The Bobcat Nation

What a bizarre game. I'm a Viking fan. I always go into games figuring something will going grotesquely haywire and they will lose. Good thing today.

Reminded me of the MSU game yesterday. Vikes score a TD, but it's waved off on a bad call for tripping. Like MSU, they outplayed Pittsburgh statistically, but lost due to too many mistakes and that bad call.

That was one heck of a game though. Two heavyweights slugging it out. Yes, Minnesota seemingly outplayed Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh made some huge plays when it counted.

What's amazing to me is that the return TDs the Vikes have given up the last two seasons. Just crazy numbers. I think it is over 10 for 2 seasons.

I'm feelin' empathy for Chester Taylor. He is such a stud, and has been one of the few bright spots before Peterson.

LTown Cat wrote:That was one heck of a game though. Two heavyweights slugging it out. Yes, Minnesota seemingly outplayed Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh made some huge plays when it counted.

MN had meaningless offensive yards, and TOP, after giving up 160 return yards to the Pitt D. Minus the return yards from the Vikings offense and you'll see they didn't come close to out playing the Steelers. The Steelers let the Vikings dink and dunk waiting for #4 to get into shoot out mode and become the turnover machine that he is.

jagur1 wrote:

LTown Cat wrote:That was one heck of a game though. Two heavyweights slugging it out. Yes, Minnesota seemingly outplayed Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh made some huge plays when it counted.

MN had meaningless offensive yards, and TOP, after giving up 160 return yards to the Pitt D. Minus the return yards from the Vikings offense and you'll see they didn't come close to out playing the Steelers. The Steelers let the Vikings dink and dunk waiting for #4 to get into shoot out mode and become the turnover machine that he is.

Good point, also don't forget Pittsburgh fumbled inside the 5 going in for a TD--that was a pretty big gift to MN.

LTown Cat wrote:

jagur1 wrote:

LTown Cat wrote:That was one heck of a game though. Two heavyweights slugging it out. Yes, Minnesota seemingly outplayed Pittsburgh, but Pittsburgh made some huge plays when it counted.

MN had meaningless offensive yards, and TOP, after giving up 160 return yards to the Pitt D. Minus the return yards from the Vikings offense and you'll see they didn't come close to out playing the Steelers. The Steelers let the Vikings dink and dunk waiting for #4 to get into shoot out mode and become the turnover machine that he is.

Good point, also don't forget Pittsburgh fumbled inside the 5 going in for a TD--that was a pretty big gift to MN.

but yes it was a heck of the game. MN proved they can play with the big boys. Can they beat the big boys that will be seen.

Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Everybody is in a slump when trying to run against the Steeler D. A lot of teams will get some yards early on them but Lebeau usually shores that up pretty quick. With Troy back that D is extremelly tough. I know he gets a lot of recognition but its well deserved. Watch the plays he makes and there isn't anyone in the league that can do what he does. And to think when the Steelers moved up to take him in the draft I cursed because I thought they were going after Rex Grossman. Can't imagine what kind of reck the Steelers would be in if that had come true.

bcats wrote:

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Everybody is in a slump when trying to run against the Steeler D. A lot of teams will get some yards early on them but Lebeau usually shores that up pretty quick. With Troy back that D is extremelly tough. I know he gets a lot of recognition but its well deserved. Watch the plays he makes and there isn't anyone in the league that can do what he does. And to think when the Steelers moved up to take him in the draft I cursed because I thought they were going after Rex Grossman. Can't imagine what kind of reck the Steelers would be in if that had come true.

Good point, also, keep in mind Peterson's last 2 outings were against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Although Baltimore's D isn't maybe what it once was--they still are very physical.

LTown Cat wrote:

bcats wrote:

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Everybody is in a slump when trying to run against the Steeler D. A lot of teams will get some yards early on them but Lebeau usually shores that up pretty quick. With Troy back that D is extremelly tough. I know he gets a lot of recognition but its well deserved. Watch the plays he makes and there isn't anyone in the league that can do what he does. And to think when the Steelers moved up to take him in the draft I cursed because I thought they were going after Rex Grossman. Can't imagine what kind of reck the Steelers would be in if that had come true.

Good point, also, keep in mind Peterson's last 2 outings were against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Although Baltimore's D isn't maybe what it once was--they still are very physical.

Teams seem set on focusing on Peterson and making Favre beat them, which he's been able to do so far. He was foiled by the bad tripping call and the ball off Taylor's hands vs. Pittsburgh more than he was his own un-doing, which is usually the case. Favre + Vikings = Something will go wrong.

Minnesota's defense seems to be getting worse as the year goes on -- a historical trend. The way the Saints are playing it might not matter.

