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Week 4 Game Recap: Minnesota Vikings 17, Tennessee Titans 30
What you need to know
| Minnesota Vikings |
Despite being listed as questionable coming into the game, there was nothing questionable about RB Adrian Peterson's production and he looked healthy. While he didn't hit the century mark on the ground, he still displayed his characteristic explosiveness and notched two scores.
While QB Gus Frerotte began the game efficient and effective, that effectiveness waned as the game progressed and the Titans' defense was able to focus more and more on the pass. By the end of the game Frerotte was under steady pressure, was regularly off target (including on a late interception) and was ultimately forced from the game with an injury to his non-throwing hand.
While WR Bernard Berrian saw increased production due to Minnesota's need to pass in an attempt to catch up for much of the game, Berrian's day could have been much better (and would have included a long TD) had he shown more focus and been able to hold on to the balls that landed right in, and then went through, his hands.
| Tennessee Titans |
QB Kerry Collins began the game hitting on all cylinders -- and hitting all of his receivers -- but as the game progressed his accuracy diminished and he missed a number of opportunities. Even so, he played an intelligent game that allowed his team to emerge victorious.
RB Chris Johnson finally managed to punch in a couple of scores on the ground, and both were from within the ten yard line -- an area where carries were formerly reserved for fellow RB LenDale White. All was not lost for White, however, as despite very limited opportunities, he did convert one of his goal line carries and notch a touchdown for his fourth consecutive game.
In the passing game, the Titans' most consistent deep target was WR Justin Gage who was consistently able to get open and make plays whenever Kerry Collins was able to get the ball to him.
What you ought to know
| QB Gus Frerotte, Pass: 25 - 43 - 266 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
In the first half, with the game still close and the threat of Adrian Peterson on the ground, Frerotte was able to work the passing game efficiently, if unspectacularly. He rarely sought to throw the ball deep and was content to keep to high-percentage passes. When he did throw the ball deep he tended to be on target, but his receivers had difficulty making the catches. The most striking example was a dropped pass by wide receiver Bernard Berrian late in the second quarter where Frerotte laid the ball right in his hands and a 44 yard touchdown would have resulted had Berrian not bobbled the ball away. In the second half, however, as the Vikings were increasingly forced to pass and the Titans were able to pay less attention to Adrian Peterson, bring more pressure and drop more men into coverage, Frerotte found it much more difficult to continue his early success. This slide in production culminated in a bad fourth quarter interception deep in his own end on an overthrow to the Titans' Nick Harper. On the following, and final series, Frerotte was replaced by Tarvaris Jackson due to an injury to his non-throwing hand.
| QB Tarvaris Jackson, Pass: 1 - 1 - 8 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Jackson saw only one series of action in relief of injured starter Gus Frerotte, and it was the final series of the day. While he completed his first pass for an eight yard gain, the following two attempts were not nearly as successful. On both occasions Jackson held on to the ball too long resulting in consecutive sacks.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 18 - 80 - 2, Rec: 4 - 21 - 0 (6 targets) |
While his status was questionable all week, Peterson was able to start the game and quickly made his presence felt. In the Vikings' second series, Peterson showed few ill-effects from his tweaked hamstring and capped off the series (and started the second quarter) with a 28 yard scamper to the right side that saw him hit a hole, tight rope walk the sideline, and fight through a Titans defensive back tugging on his jersey to squeak into the end-zone. This explosiveness was again on display in the third quarter when he reversed field on a carry that saw him convert a probable loss into a 21 yard gain. Peterson later added a second touchdown, running it in from the three. The only negative on his day occurred in the second quarter as he fumbled away the ball during an attempt to rush up the middle against the imposing Titans defensive line. Ultimately, Peterson's production was limited by the fact that Minnesota was forced to play catch-up and he ended up with only 18 carries on the day. In the passing game, Peterson received regular looks, particularly in the second half, but was unable to make anything significant happen.
| RB Chester Taylor, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
With fellow running back Adrian Peterson able to suit up for the Vikings and start, Chester Taylor was already destined to see limited action by the opening whistle. Taylor's prospects only worsened as Tennessee opened up a lead that they would never give up. As the Vikings increasingly looked to the pass, and what limited runs were called went to home run hitter Peterson, Taylor became a forgotten man and ended with only one carry and one target for a combined total of zero yards.
| WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 7 - 75 - 0 (7 targets) |
With fellow wide receiver, and former starter, Sidney Rice still nursing an ailing knee, Wade received the start and took advantage of the opportunity as he hauled in all seven of his targets in the active Vikings passing game, six of them in the second half. While he was initially used to run shorter routes, as the game progressed and the Vikings continued to trail, Wade was sent downfield and hauled in two consecutive completions in the fourth quarter of 15 and 23 yards respectively. Wade was effective enough that Rice, who saw only two targets even though he was active for the game.
| WR Bernard Berrian, Rec: 5 - 78 - 0 (7 targets) |
For the first time this season, the Vikings were forced to go to the passing game for a significant amount of the day, and do so with a quarterback under center capable of making plays. As would be expected in such circumstances, Berrian's stats benefitted. With eight targets he was tied for the team lead, and he was able to haul in five of them. Almost two-thirds of Berrian's 78 yards came on two plays down the right side of the field, including a dramatic fourth quarter reception that saw Berrian hit in stride, but heading out of bounds. While Berrian (somewhat amazingly) got both feet in-bounds, had quarterback Gus Frerotte thrown the ball only slightly more towards the center of the field, Berrian would not have gone out at the three and would have had a touchdown. Berrian might also have had a 44 yard touchdown on a late second quarter pass where Frerotte laid the ball right in his hands and in stride, but Berrian bobbled the ball away.
| WR Sidney Rice, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Still showing the effects of his injured knee, Rice did not start the game and was not really a factor. Despite the fact the Vikings went to the air fifteen times in the final quarter, Rice was not targeted on any of those pass attempts.
| TE Visanthe Shiancoe, Rec: 4 - 47 - 0 (8 targets) |
Shiancoe was one of QB Gus Frerotte's two favorite targets on the day and early on was used both under coverage and as a downfield receiver. His biggest gain came in the second quarter when he easily blew past the linebacker assigned to cover him and hauled in a 22 yard reception. Had Frerotte not thrown the ball slightly behind him, he might have been able to gain an additional ten yards. As the game progressed, however, and the Vikings were forced to try and amass points quickly deeper downfield, Shiancoe saw his targets drained away. As a result, a day that began with some promise for above average production ended with solid, if unspectacular, yardage totals.
| PK Ryan Longwell 1 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Longwell was given two opportunities to kick field goals, with both coming in the second quarter. While he was able to convert on his first, 42 yard attempt. He was unable to hit a 49 yarder at on the final play of the half that would have converted a Tennessee fumble into three points and would have pulled the Vikings within a touchdown going into the break.
| MIN Rush Defense |
While the Vikings rush defense appeared strong on paper, giving up only 76 yards on 34 carries, it was unable to stop the run when it mattered. All three of Tennessee's touchdowns came on the ground, and all of them came on runs from inside the ten yard line. Also, while the Vikings were able to limit any damage done on the ground from runs up the middle, they did show occasional vulnerability to runs to the outside -- including on two of the aforementioned touchdowns.
| MIN Pass Defense |
The Vikings' pass defense was unsteady, at best. Early on, the Titan QB, Kerry Collins, was able to shred them long and short and march his team down the field. As the game progressed, however, they were able to apply some pressure and force Collins from the pocket. While they failed to record a sack or force an interception, it did seem to squeeze Collins out of his comfort zone and his accuracy suffered as a result.
| QB Kerry Collins, Pass: 18 - 35 - 199 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 6 - 2 - 0 |
The day was a tale of two halves for Collins. Out of the gates Collins was able to use the time his offensive line gave him to work the Titans down the field using deep, medium and play action passes. In short he looked every bit like the veteran QB that he is. As the game wore on, however, Collins' was able to complete fewer and fewer passes and struggled with his accuracy. Part of the reason for this was the fact that he was regularly forced to step out of the pocket and call upon what little mobility he possesses. Even so, while he only completed five of his 14 second half pass attempts, Collins did play smart, avoiding sacks, ill-advised throws or anything else that would have put his team's lead in any jeopardy.
