Tough Guys Wear Purple - RT's Minnesota Vikings (M16)

[RoundingThird]

Gameday Recap: Vikings 21, Chargers 20
Teddy IceWater! (In his veins)


Eric Weddle played perfect coverage, but the adrenaline of Teddy Bridgewater was enough to get the ball past him and into the hands of Kyle Rudolph, who had 4 receptions on the game winning drive.

I've found the perfect sliders. Coach Freday is just too good at pulling off comebacks. The way every drive had gone for the Vikings, there was no way they should've won this game. This offensive line is just terrible. On all of San Diego's 5 sacks on Teddy, multiple players came through unblocked. That just can't happen. And then, that same offensive line was caught holding in big moments, especiallly on that last drive, when David Yankey was holding on a play that got the Vikings inside the red zone. As it turned out, it didn't matter, due to Coach Freday's expert strategy, but it's very aggravating. And because of that, Teddy had terrible passing numbers... until that last drive. That last drive was golden. It was 20-14, and the Chargers had just gotten a field goal. But Teddy was fed up with being under attack. He was fed up because of the interception he threw on the last drive, having to throw something up on 3rd and long because of those sacks, and lack of blacking. So he went to town. He fired bullets to Kyle Rudolph, four in total on the drive. He scrambled. He hustled. But most importantly, he stayed calm, as Coach Freday emphasizes during two minute drills in practice. And he got it done.

Let's go back to the rest of the game. The Vikings defense allowed some yards, as expected, but they didn't really break. 10 of the Chargers points, all of their 4th quarter points, came off turnovers, the aforementioned interception that Teddy had to throw up on 3rd and long, and a fumble that Teddy lost after being hit on a scramble. The Vikes shut down Melvin Gordon and the rest of the running game in the 2nd half. Melvin Gordon lost yards in the second half, as a matter of fact. Philip Rivers had a good day, as expected. And it really should have been enough. But again, Coach Freday is a master of comebacks.

The highlights for the Vikings offense other than the last drive are few and far between. Early in the second, Charles Johnson wrestled Jason Verrett for the ball on 3rd and 27. That set up Peterson's first rushing score. The second put Minny up 14-10 in the 3rd. Other than that, it was a struggle, and the good kind of struggle. We've found our sliders. No more tweaking. But, one of these days, we won't get as lucky. Don't think we're going to win them all now.


Melvin Gordon strides into the end zone after catching a screen pass from Rivers early in the 4th. This score put the Chargers ahead.


Who has the ball? According to the officials, it was Charles Johnson. He wrestled it away from Jason Verrett, while Eric Weddle is coming in low for a hit.

San Diego Chargers at Minnesota Vikings
Sep 27, 2015	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
San Diego Chargers (1-2)	7	3	0	10	20
Minnesota Vikings (3-0)	0	7	7	7	21

Team Stats Comparison
	SDG	MIN
Total Offense	331	326
Rushing Yards	45	128
Passing Yards	286	198
First Downs	17	17
Punt Return Yards	14	7
Kick Return Yards	34	54
Total Yards	379	387
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Converstion	3-9	6-10
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-2-2 (100%)	3-3-0 (100%)
Penalties	0-0	4-35
Posession Time	23:38	24:22

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		SDG	MIN
6:37	(SDG) D. Woodhead 1 yard run (N. Novak kick)	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		SDG	MIN
5:23	(MIN) A. Peterson 2 yard run (B. Walsh kick)	7	7
0:47	(SDG) N. Novak 26 yard FG	10	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		SDG	MIN
2:10	(MIN) A. Peterson 4 yard run (B. Walsh kick)	10	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		SDG	MIN
8:33	(SDG) M. Gordon 6 yard pass from P. Rivers (N. Novak kick)	17	14
1:51	(SDG) N. Novak 36 yard FG	20	14
0:12	(MIN) K. Rudolph 12 yard pass from T. Bridgewater (B. Walsh kick)	20	21

