It has been over sixty years since the NFL has had a Tuesday night football game. If you asked Minnesota Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier, I am sure that he would agree to another one next week. That way his team could have a full week to prepare for the Detroit Lions. Instead, they will have only until Sunday before they engage in their last regular season contest at Ford Field on the second of January. Adrian Peterson was able to not only take the field, but perform extremely effectively in his twenty two carries. His 118 yards attained dwarfed the 44 gained by his counterpart LeSean McCoy. Although, the latter did only have thirteen carries.
Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell should be questioning the manhood of his very own Philadelphia Eagles, instead of worrying about NFL executives and the mayor. His team seemed to come out of the gate sleepwalking and never did perform at their peak during the entire night. This was probably largely due to the fact that the Vikings came into the game without Brett Favre and with only five previous wins this season. It is obviously a much easier task for Andy Reid to motivate his team when they are facing an intra-divisional opponent. Their recent comeback against the Giants indicates that they don’t quit no matter what the circumstances are. One of the reasons that the NFL is so appealing to its substantial fan base is because of its unpredictability.
There was a point in the first half when Leslie Frazier attempted to throw his challenge flag after a play. He did so before the snap of the next one, but the officials on the field were in a position where they couldn’t observe it. This begs the question of what could be done to streamline this process. With such importance placed on the outcome of each and every game, there must be a more efficient manner in which the calls could be reviewed. One option could be a handheld device on the sideline where the coach could simply press it. The frequency would then be sent to the booth and they would view the response as a challenge request made by the coach. It has worked for decades in the game show industry and it would increase efficiency in the NFL.
Thankfully for Vikings fans, they still don’t have double digits in the loss column for this season. Their primary focus on offense must be to involve Sidney Rice more fully in the outcome of the upcoming Lions game. In fairness to Webb, he did feed him the ball, but Rice didn’t take the initiative to go from there and gain substantial chunks of yardage. One catch for sixteen yards doesn’t cut it for a receiver with Pro Bowl ability.
Adrian Peterson is the only representative for the club this season, but that is the case due to injuries. The weather wasn’t the reason for this lack of production on Tuesday either. Percy Harvin proved this with his one hundred yard effort.
–Patrick Herbert
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