| RB Chris Johnson, Rush: 17 - 61 - 2, Rec: 3 - 14 - 0 (5 targets) |
Having split carries almost evenly with running mate LenDale White in the Titans' first three games, Johnson saw his workload increase against the Vikings. Most of these additional touches came inside the ten yard line where, earlier in the season, White had been given the bulk of the carries. It's unlikely that coach Jeff Fisher was disappointed with Johnson's red-zone production as the rookie was able to score his first two rushing touchdowns of the season on runs to either side of the field -- including the late fourth quarter score that sealed up the win for the Titans. While the two scores certainly made for a successful fantasy day, Johnson's yardage statistics were unremarkable due to the Vikings' stalwart rushing defense. That being said, he was semi-regularly able to gain the corner and gash the defense for gains of six to nine yards. He also was able to use his elusiveness to avoid being dropped for a loss on all but one occasion. In the rare instances where Johnson was called upon to rush inside, he was unable to make anything happen. In the passing game, Johnson received five targets and converted on three of them, including an impressive first quarter grab at the Viking two yard line that saw him leap above the coverage and snag the ball out of the air well above his head.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 11 - 13 - 1 |
The fact that White was facing the vaunted Minnesota rush defense probably made a lot of owners leery of giving him the start. That concern was justified. While White was able to salvage his fantasy day by pounding in a one yard score late in the second quarter (making this his fourth straight game with a touchdown), the rest of his day was forgettable. White was given only eleven carries despite the fact that the Titans had the lead for much of the game, and he was unable to convert any of them for more than a three yard gain. Moreover, White did not have the near monopoly on inside the twenty carries that he enjoyed in the first three weeks, as more of those opportunities were given to fellow running back Chris Johnson -- two of which Johnson converted for scores.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 5 - 92 - 0 (10 targets) |
While Gage and fellow wide receiver Justin McCareins both saw double digit targets, Gage was clearly the receiver being used to go deep more often. Early on, while QB Kerry Collins was on-target with his throws, Gage was able to convert his looks into significant gains all over the field as he had little difficulty beating the coverage and getting open (though he did drop a third down pass in the second quarter that would have resulted in a first down). In the later stages of the game, however, Collins rarely put the ball in a position where Gage could make the reception, and as a result, while Gage racked up four catches for 73 yards in the first half, he added only one more for 19 yards in the second.
| WR Justin McCareins, Rec: 3 - 37 - 0 (10 targets) |
While he shared the team lead with ten targets, McCareins was unable to convert those looks into any meaningful production. While he had two receptions in the first quarter for 27 yards, he only managed to catch one more pass over the remaining three quarters. A portion of these struggles resulted from the decline in QB Kerry Collins' accuracy over the course of the game, but some of the blame must fall on McCareins as well. All day long he struggled to gain separation, and he rarely presented a completely open or attractive target.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 3 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
While he did not start the game, Scaife ended the day as the most targeted Titan tight end. Even given that fact, however, Scaife saw only three targets. While he converted on all three for a total of 17 yards, none of the targets were near the end zone.
| TE Alge Crumpler |
While he was listed as the starting tight end for the Titans to begin the game, Crumpler was not meaningfully involved in the Tennessee passing attack and ended the day not having been targeted a single time.
| PK Rob Bironas 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
With three field goals from 20, 32 and 49 yards, Bironas was given the opportunity to demonstrate his leg strength and accuracy at short, medium and long ranges. He passed each test with flying colors.
| TEN Rush Defense |
Facing arguably the best running back in the league in Adrian Peterson, the Titans' rush defense played well early on, holding the explosive back to only 16 yards on his first five carries. On the sixth carry, however, Peterson was able to exploit a hole and charge down the sideline for a 28 yard score. While this might normally have been a sign of difficulties to come, the success of the Titans' offense soon forced the Vikings to turn more to the pass, and the Tennessee rush defense was, as a result, called upon to contain Peterson on far fewer occasions.
| TEN Pass Defense |
Due to the points the Titans were able to put on the board, the Vikings dropped back to pass 44 times on the day. Early on, the Titans' pass defense looked suspect, and was unable to generate consistent pressure on Minnesota QB Gus Frerotte. By the second half, however, they buckled down and regularly forced Frerotte from the pocket, forced him into poor throws and eventually picked off a pass deep in Minnesota territory. On the final series of the game, after Tarvaris Jackson replaced Frerotte, the Titans were able to register consecutive sacks and end any hope of a miraculous Minnesota comeback.
