A Reason for hope

[SoDak Bronco]

Minnesota Vikings 41 --- New York Giants 17


Quick Take: Vikes bury Giants with 4 INTs
NFL.com


It was over when ...
Giants QB Eli Manning threw the third of his four interceptions to safety Dwight Smith in the fourth quarter. It was the second pick for Smith, who returned it 93 yards for a touchdown, giving the Vikings a 34-10 lead. It was also the second pick-six for Manning in three pass attempts.


Rich Kane / US PRESSWIRE
Giants QB Eli Manning threw four interceptions, two to Vikings safety Dwight Smith.

Game ball
While Manning was on his way to his worst game of the season (21-of-49, 273 yards, one TD, four INTs), Vikings rookie quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was having perhaps his best game, going an efficient 10-of-12 for 129 yards and one touchdown.

Key stat
The Vikings converted all four of Manning's interceptions into touchdowns. CB Darren Sharper returned the first 20 yards for a touchdown. The Vikings turned Smith's first pick into seven points on an 8-yard Chester Taylor run. After Smith's 93-yards return, Manning threw a pick to LB Chad Greenway that was returned 37 yards for a score.

Noteworthy
The game marked just the 10th time in league history that a team returned three interceptions for touchdowns, and the first time the feat has been accomplished by the Vikings. ... Minnesota entered the game ranked last in the league in pass defense. ... The only other time Manning has thrown four interceptions was also against the Vikings, in a game the Giants lost 24-21 on Nov. 13, 2005.

[spdirty]

blah blah blah

[Wes Mantooth]

Are we the Giants or something?

[SoDak Bronco]

Everyone knows this game was tough tonight. Can it define our season, maybe, but all is def. not lost. We probably had the worst game I've seen in years. Cutler gets a bum finger on the first play, Andre Hall fumbles twice in the first 2 series,Champ goes out, the refs blow several fricking killer calls, and we get blown out on the road. Maybe this is a good thing for this team(maybe it means we're doomed). I am not going to say we are fine, blah blah, but it is not the end of the world. our Run D needs some serious attention, i was pumped about all the pressure we got on Cassle. A loss always hurts, but let's keep this in perspective, this is one of the games if you were playing on Madden you would've hit restart hours ago, and we would've probably won. Let's get healthy, and come together over the bye week. All is not lost, lets go broncos!!

[Fusionfrontman]

I was actually thinking back to this same exact game. As much as I wanna throw up and wont watch ESPN for the rest of the week so Im not reminded, this was a wake up call. Bye comes at a great time

[Kid A]

Look, there are a million examples of Super Bowl teams getting their asses kicked in the regular season. Our problem is that we haven't shown flashes of being a very good team, aside from a few exceptional offensive performances (against defensively challenged teams).

This is a nice effort at optimism, but it just ain't happening. We've lost 3 out of 4, two of them blowouts, one of them at the hands of arguably the worst NFL team I have ever laid eyes on.

[Wes Mantooth]

Superbowl? I am way more concerned about not looking like the worst D in the history of the league.

[SoDak Bronco]

Say what you want..maybe we are screwed, but just because everything, and I mean everything goes wrong, and we lose a game. Doesn't mean we are the worst team/aren't going to the playoffs..I am personally keeping the faith.

[Kid A]

But, for the record, I'm not giving up on the season. Our division sucks. 10-6 is possible if we get hot and stop the turnovers. 9-7 might win the division. And, hell, 8-8 is an improvement on last year.

[ludo21]

if we show some passion on D, I will be happy.

[Florida_Bronco]

if we show some passion on D, I will be happy.

Passion isn't our problem, it's poor technique and poor tackling.

[rugbythug]

Our D line is getting much better. Moss played way better than ever before. Marcus Thomas is a player. Our Safties are the worst on any team I have ever seen before. Bad angles, not tackling. I think we need to redo the D from the inside out.

[Florida_Bronco]

Our D line is getting much better. Moss played way better than ever before. Marcus Thomas is a player. Our Safties are the worst on any team I have ever seen before. Bad angles, not tackling. I think we need to redo the D from the inside out.

Yes, our D-Line came to play today against a respectable O-line. Moss and Crowder both made some good plays, Dumervil looked like he was back to full speed and Thomas/Robertson took a step up from their already solid play.

I kept my faith in Moss/Crowder and it appears that may be justified. That would be great if they continue to pan out as it would allow us to focus on improving the LB/safety spots.

[Natedog24]

Its the NFL for god sakes there are always reasons for hope. Season far from over, somewhere in this team is the team that played IMO played a pretty complete game of football against a solid Tampa Bay squad. Can't wait until our next game to move on from this ugly mess tonigh.

[Malcontent]

Its nice that some die hards still exist!

[jmz313]

Passion isn't our problem, it's poor technique and poor tackling.

And poor Scheme. We have no run or pass D. We suck, badly on D.
We also can't cover kickoffs for crap.

[azbroncfan]

Passion isn't our problem, it's poor technique and poor tackling.

Talent lacks on the DL when you are comparing them to the NYG. The two backup DE's on NY last year would be starters here easily.

[CBF1]

I love blueberry pancakes

[GoHAM]

Superbowl? I am way more concerned about not looking like the worst D in the history of the league.

At this point that is looking like an all but forgone conclusion.

[Rulon Velvet Jones]

The reason for hope is the 2nd half of the season and the tempering of expectations. If you went into this season thinking 10-6 would be a crying success, then you might not feel as badly today. Super Bowl aspirations? Eh...you're probably still reeling from last night.

[Anaximines]

we've still got a game on San Diego. Think how much worse this would be if they had won Sunday.

[Kaylore]

The New York Giants were the seventh best defense in the league last year. This is like argument that the Colts had a bad defense and won the Super Bowl. They had Bob Sanders and guys who got healthy. We suck when we're totally healthy.