San Diego Chargers PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Philip Rivers 19/28 286 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Melvin Gordon 22 47 2.1 0 Danny Woodhead 2 0 0.0 1 David Johnson 1 -2 -2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Malcolm Floyd 7 128 18.2 0 Antonio Gates 7 118 16.8 0 Stevie Johnson 3 31 10.3 0 Melvin Gordon 2 9 4.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT/FUM TD Brandon Flowers 9 0 0/0 0 Manti Te'o 8 0 0/0 0 Jahleel Addae 8 0 1/0 0 Donald Butler 7 1 0/0 0 Eric Weddle 5 0 0/0 0 Jerry Attaochu 5 1 0/0 0 Melvin Ingram 3 0 0/1 0 Adrian Phillips 3 1 0/0 0 Patrick Robinson 2 1 0/0 0 Mitch Unrein 2 0 0/0 0 Ricardo Mathews 2 1 0/0 0 Corey Liuget 2 0 0/0 0 Jason Verrett 1 0 0/0 0 Darrell Stuckey 1 0 0/0 0 Kyle Emanuel 1 0 0/0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Nick Novak 2/2 2/2 8 36 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Martin Scifres 2 104 52.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Richard Crawford 2 34 17.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Richard Crawford 1 14 14.0 0

Minnesota Vikings PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Teddy Bridgewater 14/22 198 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Adrian Peterson 20 82 4.1 2 Teddy Bridgewater 5 37 7.4 0 Jerick McKinnon 1 9 9.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Charles Johnson 3 68 22.0 0 Kyle Rudolph 5 57 11.4 1 Mike Wallace 4 48 12.0 0 Adrian Peterson 2 25 12.5 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Robert Blanton 15 0 0 0 Harrison Smith 8 0 0 0 Captain Munnerlyn 6 0 0 0 Eric Kendricks 6 0 0 0 Anthony Barr 6 0 0 0 Brian Robison 6 2 0 0 Everson Griffen 5 1 0 0 Josh Robinson 5 0 1 0 Gerald Hodges 5 0 0 0 Xavier Rhodes 3 0 0 0 Chad Greenway 2 0 0 0 Linval Joseph 2 0 0 0 Shaun Prater 2 0 0 0 Sharrif Floyd 2 0 0 0 Trae Waynes 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Blair Walsh 0/0 3/3 3 -- PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Jeff Locke 3 152 50.6 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Cordarrelle Patterson 3 54 18.0 0 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG TD Cordarrelle Patterson 1 7 7.0 0

Minnesota Vikings 2015 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Sep 14	at San Francisco 49ers (Monday Night Football)	Won, 24-13
Sep 20	vs Detroit Lions	Won, 21-14
Sep 27	vs San Diego Chargers	Won, 21-20
Oct 4	at Denver Broncos
Oct 18	vs Kansas City Chiefs
Oct 25	at Detroit Lions
Nov 1	at Chicago Bears
Nov 8	vs St. Louis Rams
Nov 15	at Oakland Raiders
Nov 22	vs Green Bay Packers
Nov 29	at Atlanta Falcons
Dec 6	vs Seattle Seahawks
Dec 10	at Arizona Cardinals (Thursday Night Football)
Dec 20	vs Chicago Bears
Dec 27	vs New York Giants
Jan 3	at Green Bay Packers

[Cheese2121]

What a final drive, talk about coming through in the clutch! Better make those offensive linemen put in some extra work at practice. Very nice start to the season for you.

[RoundingThird]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cheese2121

What a final drive, talk about coming through in the clutch! Better make those offensive linemen put in some extra work at practice. Very nice start to the season for you.

Indeed. I know you don't like good starts, but those first two games were preseason games for me, since I skipped the preseason. Now that I have the right slider set, we'll win some and lose some. Next week is a good example of that. Those Broncos are tough.

[Cheese2121]

Quote: Originally Posted by RoundingThird

Indeed. I know you don't like good starts, but those first two games were preseason games for me, since I skipped the preseason. Now that I have the right slider set, we'll win some and lose some. Next week is a good example of that. Those Broncos are tough.

