Colts Comeback On Vikings To Win 28-17 
Manning Calling an Audible Despite being up by ten points in the first half, the Minnesota Vikings fell apart to lose 28-17 to the Peyton Manning led Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings offense got off to a hot start to begin the game, with Daunte Culpepper completing four consecutive passes, including the touchdown pass to Chris Henry. At the end of the day, Culpepper had a more respectable 16 completed passes of 20 attempts for 281 yards, and two touchdowns, compared to last week. The rushing game was unable to once again break the 100-yard mark, as Adrian Peterson went for 69 yards off 25 rushes. Peterson had two fumbles deep in Colts territory that caused a turnover. Bernard Berrian and Chris Henry had a great receiving game. Berrian had seven catches for 103 yards, and Henry had four catches for 115 yards, 2 TDs, and an unfortunate fumble that caused another turnover. Sidney Rice had his first catch of the year on a clutch 32 yards that put Minnesota in a position to win the game; unfortunately, a Peterson fumble put to bed any chance of victory. The Vikings defense could not stop Joseph Addai from running all over them, as he ran for 134 yards, including a 72 yard TD run. Peyton Manning had plenty of time to throw as well, as Cornerback Marcus McCauley was the lone defender to get a sack on Manning. With 21 unanswered 2nd half points, the Colts came back to move on to 1-1, as the Vikings move to 0-2. Brad Childress cited turnovers as the reason for their loss, saying, "We just couldn't minimize turnovers on the offensive side of the ball. We knew we had a tough game going against an MVP-calibre player in Manning, and those fumbles put us in a bad place. This could have been a much closer game if we didn't lose those fumbles." |
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL | |
| [BGCOLOR=rgb(0, 44, 95)]IND[/BGCOLOR] | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| [BGCOLOR=rgb(79, 38, 131)]MIN[/BGCOLOR] | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Vikings Dominate Panthers, Win 2-33 
Kevin Williams Attempting A Sack on Jake Delhomme The Minnesota Vikings looked like a completely different team today as they dominated the Carolina Panthers to win in at home 2-33. Daunte Culpepper had an excellent game, throwing only 15 times for 12 completions, 264 yards, and three touchdowns. Despite the domination, the Vikings yet again failed to break 100 rushing yards, as Peterson rushed 16 times for only 21 yards. The pace of the game was dictated by the Vikings defense, whom dominated the Jake Delhomme led Panthers offense. Delhome threw three interceptions, including an incredible 72-yard Pick-6 by Cornerback Charles Gordon, who is fast becoming a household name in Minnesota. Marcus McCauley also had an interception on Delhomme, his first of the year, in addition to Cedric Griffin nabbing an INT. The Panthers' lone score came off a 1st Quarter safety off of Culpepper. Offensively, it was the Bernard Berrian show, as he only had two catches, but had the same amount of yards as Visanthe Shiancoe, Sidney Rice, and Bobby Wade combined. His two catches for 122 yards also nabbed him two touchdowns, making him the Vikings Player of the Game. Head Coach Brad Childress was pleased with how his team performed, stating, "We didn't have to do much offensively, we just let the defense do their thing. Although we didn't get any sacks, hey, we'll take three interceptions. Culpepper has been getting better and better each week he's been in the pocket. He's finally starting to find his groove, I think." The Vikings stay in last place of the NFC North, but go from 0-2 to 1-2. Next week they face the Tennessee Titans. |
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL |
[BGCOLOR=rgb(0, 133, 202)]CAR[/BGCOLOR] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[BGCOLOR=rgb(79, 38, 131)]MIN[/BGCOLOR] | 10 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 33 |
September 23rd, 2008 EXCLUSIVE: "Winning Season or Not, Fire Childress" Former Vikings OC Brian Billick Advises Team to Release Coach 
Brian Billick was on ESPN recently giving his thoughts on how each NFL team is currently doing. The Super Bowl winning Head Coach for the Ravens and former Minnesota Vikings Offensive Coordinator pulled no punches in regards to his thoughts on the Vikings current Head Coach, Brad Childress. "Look, the Vikings are last place in the NFC North. I know it's too early in the season to really say some of this stuff, but to me, Winning season or not, even if the Vikings win the Super Bowl, they should not bring back Brad Childress as head coach... Yes, you heard me right. Winning season or not, fire Childress. I'm not saying fire him midseason if things get desperate, say they end up 1-7 with no way of making playoffs. Don't do that. Finish the season, pay him his money, and find a better coach. Look at the run game through the last three weeks; if Adrian Peterson, one of the best young running backs I've ever seen and potentially a once in a lifetime talent, can't even break past 69 yards once in three weeks of play, then something's wrong. It all goes back to coaching. Daunte Culpepper's playing hard and I respect that, but I wouldn't even keep him after this season, even if he gets MVP. He's 31, hasn't played a true starting position since 2005 and is not what he once was. I like Daunte, too. I became the Ravens' head coach before the Vikings drafted him, and honestly, I saw the talent in him. If I were still the offensive coordinator, I guarantee we would have won a Super Bowl with Culpepper at some point. All that said and done, I think the Vikings have a damn good roster that needs good coaching, and honestly, I don't think Childress fits the bill. If they approached me in the offseason and offered me a head coaching position, well... I wouldn't say no, necessarily. Denny Green gave me a coaching job for them in 1992, and when I heard he had been fired in 2001, I was shocked. They give it to my replacement, a guy who wouldn't know anything about head coaching if he was taught personally by Vince Lombardi. That's not to throw shade or whatever it's called on Mike [Tice], I like him as a person, but he just wasn't a good coach and I think even he admits that." Harsh words indeed from someone well known in the Vikings circle. |
To be fair to Daunte, he didn't cost Minnesota the Indy game. Peterson's fumblitis did them in when they still had a chance at winning.
