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| NE at MIA | NYG at ARI | NYJ at TEN | OAK at DEN | PHI at BAL | SF at DAL | TB at DET | WAS at SEA |
Week 12 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 12
What you need to know
| Minnesota Vikings |
RB Adrian Peterson did not start the game and didn't play the first two series. It was reported that he was suffering from a chest cold, though head coach Brad Childress later revealed to FOX that he was simply trying to mix it up a bit. Later on Sirius radio, the talk was that Peterson had been late to a meeting this week and that's why he didn't start. During the first series, backup Chester Taylor scored a touchdown. Peterson came in on the third series and played as he typically would the rest of the way, capping his afternoon with a late fourth quarter score.
QB Gus Frerotte was carried to a victory by his running game and the Minnesota defense. Frerotte did not play well, missing wide open receivers regularly and failing to make many plays down the field.
The Minnesota defense swamped Jacksonville's offense pretty much the entire game. The Jaguars had just 35 yards on the ground, and they weren't very effective when forced into becoming a one-dimensional passing offense.
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
David Garrard set career highs with 45 pass attempts and 317 passing yards, but those large numbers still didn't result in a very good fantasy game (through little fault of his own). He found the end zone only once and threw two fourth quarter interceptions. On the bright side, he was given time by his offensive line for much of the afternoon.
RB Maurice Jones-Drew had an excellent game, despite being almost completely shut out on the ground. While had had just four rushing yards on three carries, he picked up 113 through the air on nine receptions.
David Garrard's offensive teammates really let him down. TE Marcedes Lewis dropped a sure touchdown, and WR Mike Walker had a ball go off his hands near the end zone for an interception. There were two other drops in the game, and numerous holding penalties that brought back big gains.
What you ought to know
| QB Gus Frerotte, Pass: 12 - 20 - 120 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 5 - 2 - 0 |
Despite a comfortable victory, Frerotte did not play very well. He didn't get a ton of time by his offensive line to look downfield, but even when he did have time his passes lacked crispness and accuracy. He consistently missed wide open receivers, including Adrian Peterson for what could've been a very big gain in the flat. It was difficult to tell who the target was on his interception, since the ball appeared to be nowhere near a Viking receiver.
In the third quarter, Minnesota got near the goal line on first down on one possession in particular, but Frerotte took an awful sack on the very next play that resulted in a ten yard loss. They eventually kicked a field goal on the drive. Even the biggest pass play of the day was almost a disaster. His 40 yard completion downfield to TE Visanthe Shiancoe was tipped about halfway there and nearly intercepted. At one point, Frerotte was shaken up so hard that he had to leave the game. His absence lasted only one play, however, and he returned to action without incident the rest of the way.
| QB Tarvaris Jackson |
Jackson replaced the injured Gus Frerotte for one play, handing the ball off to WR Bernard Berrian.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 17 - 80 - 1 (1 targets) |
Peterson did not start the game, giving way to backup Chester Taylor. It was initially reported that Peterson was suffering from a chest cold. Later, FOX reported that Brad Childress said he simply wanted to mix things up with the starting lineup. Later on Sirius radio, the talk was that Peterson had been late to a meeting this week and that's why he didn't start. Whatever the reason, Peterson did not take part in the first two series of the game. On one of those series, Taylor scored a three yard touchdown -- a situation that Peterson would normally find himself in. Peterson came in for the third series and took his first handoff for a 21 yard gain up the left side. It appeared he was set up for a big afternoon, but that was his longest run of the game. Not only that, it was his last significant gain of any kind for quite awhile. Finally, a fourth quarter handoff resulted in a 16 yard touchdown for him. The fullback and offensive line opened a massive hole for him, and he waltzed into the end zone untouched off the left side. Late in the game when Minnesota was trying to run out the clock, Taylor was the player Minnesota opted to give the carries to.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 9 - 25 - 1, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (3 targets) |
Taylor's statistics look modest enough, but he actually turned in some of the most critical plays of the afternoon. With Adrian Peterson surprisingly on the bench to start the game, Taylor took a handoff in for a three yard touchdown. He made a great spin and cutback to avoid oncoming tacklers, and went in for the score almost untouched. In the fourth quarter, Minnesota faced a third down and fourteen. Taylor took the ensuing handoff right up the middle for a huge 18 yard pickup. Later that same drive, Minnesota was at third and seven when Frerotte found Taylor for a 10 yard pass play. That drive resulted in the Adrian Peterson score to put Minnesota up 30-10. With the Vikings controlling the ball and trying to run out the clock at the end, it was Taylor and not Peterson who was given the carries.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rush: 2 - 22 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Berrian was targeted once on a deep ball and once in the end zone, but neither of them resulted in a reception. The only catch he had was a six yard grab in the first half. The team did try to get him involved in other ways, giving him two rushing attempts on reverses. The first reverse resulted in a 14 yard run to the three yard line (Chester Taylor scored on the next play). The second one followed an injury to Gus Frerotte and happened with Tarvaris Jackson under center. That one went for a four yard pickup.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 3 - 27 - 0 (5 targets) |
Rice turned in a quiet performance, but he did show some very nice hands on a third down sideline reception early in the fourth quarter. He had been wide open on the previous play as well, but the pass from Gus Frerotte was badly underthrown.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 3 - 60 - 0 (3 targets) |
Shiancoe didn't see a lot of action, but he made it count. All of his work came in the second half, with his big play also being the game's longest play from scrimmage. Gus Frerotte rolled out off a play-action fake and found Shiancoe down the seam for a 40 yard gain. The ball was actually tipped halfway to Shiancoe, but he maintained concentration and managed to hang on and pick up good yardage after the catch.
