NFL: Week Seven – Minnesota Vikings vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Minnesota Vikings (17) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (27)
On a day where defenses controlled the flow of the game it stands to reason that two fourth quarter returns for touchdowns led the Steelers to a hard fought victory. LaMarr Woodley scooped up a Brett Favre fumble for a 77-yard touchdown with 6:23 remaining, and Keyaron Fox grabbed a tipped pass taking it 82 yards to the house to clinch the win with just a minute remaining. This was the marquee game of the week and it did not fail to deliver in terms of being a hard fought battle with an exciting finish.
The game essentially boiled down to the Steelers defense making the big plays when it needed to and the Vikings constantly shooting themselves in the foot with bad turnovers. The Steelers defense kept the pressure on Favre all day long and dialed up four sacks and converted its only two forced turnovers into returns for touchdowns. Meanwhile the Vikings committed 11 penalties to the tune of 78 yards including four in one drive in the fourth quarter.
While Favre through for 334 yards the Steelers did a solid job of containing Adrian Peterson allowing him to pick up only 69 yards on 18 carries. The Vikings struggled to handle the Steelers speed off the corners as James Harrison and LaMar Woodley were constantly applying pressure all day and helping to contain Peterson from getting to the outside.
James Farrior and James Harrison led the Steelers defensive charge. Farrior paced the Steelers with 15 tackles including a sack while Harrison picked up a pair of sacks in addition to a tackle-for-loss.
What became readily apparent today during this game for the Vikings is they are going to struggle against quality opponents when Peterson is not running the ball effectively. It is not because Favre can no longer do it, it just seems their receivers are just not at the level they need to be when teams do not have to load up to stop the run. The Vikings have some good receivers but they do not have any great ones as of yet. Sidney Rice is the closest thing they have but he is simply not there just yet. It also does not help that teams do not respect guys like Percy Harvin or Bernard Berrian all that much.
One other thing that stood out to me in the fourth quarter of that game was how it seemed as though the Vikings gave up on the Steelers last touchdown return. As Fox lumbered his way to an 82-yard interception return for a touchdown right tackle Phil Loadholt was the only member of the Vikings who made a real effort to run the guy down. You mean to tell me Loadholt was the only guy who could run Fox down? The outcome of the game was still in the balance at the time and the Vikings did not seem to care terribly much. I guess they figured why bother since we are still 6-1 and have control of our division. But, it could end up being the difference as to whether they play at home or on the road if it comes down to them and the Saints for the conference championship game.
A lot of folks want to point to Ben Roethlisberger’s success this year as a sign they are becoming more of a passing team than a running one. Ultimately, though the running game is still the key to their offensive success. In drives where the Steelers struggled to run the ball they struggled to move the ball period. Roethlisberger never found a good rhythm Sunday as the running game sputtered at times. In fact the Steelers offense, in general, struggles to score points when it struggles to run the ball. The Steelers did manage to run for 100 yards Sunday, but they were never able to sustain the running game for long stretches of time.
As for the Steelers if they do not repeat this season it will be due to a mediocre offensive line and a secondary that does not tackle well. Roethlisberger seemed to be rushing his throws a bit today and looking to throw the short routes due to Minnesota’s pass rush. There were a lot of slipped tackles and yards after the catch for Vikings receivers.
News, Notes, and Observations
Brett Favre threw for 300 yards for the second time this season. Sunday was the first time this year Favre failed to throw a touchdown.
Harrison recorded two sacks for the third time in three games and now has 8 on the season.
Fox made his first career interception count for his first career touchdown. Fox was only in the game due to an apparent ankle injury that had knocked Lawrence Timmons out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Roethlisberger failed to throw for 200 yards for the first time this season.
Rashard Mendenhall was held out of the end zone for the first time since assuming the starting job.
Sidney Rice caught a career high 11 passes for 136 yards. He also eclipsed 100 yards in receiving for the second straight week.
Mike Wallace caught three passes for 72 yards and found the end zone for the second time in three weeks. Wallace has posted at least 50 yards receiving in four of his last five games. He has also had at least one catch of 35 or more yards in four of those five games.
Heath Miller was held out of the end zone for the first time in four weeks but did manage to catch six passes on the day.
Hines Ward was held to a season low output of just three yards on one catch and failed to score for the first time in three weeks for the Steelers.
Sunday was the first time Farrior has recorded 10 tackles in a game this season.
Vikings rookie Asher Allen had a sack and forced a fumble in his first career game.