Vikings Shut Out Titans, 23-0 
Ryan Longwell Attempting His Lone Field Goal Try One week after decimating the Carolina Panthers, the Vikings strike again while the iron is hot and smother the Tennessee Titans decisively. Vince Young threw three interceptions, including two end zone interceptions to Darren Sharper, and another to E.J. Henderson. Young was also sacked four times, twice by Ray Edwards, and once by Pat and Kevin Williams. Despite making it to the Red Zone three times, the Tennessee Titans failed to capitalize on any of their trips and left the game with no points scored by anybody. Daunte Culpepper threw like a mad man today, with four receivers going over 70 yards each. Culpepper ended the day with 25/40, 406 Yards, 1 TD, and an additional rushing TD. Despite causing a turnover on a fumble, Culpepper played like an MVP quarterback. Adrian Peterson finally got his first rushing TD on the season, but ended with a paltry 17 rushes for 52 yards. Chris Henry and Bernard Berrian once again went over 100 yards each, and Visanthe Shiancoe caught 8 balls for 85 yards. Bobby Wade had 3 Catches for 75 Yards. Jerramy Stevens had the lone touchdown catch on the day. Childress was pleased with his team performance overall, stating, "It's not often we go into the opposing team's turf and dominate them like that. Even rarer is the fact we shut them out. We're now 2-2 and in 2nd place in the NFC North. Next week we're facing the Saints in the Superdome, so we have to go out and show we can win against them before we face the Lions and Chicago Bears. Gotta keep up the momentum..." |
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL | |
| [BGCOLOR=rgb(79, 38, 131)]MIN[/BGCOLOR] | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 23 |
| [BGCOLOR=rgb(12, 35, 64)]TEN[/BGCOLOR] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
September 30th, 2008 Daunte Culpepper Named NFC Offensive Player of the Week Daunte Culpepper has been named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week according to NFL.com and ESPN, for his performance in the Vikings' win over the Tennessee Titans this Sunday. He threw 25/40 for 406 passing yards, and a singular touchdown, while also going for an additional rushing touchdown. Culpepper surprised a lot of people coming out of the last three weeks, after a insanely terrible first game in Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. Despite that performance, Culpepper currently stands as the player with the highest Quarterback Rating in the league, with a staggering 113.1. The 2004 near-MVP is looking to re-etch his name and perhaps become the 2008 Most Valuable Player... but for now, he has to be pretty happy being named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. |
Vikings Decimate Saints 38-20 Saints QB Drew Brees Attempting a Pass The Vikings once again dominated their opponents for the third week in a row. Minnesota walked into the Louisiana Superdome looking to continue their winning ways after starting the season 0-2 and immediately got off to a hot start against the undefeated Saints. Despite allowing a touchdown on the first drive of the game, the Vikings bounced back and until the fourth quarter did not allow a single point from the Saints. Brees threw two interceptions and was sacked once on way to a humiliating 38-20 loss. His first interception was like something out of a carnival, as Madieu Williams batted the ball down on a pass intended to Marques Colston, Antoine Winfield immediately dove on the ground to intercept it, juggling it before hauling it in. The second interception was to Cedric Griffin, who jumped the route and took the ball also intended to Colston. On offense, it was once again the Daunte Culpepper show as he broke sacks, aired it out, and ran all over the field. He ended the day 24/31 with 409 Yards, and 4 TDs, and garnered a perfect passer rating of 158.3. He additionally ran for 25 yards on 4 carries. Adrian Peterson only garnered 28 yards on the ground, but caught two balls for 82 yards and a TD. Chris Henry and Visanthe Shiancoe hauled in balls left and right, with Shiancoe going for 123 yards. Bernard Berrian caught 5 for 92 yards, marking the first game since Green Bay he did not post over 100 receiving yards. The Vikings are currently tied with the Green Bay Packers for 2nd place in the NFC North, with the Detroit Lions leading with a record of 3-1. The Vikings face Detroit next week. |
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL |
[BGCOLOR=rgb(79, 38, 131)]MIN[/BGCOLOR] | 7 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 38 |
[BGCOLOR=rgb(211, 188, 141)]NO[/BGCOLOR] | 7 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20 |
October 7th, 2008 Daunte Culpepper Named NFL Offensive Player of The Week Daunte returns to the awards list yet again, this time serving as the OPOW for the entire league. His Monday Night performance against the undefeated Saints was nothing short of spectacular, going 24/31 and 409 yards, with four touchdowns. After the Monday Night Football game, Culpepper now leads the league in QBR, Yards, and Touchdowns. He is having an MVP season the likes of which 2004 would be jealous off, especially after his flaccid game against Green Bay, makes this all the more surprising. |
