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| BUF at NYJ | CLE at PHI | DEN at CAR | DET at IND | GB at JAX | MIN at ARI | NE at OAK | NO at CHI |
| NYG at DAL | PIT at BAL | SD at KC | SEA at STL | SF at MIA | TB at ATL | TEN at HOU | WAS at CIN |
Week 15 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 35, Arizona Cardinals 14
What you need to know
| Minnesota Vikings |
Minnesota only threw 17 times in the game. But QB Tarvaris Jackson had a career high four touchdown passes and got off to a great start passing for three first half touchdowns to give the Vikings a 28-0 lead. He led the Vikings on a 94 yard drive in the second quarter, and looked well in command of the game. He finished 11 of 17 for 163 yards and four touchdowns.
RB Adrian Peterson had a 100 yard game by half time breaking off long runs of 34 and 25 yards against a Cardinals defense that missed many tackles. He finished the game with 28 rushes for 165 yards, yet no scores.
WR Bernard Berrian got the Vikings off to a hot start scoring the team's first two touchdowns, (an 82 yard punt return and a 41 yard catch) in the first quarter alone.
| Arizona Cardinals |
The Cardinals turned the ball over on two of their first three possessions and gave up a long punt return to fall behind by 28 points in the first half, and could never recover. Arizona only ran seven running plays.
QB Kurt Warner got off to a rough start completing only two of his first five passes and throwing an interception. He finished the first half with only 89 yards passing. Pressured all day long, Warner had little time to throw and was hit often. He finished the game 29 of 45 for 270 yards and one score.
RB Tim Hightower found the running tough all day long finishing with only 20 yards on five carries. The Cardinals had only seven rushing attempts in the game.
WRs Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald were kept in check all game. Neither reached the end zone.
What you ought to know
| QB Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 11 - 17 - 163 - 4 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 3 - 0 |
Jackson had a career high four touchdown game, yet completed only 11 passes on the day. He got off to a good start hitting Bernard Berrian and Sydney Rice for two first quarter touchdowns. He then added a third to Chester Taylor to give Minnesota a 28 point first half lead. In this third quarter, he hit WR Bobby Wade (58 yards) late in the for his fourth touchdown pass. He completed passes to six different receivers. He finished the day 11 for 17 and 163 yards.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 28 - 165 - 0 (1 targets) |
Peterson had a 100 yard game wrapped up by halftime and found holes in the Cardinals rushing defense. He finished with 165 yards on 28 carries. He had five runs of more than ten yards on the day. He ran hard and found holes on the perimeter of the Cardinals rush defense. With 168 yards, it was Peterson's fifth career 150+ yard game.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 10 - 66 - 0, Rec: 4 - 37 - 1 (6 targets) |
Taylor contributed 66 yards on 11 carries and scored on an 11 yard catch in the second quarter. He finished the game with 103 all purpose yards
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 41 - 1 (3 targets) |
Berrian had a huge first quarter returning one punt for a touchdown for the Vikings' first score, then catching a 41 yard pass to give the Vikings an early 14-0 lead. It was his only catch on the afternoon.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 2 - 67 - 1 (3 targets) |
Wade was the Vikings' leading receiver and scored on a crucial 59 yard touchdown catch to end a Cardinals comeback in the second half.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 1 - 6 - 1 (1 targets) |
Rice caught a six yard touchdown in the first quarter and finished the game with six yards on his only reception.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Shiancoe only had one catch for eight yards.
| PK Ryan Longwell 0 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 5 points |
Longwell made all five of his extra point attempts, but had a 32 yard field goal attempt blocked. It was returned for a Cardinal touchdown.
| MIN Rush Defense |
The Minnesota rush defense yielded only 43 yards on the day, but that was due to the Cardinals abandoning the run game in the second half. In all the Cardinals rushed only seven times in this game.
| MIN Pass Defense |
Kept Arizona's Boldin, Fitzgerald and Breaston, in check the entire game, but yielded an early third quarter 50 yard touchdown to Jerheme Urban. Urban broke a few tackles on his way to the score. Although they gave up 270 yards to Warner, they did a great job on the afternoon keeping the receivers in front of them, avoiding the big play. They had four sacks on the game, and one interception.
| QB Kurt Warner, Pass: 29 - 45 - 270 - 1 TD / 1 INT |
Warner had a rough start completing only two of his first six passes for 25 yards and throwing one interception, He looked flustered from the Minnesota defensive scheme which was to blitz often. He soon got on track in the third quarter, hitting Jerheme Urban for a 50 yard touchdown. He was clearly affected by the tenacious Vikings pass rush. Warner also fumbled once on the day.
| QB Matt Leinart, Pass: 3 - 5 - 28 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Leinart came in late in the fourth quarter during garbage time. He completed three passes for 28 yards.
| RB Tim Hightower, Rush: 5 - 20 - 0, Rec: 5 - 20 - 0 (9 targets) |
Hightower was a non-factor in this game and rushed for only 20 yards on five carries. He added five catches for 20 yards, but two of them were in the game's last drive with Leinart hitting him out of the backfield.
| RB J.J. Arrington, Rush: 2 - 23 - 0, Rec: 7 - 48 - 0 (9 targets) |
Arrington continues to find playing time in this offense as he speed is a plus. Arrington had 71 all purpose yards from scrimmage, and added another 126 yards on kick off returns.
| WR Anquan Boldin, Rec: 6 - 34 - 0 (9 targets) |
Boldin had only six catches for 34 yards on the day, and lost one fumble. His longest catch was only 11 yards.
| WR Larry Fitzgerald, Rec: 5 - 52 - 0 (11 targets) |
Fitzgerald found the Vikings' pass defense tough only catching five balls for 52 yards. His longest, 23 yards, came in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand.
| WR Steve Breaston, Rec: 4 - 46 - 0 (9 targets) |
Breaston caught four balls for 46 yards with a long catch of 23 yards. He was targeted deep once. He added another 32 yards on punt returns.
| WR Jerheme Urban, Rec: 3 - 82 - 1 (3 targets) |
Urban was the Cardinals' leading receiver with 82 yards on three catches. He scored from 50 yards out in the third quarter to jump start the Cardinals' offense. He broke several tackles on his touchdown run.
| TE Ben Patrick, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
Patrick had two receptions for 16 yards, one on third down to keep a drive alive.
| PK Neil Rackers 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Rackers did not have a field goal attempt, but connected on his two extra point attempts.
| ARI Rush Defense |
The Cardinals rush defense had a horrible game giving up over 200 yards rushing on the day. Adrian Peterson had a 100 yard game in the first half. They were troubled with missed tackles throughout the game. Although they did not give up a score, it was hardly a positive game.
| ARI Pass Defense |
The Cardinals pass defense had a horrible day giving up four touchdown passes on only 17 passing attempts. They gave up two early scores on the day, but did cause a fumble by Chester Taylor to end another potential scoring drive that would have put them up 28 points. It's worth noting the Cardinals blocked a 32 yard field goal attempt in the third period. It was returned by Arizona's Roderick Hood for the score.
