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| Other Week 12 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL at SD | BUF at JAX | DEN at CHI | GB at DET | HOU at CLE | IND at ATL | MIA at PIT | MIN at NYG |
| NO at CAR | NYJ at DAL | OAK at KC | PHI at NE | SEA at STL | SF at ARI | TEN at CIN | WAS at TB |
Week 12 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 41, New York Giants 17
What you need to know
| Minnesota Vikings |
The Vikings victory was due primarily to the play of their defense, and the off game of the New York Giants offense. The Vikings intercepted Eli Manning four times, returning three of them for touchdowns. The fourth was converted into seven points as well, after a short drive culminating in a Chester Taylor touchdown.
Tarvaris Jackson played well, considering not much was asked of him in the game plan. He did make good on his first deep pass of the game for a long touchdown. For the remainder of the game, he completed mostly short passes when asked to pass, but spent most of his day handing the ball off.
Chester Taylor was the focus of the offense, carrying the ball himself more than two and a half times more than the Vikings threw the ball. He did not find much room however, and failed to reach the century mark, though he did find the end zone.
| New York Giants |
The Giants were done in by the play of Eli Manning, who had a hard time finding any rhythm the entire game. He was intercepted four times, with at least two of those interceptions coming when the intended receiver was not even looking for the ball. He completed less than 50 percent of his passes, but he did connect on enough long throws to end up with decent yardage.
Reuben Droughns was the primary ball carrier with Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward both missing the game with injuries. He had a tough time finding room to run against the stout Vikings run defense, and ended with just over three yards per carry, though he did score one touchdown. Ahman Bradshaw saw his first NFL carries, and looked good running the ball.
Plaxico Burress was the leading receiver for the Giants, and caught their lone touchdown pass. He was obviously bothered by his lingering ankle injury, but still was able to get open several times throughout the game. Amani Toomer also had nice yardage.
The Giants defense held the Vikings to just 251 yards. Early in the game they were able to key off the Vikings formation to determine if they were going to run or pass. However, it was too late as the Vikings had already built a lead thanks to their own defense.
What you ought to know
| QB Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 10 - 12 - 129 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 38 - 0 |
Jackson's best play came on his first pass attempt. With the Giants looking to stuff the run with eight men in the box, Jackson looked to the left leading the safety to one side, then came back deep down the right sideline hitting Sidney Rice for a 60 yard touchdown. For the remainder of the game, Jackson was asked mainly to hand the ball off, and throw short conservative passes. He ended up with a nice completion percentage, but he did take several sacks when he should have known the pressure was coming and thrown the ball away. He did escape pressure several times and added 38 yards on the ground to his meager passing number.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 31 - 77 - 1, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (2 targets) |
Taylor got the start for the injured Adrian Peterson for the second straight week, but did not find as many holes to run through as he did against Oakland. He finished with just under 2.5 yards per carry, but had enough chances to rack up 77 yards. His longest run of the day was just 13 yards, and the vast majority of his carries were the three yard and a cloud of dust variety. He also added 12 yards on two receptions.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 3 - 82 - 1 (4 targets) |
Rice's biggest play of the day was on the Vikings second play from scrimmage. Rice had single coverage and ran deep up the sideline. Tarvaris Jackson was able to put the ball on the money and Rice beat his man and took it for a 60 yard touchdown. Rice's next target was a third down, and Rice was running a pattern towards the sideline. Jackson was hit as he threw and the ball sailed out of bounds. A few series later, Rice made his second reception on a deep curl for thirteen yards. Rice last look was later in that same drive, Rice ran a quick out then turned it up field making a nice move diving for the first down. Rice did not get a look the entire rest of the game, but the score was well out of reach and the Vikings spent most of the rest of the game with the ball on the ground.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Wade converted both of his targets into receptions, but finished with just 14 yards. The Vikings did not look to throw often, and Wade was not the first option most of the game.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Shiancoe received only two looks all afternoon. Shiancoe, like all of the Vikings receivers, suffered due to the Vikings lead and the conservative play calling of the offense.
| PK Ryan Longwell 2 - 2 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 11 points |
Longwell hit all of his extra point attempts, and both of his field goal tries of 46 and 26 were good.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Vikings' rush defense played well, containing Reuben Droughns most of the game. Droughns was limited to just over three yards per carry, and the score limited Droughns opportunities. The Giants finished with just 75 yards on the ground.
| MIN Pass Defense |
The Vikings' pass defense yielded yards, but also made several big plays. They picked Manning off four times, returning three of the interceptions for touchdowns. The Vikings blitzed Manning all game in an attempt to general pressure, and it worked as Manning was under pressure regularly. The Vikings also disguised their looks, confusing Manning and surprising him with their pressure. In addition to the four interceptions, they sacked Manning three times.
| QB Eli Manning, Pass: 21 - 49 - 273 - 1 TD / 4 INT |
Manning struggled all afternoon, both with the Vikings defense, and with trying to get on the same page as his receivers. Manning threw to Shockey multiple times when Shockey did not even turn to look for the ball. Manning also had several other occasions where he was throwing the ball to an obviously different route than his receiver was running. Some of these plays resulted in the four interceptions Manning threw. Manning also had to contend with the blitzing pressure of the Vikings defense and was hit several times. He did throw the ball enough times to rack up 273 yards, as when he did connect with a receiver, they were often open.
| RB Reuben Droughns, Rush: 15 - 46 - 1, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (4 targets) |
Droughns did not find much room to run in his first start as a Giants player. Droughns replaced the injured Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward in the Giants backfield. He was however bottled up by Vikings and finished with just three yards per carry. He did score once on a short one yard dive into the end zone.
| WR Plaxico Burress, Rec: 7 - 93 - 1 (13 targets) |
Considering the issues Burress faced in the game, his final numbers were outstanding. The first issue was that it was clear Burress was bothered by his ankle during the game. He did not seem to make many hard cuts, and had a hard time getting out of his breaks. The second issue he dealt with was not being on the same page it seems with Eli Manning. Burress and Manning we just not in sync with each other. Despite that, Burress led the Giants in receptions with seven, yards with 93, and caught the lone touchdown pass from Manning. Even with the gimpy ankle, Burress was able to get open on the Vikings defensive backs.
| WR Amani Toomer, Rec: 4 - 83 - 0 (8 targets) |
Toomer, like all Giants receivers, had a hard time getting on the same page with Eli Manning. Toomer caught just half of the passes thrown his way, though a few of the balls were difficult to tell they were actually thrown to him. Most of his receptions were big plays though, catching passes of 31, 24, 6 and 22 yards.
| TE Jeremy Shockey, Rec: 4 - 44 - 0 (10 targets) |
Shockey was not on the same page as Manning at all during the game. Three of Manning's passes to Shockey resulted in touchdowns, however they were Minnesota Vikings touchdowns. Several times Manning threw to Shockey and the ball fell incomplete or was intercepted without Shockey even turning to look for the ball. Manning continued to go to Shockey, though and he finished with 44 yards on four receptions.
| PK Lawrence Tynes 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Tynes completed all of his extra point attempts and hit his only field goal try of 48 yards.
| NYG Rush Defense |
The Giants rush defense played extremely well against one of the top rushing teams in the league. The bottled up Chester Taylor, and limited him to just under two and a half yards per carry.
| NYG Pass Defense |
The Giants pass defense was not tested much during the game. They did however give up a deep touchdown pass at the beginning of the game, and allowed Tarvaris Jackson to complete 83 percent of his passes. They did sack Jackson four times, but those sacks resulted in just five yards lost for the Vikings.
