Vikings @ Saints recap

Games done so it's time to wrap up the Vikings @ Saints: Vikings 9 @ Saints 14 -- Ya see, this is why I hate coaches like Brad Childress. You have a great running back in Adrian Peterson. 19 carries for 87 yards. Longest carry was 14 yards. He wasn't exactly ripping up the artificial turf at the Louisiana Superdome but at least he was plugging along nicely, as the title of my blog says "Keeping the Chains moving". So why, why in the name of god would you come out in the second half and barely let him touch the ball? Given that the Vikings were ahead and that even after Pierre Thomas scored, you still only had to make up 5 points, why would you completely abandon one of your best offensive assets in favour of throwing incompletions left, right and center (Favre finished 15/27 for 171 yards, a TD and an INT)? It just defies belief. Surely a drive that takes 11 plays or more and burns 6-7 minutes off the clock, but at the very least ends in a score or at least a potential score is better than throwing the ball 3 or 4 times ineffectually and then punting and letting the Saints run off the clock? It's like the Dolphins/Saints game from last year all over again, or the Panthers every damn week! Ah well. A few positives to take away would be that a) if the Vikings keep playing like this then the Packers are a lock for the division title and b) at least we have proof that the Saints aren't infallible as many people would have you believe they are. Brees finished 27/36 for 237 yards and a TD, but the Saints didn't look as crisp offensively as they did last season. Defensively the standouts were all Vikings. LB Chad Greenway recorded 9 tackles and 3 assists. LB E.J. Henderson recorded 8 tackles and one assist, and finally Antoine Winfield finished with 7 tackles and 2 assists. Overall a faltering, unsteady start from both teams that they will want to put behind them as quickly as possible. I'll be back tomorrow to start previewing the rest of the Week 1 action but until then, Have a great day everyone.