TomCat88 wrote:

LTown Cat wrote:

bcats wrote:

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Everybody is in a slump when trying to run against the Steeler D. A lot of teams will get some yards early on them but Lebeau usually shores that up pretty quick. With Troy back that D is extremelly tough. I know he gets a lot of recognition but its well deserved. Watch the plays he makes and there isn't anyone in the league that can do what he does. And to think when the Steelers moved up to take him in the draft I cursed because I thought they were going after Rex Grossman. Can't imagine what kind of reck the Steelers would be in if that had come true.

Good point, also, keep in mind Peterson's last 2 outings were against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Although Baltimore's D isn't maybe what it once was--they still are very physical.

Teams seem set on focusing on Peterson and making Favre beat them, which he's been able to do so far. He was foiled by the bad tripping call and the ball off Taylor's hands vs. Pittsburgh more than he was his own un-doing, which is usually the case. Favre + Vikings = Something will go wrong.

Minnesota's defense seems to be getting worse as the year goes on -- a historical trend. The way the Saints are playing it might not matter.

Mn needs Winfield the spark plug CB back. Then the D will get better overnight. Is he going to be back this year?

jagur1 wrote:

TomCat88 wrote:

LTown Cat wrote:

bcats wrote:

Bleedinbluengold wrote:Vikes went away from Peterson too early. Although Favre made good decisions, if you throw almost 50 times, something bad is bound to happen, which it did...twice. Peterson is kind of in a slump it seems to me. He's trying to be patient and wait for the designed hole to open up...in the meantime he's missing a bunch of cutbacks that the likes of Robert Smith feasted on for long runs.

Everybody is in a slump when trying to run against the Steeler D. A lot of teams will get some yards early on them but Lebeau usually shores that up pretty quick. With Troy back that D is extremelly tough. I know he gets a lot of recognition but its well deserved. Watch the plays he makes and there isn't anyone in the league that can do what he does. And to think when the Steelers moved up to take him in the draft I cursed because I thought they were going after Rex Grossman. Can't imagine what kind of reck the Steelers would be in if that had come true.

Good point, also, keep in mind Peterson's last 2 outings were against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Although Baltimore's D isn't maybe what it once was--they still are very physical.

Teams seem set on focusing on Peterson and making Favre beat them, which he's been able to do so far. He was foiled by the bad tripping call and the ball off Taylor's hands vs. Pittsburgh more than he was his own un-doing, which is usually the case. Favre + Vikings = Something will go wrong.

Minnesota's defense seems to be getting worse as the year goes on -- a historical trend. The way the Saints are playing it might not matter.

Mn needs Winfield the spark plug CB back. Then the D will get better overnight. Is he going to be back this year?

they're being pretty tight lipped about the injury. initially they listed him as questionable for the game after the injury! then they were saying it could be up to 6 weeks. from everything i'm hearing, he'll rest this week, then we have our bye week, and i think he'll be ready after that. good news is we play the lions and seahawks after that so if they want to keep him sidelined i think they could get away with it. however, after that we got the bears who i think are a pretty good team. but i'm more concerned about today against the pack. rogers is playing well, and their recievers are pretty scary. however, they still have the worst o-line in the league, and their defense had no answers for favre last game and i don't expect much to change. playing in lambeau will probably be the biggest challenge but i think the vikes will come away with the win they should have got last weekend...

It sure seems like Peterson is still just missing some holes. Replays show that there are some cutbacks that Robert Smith used to turn into excellent runs. Peterson seems to just wait, wait, wait and then plow into his own lineman. On the other hand, it's not like he's a shifty guy.

He had some good runs today anyway (and it seems like he's also becoming a good pass receiver), and teams seem to just load up on the run. As long as Favre's arm holds up, the Vikes will put up at least 30 on everyone.

I fear that 50 might not be good enough against a New Orleans team though.

Vikes D seems to just get tired in the second half and then they miss tons of tackles that they were making in the first half.

And Harvin........WOW!

Bleedinbluengold wrote:It sure seems like Peterson is still just missing some holes. Replays show that there are some cutbacks that Robert Smith used to turn into excellent runs. Peterson seems to just wait, wait, wait and then plow into his own lineman. On the other hand, it's not like he's a shifty guy.

He had some good runs today anyway (and it seems like he's also becoming a good pass receiver), and teams seem to just load up on the run. As long as Favre's arm holds up, the Vikes will put up at least 30 on everyone.

I fear that 50 might not be good enough against a New Orleans team though.

Vikes D seems to just get tired in the second half and then they miss tons of tackles that they were making in the first half.

And Harvin........WOW!

vikes defense seems to get a little tired but it still seems like our o keeps them on the field to much. saints are putting up good numbers but they have yet to be tested. i agree with them missing tackles, but unfortunately we don't make tackles in the 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, or 4th quarter. going into today we were 30th out of 32 teams in tackling. we missed a hundred today. probably ranked worse. i still maintain harvin will be rookie of the year. he's amazing. favre is just getting better every game, and our d is starting to play more like last year. we get to rest this weekend, before "resting" more against the lions and seahawks. i'm pretty excited about what this team is capable of.