Monday, November 23, 2009

Clicking On All Cylinders

It was another case of Men vs. Boys at the Metrodome on Sunday, as the Vikings continued their march to the playoffs with a 35-9 stomping of the Seattle Seahawks. They looked excellent in all phases of the game.

The defense completely kept Seattle out of the game, as the Seahawks didn't get into Vikings territory until the end of the third quarter. And it was a memorable game for Number Four.

The Vikes are now 9-1, and continue to lead the NFC North by three games over Green Bay. Brett Favre had one of his best games of his career, going 22 of 25 and tossing four TDs, the 22nd time in his historic career he has done that, breaking Dan Marino's record. Favre also set the team record for passing percentage in a game with 87%.

It was scoreless into the second quarter, but the Vikings had their highest scoring peroid of the year, scoring three touchdowns. They were all in the air, as Favre hit Percy Harvin, Visanthe Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian to put the Vikings up 21-0 at halftime.

Favre ended his day with a TD pass to Sidney Rice with four minutes to play in the third quarter, and it was a spectacular catch made by Rice at the back of the end zone. It reminded me of Joe Montana's memorable TD to Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC title game, as he scrambled around and appeared to just be tossing into the end zone, but Rice, who is leading the NFC in receptions, pulled down and incredible grab to make it 28-0.

Favre took a seat and Tarvaris Jackson came on for the fourth. He drove the Vikings down the field for their final score of the day, a 34-yard TD pass to Rice. It was one of six catches for him on the day for 89 yards.

Favre now leads the NFL in passer rating and has 21 TDs and just 3 interceptions. Also in this game, Adrian Peterson reached 1,000 yards rushing for the third straight year, but he lost yards on his final carry of the day (I'm surprised the Vikings didn't let him get one more so he could permanently go over it) and right now is sitting on 999 yards for the season. He ran for 82 yards against Seattle on 24 carries.

The Vikings take on the 4-6 Bears for the first time in 2009 at the Metrodome next Sunday. (It's unusual that their first meeting is this late in the year.)

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