| PK Ryan Longwell 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Longwell ripped a 54 yard field goal, putting him at 4-4 on field goals from fifty yards or more in 2008. He later went on to boot a couple of chip shots from 32 and 22 yards away.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Vikings were up 14-0 before two minutes had even run off the clock, so the Jaguars had a tough time establishing a rushing attack early on. And when they tried to pass, they found some success doing it so they never did really get back to the run game. For the afternoon, Jacksonville only picked up 35 yards on the ground on 14 carries.
| MIN Pass Defense |
The flow of the game absolutely took the Jacksonville rushing offense out of the game, forcing the Jaguars to take to the air very early on. The end result (317 passing yards for David Garrard) looks like a lot, but it wasn't bad considering it took 45 passes to accumulate that much yardage. They did have some trouble applying pressure to David Garrard, something of a surprise considering the state of the Jacksonville offensive line so far this season. But they did make up for it by playing a very opportunistic fourth quarter. Garrard had protected the football very well for three quarters, not even coming close to an interception. But late in the fourth quarter, the Vikings picked him off twice -- the first one coming off a deflection -- that essentially ended any chance of the Jaguars getting back in the game.
Minnesota was handed a gift touchdown on the first play from scrimmage when center Brad Meester fumbled the snap. It was quickly scooped up by LB Napoleon Harris, who took it the rest of the way for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 27 - 45 - 317 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 5 - 11 - 0 |
Garrard's final stat line is not going to do justice to the way he played in the game. He was the victim of a lot of bad luck, starting with the opening snap of the game. Center Brad Meester thought Garrard was under center (he was in shotgun) and the ball was fumbled, where it was picked up by LB Napoleon Harris for an easy touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, there was another fumble that gave the ball to the Vikings in prime scoring territory. Before Garrard had even touched the ball, his team trailed 14-0. He did lead his team on a scoring drive at the end of the first quarter, capped by an easy strike to WR Reggie Williams. On Jacksonville's next possession, Garrard appeared to have thrown a second touchdown pass, this time to TE Marcedes Lewis. But Lewis couldn't hang onto the perfectly thrown ball and it fell incomplete.
