Minnesota's loss - Who's to blame?
Brett Favre
Favre threw 2 ints, and the last one really sealed the deal for overtime. But is he really to blame? Without Favre there would be no NFC Championship game. He carried this team on his 40 year old back all season long. With last second thrills, and game winning drives. He made the Vikings a super bowl contender. Without him they were just an 8-8 team with a shot at the wild card.
Favre threw the ball across his body, to a covered man. He should have run it for 8 yards, but he didn't. Why didn't Favre run the ball? In his defense, he could barely walk on the field for one, maybe he knew he couldn't get 8 yards, and if he ran and got 2 yards it would have been a 54 yard field goal. Favre never had the chance to drive down the Field in OT. So I can't blame him, he kept the Vikes in the game.
All the Vikings' fumblers
Peterson Fumbled, Berrian Fumbled, Harvin Fumbled and Favre Fumbled. You can't really expect to win if you screw up that many times. Ball Security was a major issue, not just with Favre, but with almost all of the offensive weapons. But still, that was just part of the blame.
The Mastermind. Brad "The Pedophile" Childress
(I can neither confirm nor deny that he looks like every guy on, "To Catch a Predator"). Can we blame him? For the most part yes we can. I think he out-coached himself. Tremendously. I am sure he is a super smart guy and he brought Favre in. Give him credit, he made this whole dream come true, but his game plan was terrible.
Before the game he blatantly lied to the sideline reporter, I think we'll do a little bit of both, probably some run and pass. Not that any coach is really going to give his game plan away anyway.
The ball should have gone to Peterson earlier, and more often. He was running mad out there, and he could have worn down that defense, so Favre didn't get killed. If only he could hold on to the ball better.
It took 8 snaps before Adrian Peterson even ran the ball. Favre was set up to get murdered all day long. The next series it was 6 snaps until AD got another hand-off. I don't think they were all Favre audibles because no one could hear a thing in the damn stadium. Oh and if it was in the dome, I guarantee the Vikes win.
Also, how do you call two timeouts and then put 12 men on the field? Any coach that allows that to happen should be removed from the game.
The special teams coach.
Now, I'm not sure this was the special teams coaches decision, (he may have been put in for his tackling), but why in the world is Cedric Griffin playing special teams? With an injured Antoine Winfield, the last player we need playing (and getting hurt) on special teams in Cedric Griffin. Hisabsencefrom OT was a big factor and now reports are coming in that he has a torn ACL.
The Officiating
The officiating in this game was terrible overall. There were bad calls both ways, but I think the 3 calls in OT that went against the Vikings were awful. First, you can't rule forward progress on a fumble (Pierre Thomas on 4th and 1). Second, you can't call a phantom pass interference on Ben Leber because the TE can't stand on his own two feet. Thirdly, you can't call a ball a catch when it hits the ground.
Vikings defense (dropped INTs)
This is stretching it a little bit since I thought the Vikings defense played exceptional, especially considering the 5 turnovers, but they dropped at least 3 INTs, one of them in OT. There is a reason why defensive backs plays on defense and not as wide receivers though, they aren't good at catching the ball, so this is quite a stretch.
Overtime rules
Last year Peyton Manning stood on the sideline as Philip Rivers matched the Chargers down for a game winning field goal and this year Brett Favre did the same. I won't go on a big rant about this, but I think the rules need to be changed for overtime.
Conclusion
There is a little blame for Favre, a little blame for the WRs and RBs, a little blame on the officiating, special teams coach and the overtime rules, but most of the blame is on Brad Childress and he will probably blame the kicker or the punter. Or as profootballtalk is reporting, Childress is singling outNaufahu Tahi as 12th man on the Vikings 3rd down play at the end of the 4th quarter.