| Favre Missed Some Crucial Passes In The Season Opener Vs Saints |
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NFC North Standings
Brett Favre joined the Vikings in late August last year, didn't get into a groove until Week 3 of the season and still they cruised to a 6-0 start.
This season, however, Favre's decision to again not arrive in Minnesota until training camp was over appeared to backfire in quick fashion.
Favre, who took advantage of the fact the Vikings opened up against woeful teams in Cleveland and Detroit in 2009, completed 15 of 27 passes for 171 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a subpar 71.7 passer rating in a season-opening 14-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints at the Superdome.
It was obvious Favre was not on the same page as his wide receivers and he completed only four of the 12 passes that he threw to Greg Camarillo, Percy Harvin, Greg Lewis and Bernard Berrian. About the only receiver who was in sync with Favre was tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who caught four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.
"I think the timing was off a little bit," Favre said. "Without looking at film, off the top of my head, there were three or four throws that I just missed. I have no excuse other than just missing them. I threw one behind Greg Lewis. I had a couple of reads that I should have made differently. If I do that, I think it is a different ballgame. ... Overall, I just missed on some throws that I should have made."
In his first game with the Vikings last season, Favre completed 14 of 21 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown in a 34-20 victory over the Browns. A week later he threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-13 victory at Detroit before following that with a 301-yard passing performance against San Francisco.
The question now becomes how long will it take Favre to get on track this season? The Vikings play their home opener on Sept. 19 against Miami and then play host to Detroit before having a bye.
Those are key games considering the Vikings will play the Jets, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots coming out of the bye.
NOTES, QUOTES
—Vikings coach Brad Childress acknowledged that his team's opening game was expected to be a shootout between two top offenses. But that isn't what happened. "Obviously, it turned into a defensive struggle," Childress said. "I don't think that anybody would've seen that this way. They had four explosive plays in the first quarter. We kind of held them down after that. We were right where we wanted to be at halftime. Unfortunately, we were three and out far too many times. Hats off to New Orleans. They did a nice job defensively ... and we didn't have a lot of answers for that."
—DE Jared Allen was pleased with how the Vikings defense performed. "I am really proud of the way our defense played," he said. "Other than their first drive (on which the Saints scored), I thought we stopped them a lot on third downs and made plays."
—QB Brett Favre didn't play his best Thursday but he did say his surgically repaired left ankle held up fine. "I don't move around like I used to," Favre said. "But I feel like it did OK."
__ Should Lito Sheppard Be The Number One CB and Greg Camarillo A Starting Receiver? From The looks of Thursday's game these were the players that played the best for the Vikings under pressure.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES
—S Husain Abdullah started at strong safety Thursday and has won that job, according to coach Brad Childress. Abdullah beat out Tyrell Johnson and Jamarca Sanford, who were believed to be the top two candidates throughout training camp.
—CB Asher Allen started ahead of Lito Sheppard at right cornerback and was used at the left corner in nickel situations as veteran Antoine Winfield moved inside and Lito Sheppard came off the sideline to play right corner.
—WR Bernard Berrian returned punts but didn't do much in that role. Berrian muffed one punt and finished with 2 yards on two returns. He also had two fair catches. There is a chance the Vikings could give WR Greg Camarillo a look in that role.
—CB Cedric Griffin, who tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the NFC title game last season, was among the Vikings' eight inactives. It's not certain when Griffin will be able to begin playing but he is doing limited work in practice.
—LB E.J. Henderson played against the Saints, nine months after suffering a gruesome broken leg. Henderson started in his usual role in the middle and tied for second on the team with nine tackles.
—LT Bryant McKinnie left Thursday's game in the fourth quarter after he dislocated his finger. He is expected to return for the Vikings next game against Miami a week from Sunday.
REPORT CARD
PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — A year ago Brett Favre started slowly after joining the Vikings late and it didn't matter as Minnesota cruised past a woeful Cleveland team in its opener. This time, however, Favre's decision to arrive late definitely hurt his team as the Vikings lost to the world champion Saints. Favre often looked as if he was not on the same page as his wide receivers and the stats supported that. He completed 15 of 27 passes for 171 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a 71.7 passer rating. The only player Favre seemed to be in sync with was tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, who caught four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. No wide receiver caught more than one pass. Greg Camarillo, Percy Harvin, Greg Lewis and Bernard Berrian were targeted a combined 12 times but had only four receptions.
RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus — The Vikings made a surprising decision to go away from the run game in the second half after having success with it in the first. Adrian Peterson finished with 87 yards on 19 carries, but 57 of those yards and 13 of the carries came in the opening two quarters. The Vikings' run-to-pass ratio in the first half was 17 to 15 but that changed to six to 12 in the second. Peterson did see some time on third down, something that didn't happen much when Chester Taylor was around, and backup Albert Young got only three carries for 2 yards. Percy Harvin also rushed once for 2 yards. Rookie Toby Gerhart, a second-round pick, did not play because of a knee injury.
PASS DEFENSE: B — Despite having only three healthy cornerbacks dressed, the Vikings were able to do a nice job against Drew Brees. The Pro Bowl quarterback threw for 237 yards and a touchdown but that score came on New Orleans' opening drive when Brees completed three of four passes, including a 29-yard touchdown that went to Devery Henderson and came at the expense of cornerback Asher Allen. Allen started at the right corner but the Vikings went nickel much of the game and moved Allen to the left corner in those situations with Lito Sheppard on the right and savvy veteran Antoine Winfield matching up against the slot receiver. Strong safety Husain Abdullah got his first career start and appeared to hold up just fine.
RUSH DEFENSE: B — The Saints accumulated 79 yards on 25 carries with almost all of it coming in the second half. New Orleans only attempted three rushes in the first half but then ran the ball 22 times for 70 yards in the second. The Vikings have one of the NFL's top rushing defenses and for the most part they were solid on Thursday. The Saints were able to gain 31 yards on their 11-play drive that ended with a Pierre Thomas 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C — Nothing special here. Bernard Berrian, who had some success on punt returns in 2008, only had 2 yards on two returns and muffed one that he recovered. Percy Harvin was able to return kicks and averaged 20.5 yards on two run backs. Ryan Longwell made a 41-yard field-goal attempt but his extra point try late in the second quarter after Shiancoe caught a touchdown pass was blocked. Longwell also is back handling kickoffs after Rhys Lloyd failed to make the roster coming out of the preseason. Longwell did not have a touchback on three kickoffs but his first kick to open the game did go 2 yards deep into the end zone.
COACHING: C — The decision to go away from the run game in the second half was surprising, especially as Saints coach Sean Payton made the adjustment to try to balance his offense by running more. Childress also was unsuccessful on a challenge of a pass that he thought tight end Jim Kleinsasser had caught early in the fourth quarter. That cost him a timeout he could have used later in the game as the Saints ran out the clock. The bottom line, however, was that if Favre had a better game the Vikings would have won.
Well, look forward to the Miami Dolphins Game Vikings Fans maybe we'll see our offense and secondary step it up and match the rest of the team. Below, is a store of Minnesota Vikings Player Jerseys, get your Brett Favre Minnesota Vikings Jersey, they're selling fast!!
Well, look forward to the Miami Dolphins Game Vikings Fans maybe we'll see our offense and secondary step it up and match the rest of the team. Below, is a store of Minnesota Vikings Player Jerseys, get your Brett Favre Minnesota Vikings Jersey, they're selling fast!!