For most of the game, he was given ample time to throw the football. He had a lot of time in the pocket, and the offensive line was doing a solid job against a tough defensive line. In fact, the second sack of Garrard was a case of him holding the ball too long, not anything the line did wrong. And on the rare occasion that he was flushed from the pocket, he did a nice job of eluding the pass rush. On one such play, he scrambled out to his right and found Lewis downfield for a big gain. It was a terrific individual effort, but unfortunately for Garrard not all of his linemen were playing within the rules. T Tony Pashos was whistled for his fourth holding penalty of the game, negating the big connection.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 3 - 4 - 0, Rec: 9 - 113 - 0 (11 targets) |
Despite getting nothing in the run game, Jones-Drew still turned in a very good performance. That's because he caught nine passes out of the backfield for 113 yards. He caught mostly screens and swing passes, though he did go down the field on at least one occasion to haul in a great leaping catch in traffic. Early in the fourth quarter, he was shaken up after being tackled awkwardly. It appeared that his ankle was twisted under him and he was in considerable pain as he limped off the field. But on Jacksonville's next offensive possession, he was back in the backfield, catching three more passes, and looking no worse for wear. We'll keep you updated on his condition throughout the week.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 6 - 20 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Taylor was very quiet, as the Jaguars got behind early and needed to go to the air to get back into the game. Taylor saw just two passes head in his direction, and he dropped one of them. With Maurice Jones-Drew the far superior receiver out of the backfield, it wasn't a good situation for Taylor to put up big point totals. Jones-Drew briefly left the game with an apparent ankle injury early in the fourth quarter, but returned the following series. He didn't look to be in any pain after returning, but ankle injuries can flare up later in the day or even the day after. We'll keep you updated on how he's feeling this week, which could impact Taylor's workload next week.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 4 - 37 - 0 (8 targets) |
Jones was a regular part of the offense, but wasn't able to get much separation. He caught just a single pass in the second half despite Jacksonville throwing the ball twenty times. And on that play, he fumbled. He did get open over the middle on a slant pattern, but Garrard threw the ball a bit behind him and he was unable to bring the pass in.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 3 - 33 - 0 (4 targets) |
Northcutt caught just three passes, all in the first half. He added a fourth pass later in the half for a gain of four yards, but the play was negated due to a holding penalty.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 3 - 44 - 1 (6 targets) |
Williams' afternoon greatly resembled his 2007 season. He caught just three balls for 44 yards, but one of them went for a score. The touchdown was a quick slant off the line of scrimmage and went for a relatively simple eight yard score. He also had a drop later in the first half.
| WR Jerry Porter, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (5 targets) |
Porter caught a 14 yard pass on Jacksonville's third possession. It was his last catch of the afternoon. He had a short pass negated by a penalty and was also targeted near the end zone (an uncatchable pass), but was very quiet aside from that. He was thrown to just once in the entire second half.
| WR Mike Walker (3 targets) |
Walker was thrown to only three times, all of them coming late in the fourth quarter. The first one was a quick slant from the nine yard line and Garrard put the ball right on the money at the three, but Walker let the pass bounce off his hands and into the waiting hands of Bennie Sapp. Walker later caught a 15 yard pass, but it was called back after a holding penalty. His final target was the other interception thrown by Garrard, on a deep ball downfield that was well-covered.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 4 - 41 - 0 (6 targets) |
Lewis missed a golden opportunity for a nice fantasy game when he dropped what would have been a sure three yard touchdown right at the goal line. He also lost an 18 yard reception early in the fourth quarter when the play was negated by a holding penalty. As it stands, he had a solid game but he was inches away from what could have been a big-time performance.
| PK Josh Scobee 1 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
It was not a banner day for the Jacksonville kicker. Scobee, who entered the game with just two missed field goals all season, cost his team dearly with two missed field goals in this game alone. The first one was barely hooked to the left from 46 yards out. The second was inexcusable, as it was hooked even worse from just 38 yards out. He also kicked an onside attempt too softly and booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds for a penalty.
| JAX Rush Defense |
For most of the game, Jacksonville did a very effective job containing the duo of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. They did allow an early rushing score to Taylor, but that was more the fault of the special teams putting them in bad field position. Through three quarters, the Jaguars had allowed 83 yards and one score on the ground. But during one possession early in the fourth quarter, the run defense really let the team down. Facing a third down and 14, Chester Taylor took a draw up the middle for 18 yards. At that point, the Jaguars were down thirteen points and still had enough time to get back tin the game. But that conversion, followed by a 16 yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson four plays later, delivered the knockout punches.
LB Brian Iwuh appeared to have jammed his neck in the first quarter while trying to make a tackle on WR Sidney Rice. No update was given on his condition.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jacksonville defense knocked Gus Frerotte around all game long, even knocking him out of the game at one point. He left for just one play, but it was an example of just how hard he was being hit. Frerotte never looked comfortable in the pocket, and never really took many shots down the field. In fact, the biggest play of the game for Minnesota's passing offense didn't even go as planned. The ball was tipped down the field, but still fell into the waiting arms of TE Visanthe Shiancoe. The play resulted in a 41 yard gain. Down the field, the Jaguars defensive backs didn't allow the Vikings receivers to gain separation, evidenced by the fact that the Vikings only attempted one deep pass to a wide receiver all game long (and it was incomplete). They only long pass they did complete down the field was to Jacksonville for an interception.