Oh no! Trust me I am loving this regardless of the hot start. You always put together very high quality and realistic work. Good luck against the Broncos!

[thesportsguru11]

You sure you're still taking phone pics? Damn. You were right on the improved graphics for this Madden.

[RoundingThird]

Quote: Originally Posted by thesportsguru11

You sure you're still taking phone pics? Damn. You were right on the improved graphics for this Madden.

Yep. Right on the iPhone 5 camera, then upload to my arena. I have all my pictures still there, from BG to Brownies to Vikings. If you get bored, it's a good gallery in there that's worth reminiscing in, at least IMO.

On a side note, next Friday, I'm flying to Cleveland. Then we're driving down to Columbus to tour OSU. I would like to see them blow out NIU at the Shoe, but my cousin is getting married in Akron on Saturday. If I was still doing the Browns or even BG 'chises, I would make some elaborate post tying them together.

[RoundingThird]

Week 3 Scoreboard:

Thursday Night Football:
Redskins 7, Giants 14

Sunday, 1 PM:
Falcons 20, Cowboys 13
Colts 20, Titans 31
Raiders 8, Browns 36
Bengals 35, Ravens 38
Jaguars 24, Patriots 31
Saints 24, Panthers 14
Eagles 24, Jets 17
Buccaneers 31, Texans 14
Steelers 28, Rams 38

Sunday, 4:05 PM:
49ers 21, Cardinals 10

Sunday, 4:25 PM:
Bills 45, Dolphins 24
Bears 29, Seahawks 36

Sunday Night Football:
Broncos 21, Lions 25

Monday Night Football:
Chiefs 19, Packers 21




Week 4 Schedule:



BYE: Titans, Patriots

[RoundingThird]

Bridgewater shocked with effect he has on fantasy scores


September 28, 2015 --- It's been a quiet week here in the Twin Cities, but not for the phone of budding Vikings star QB Teddy Bridgewater. His phone was filled with many congratulatory messages after the game on Sunday against San Diego in which he led a fairly improbable comeback, capped off with a bullet of a pass to TE Kyle Rudolph that was placed perfectly for a touchdown. Among those to send messages were his college head coach at Lousiville, Charlie Strong, now the head coach at the University of Texas, former Louisville teammates, and childhood friends and family back in his rough Miami neighborhood. But most of the messages from his childhood friends, and some of the ones from his Louisville teammates weren't necessarily congratulating him, rather busting his chops. You see, many of them have Bridgewater on their fantasy teams. At the start of week 3 action in the NFL, Teddy was owned in 65.3% of ESPN leagues, and started in 31.8% of leagues. Many of them were grateful for Teddy, whose late game heroics vaulted many of his friends to wins for their fantasy teams. The best part? Teddy loves it.

"It's a new experience for me. Last year, I didn't play as well as I liked, so my fantasy impact wasn't great. I guess it's just part of being a starting quarterback in the NFL," said Bridgewater. "It's cool to know that my old teammates still have that much faith in me."

But the bigger part comes this week, when the Vikings head to the Mile High City to take on Peyton Manning's Broncos. See, the Vikings 1st team offense has their own fantasy league, and the rules are that the only Vikings player you can take is yourself. And this week, Teddy's team plays Mike Wallace's team. So far, Wallace has emerged as Teddy's favorite target, so there could be a little bit of a controversy brewing here. How will Teddy react?

"I don't want to hurt the team in anyway, but unless I'm confident in the fact that the Red Sea has parted leaving Mike wide open, I'm going to be a little hesitant to throw to him. I still might throw to him, but only if I'm confident that it'll help the team, which in hindsight, is what I do every week," Bridgewater responded.

When asked what he thought would happen, Mike Wallace said, "I just hope that [Teddy] hands it of to [Adrian Peterson] all day. There would be nothing better than seeing him with 40 carries, because I don't want to hurt the team either, by wishing that Teddy throw multiple interceptions."

Tune in Sunday at 3:25 CDT on FOX as the Vikings take on the Broncos.