Return Home

Three days after suffering a gruesome break of his left thigh bone during Sunday night’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, linebacker E.J. Henderson has been cleared to leave the hospital and return home.

Henderson’s injury resulted in him being placed on injured reserve on Wednesday. He had started to regain his old form after coming back from a foot injury that knocked him out of the Vikings’ final 12 games (and the playoffs) last season.

Henderson’s younger brother Elin is a backup linebacker for the Vikings, and was able to be with his brother on the field on Sunday night after the injury. Elin said that he was most impressed with his brother’s calmness, despite the considerable pain and the realization that his season was over.

“One of the first things E.J. said to me was, ‘I guess I’ll have to sit back and watch you guys make this push to the Super Bowl,’” Erin said. “In a situation like that, it’s crazy for somebody to be as selfless as he was and just kind of look at it in the light that he looked at it. That was encouraging to everybody.”

Doctors have not set a timetable for Henderson’s return, but Elin assured reporters that his brother would indeed return to football.

“He’s a man of few words, but he’s in good spirits by all indications,” coach Brad Childress said.

Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 10:21 pm by bryan

Favre, Vikings Stifled as Cardinals Romp, 30-17

The 10-1 Vikings were feeling pretty good about themselves heading into Sunday night’s game against the 7-4 Arizona Cardinals, as they’d been coasting towards the NFC’s No. 2 seed for nearly a month.

The Cardinals may have sent the first waves of panic through Vikings-land today, as the Cardinals handily rocked the Vikings, beating them 30-17 on Sunday night in Glendale.

Kurt Warner got the best of the “Battle of the Ancient QBs” (Warner’s 38 years old, Favre is 40), throwing three touchdowns in the first half – two to WR Anquan Boldin, one to WR Larry Fitzgerald.

Favre, on the other hand, was not his usual sharp, MVP-like QB, as he threw two interceptions (after being picked three times in the Vikes’ first 11 games) and was sacked three times.

“I made some decisions that I haven’t made up to this point,” he said, “and I’m disappointed about it.”

The Cardinals’ defense – the key to their shocking Super Bowl run last season – stepped up valiantly against the Vikings, holding RB Adrian Peterson to a season-low 19 yards rushing on 13 carries.

“They played like they were in the Super Bowl last year,” Favre said, “and we obviously have to play better if we want to be the team that’s in the Super Bowl this year.”

Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at 12:31 am by bryan

RB Peterson Cited for Speeding

One of the most unstoppable running backs in the NFL also happened to be one of the most unstoppable forces on the road, as police stopped him for going 109 mph in a 55 mph zone over the weekend.

“I got a little speeding ticket. I need to be more aware of the speed I was going and not let it happen again,” Peterson told the Associated Press.

Police spokeswoman Molly Anderson said that Peterson was clocked going 109 mph, which led to him being stopped and issued a routine citation. Peterson denied that he was actually going that fast.

“But I know it was [a] speeding ticket, and that’s what I got issued for,” Peterson said.

Peterson was headed to return to the downtown hotel where the team stays the nights before games. Peterson said he wasn’t late at the time he got pulled over.

“After I got pulled over, then I was late,” Peterson said.

Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 11:06 pm by bryan

Vikings roll past Bears, 34-10

The Minnesota Vikings made quick work of the floundering Chicago Bears in a 34-10 blowout win.

Quarterback Brett Favre tossed four touchdown passes and had well over 300 yards passing to lead the Vikings to the win.

Wide receiver Percy Harvin, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and running back Chester Taylor all scored through the air.

Running back Adrian Peterson had a tough day until he finally found the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.

Peterson finished the day with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown, but did fumble the football twice.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7:24 pm by steve