Pats Knock Out Favre and the Vikings, FOX Fumbles

Monday, November 01, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

On a day when the Patriots wore their throw-back uniforms, it was almost as if the franchise did go back in time and take a page from the 2001 Patriots. New England’s young defense executed a bend but don’t break philosophy on its way to a 28-18 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The victory, paired with the Jets loss to Green Bay put New England in sole possession of first place in the AFC East.

The subplots coming into this game were far more juicy than the what it would take for either team to win the game. Brett Favre, controversy and all, was a question mark coming in. Would his ankle be healthy enough for him to start or not? And the return of Randy Moss. How would Patriots fans treat him upon his return?

As it turned out, Favre would start his record 292nd consecutive regular season game but would not be able to finish it due to an injury totally unrelated to his ankle. More on that later.

Moss had an extremely uneventful game catching only one pass for 8 yards. That reception came in the third quarter and Moss was booed by the fans in Foxboro. However, the former Patriots receiver was cheered by Patriots fans at the end of the game which he said, “felt heart-warming.” “I think I actually shed a tear for that.”

But this was, again, a game for the Patriots defense. This much-maligned group has had its share of ups and downs this season and Sunday they surrendered 23 first downs to Minnesota along with 410 yards of total offense. They also allowed the Vikings to control the ball for 10 more minutes than the Patriots which is normally not a formula for success.

But despite solid performance by Brett Favre (22-32, 259yds, o TD, 1 INT which was not his fault), Adrian Peterson (92 yds rushing, 50 yds receiving, 1 TD), and Percy Harvin (6 rec. 104 yds), the Pats “D” more than did its job.

Their first huge play was a goal line stand at the end of the first half when Minnesota decided to go for it on 4th and goal from the 1. That preserved a 7-7 tie at halftime.

While New England’s offense would hit its stride in the second half with 21 points, the defense continued to make big plays.

Midway through the third, rookie corner Devan McCourty picked off a Favre pass intended for Percy Harvin. The interception was more on Harvin than it was on Favre but it thwarted what probable would have been a scoring drive for Minnesota who took over at midfield down 14-10 and had moved it to the Patriots 41.

After the Patriots extended their lead to 21-10 on a 13-yard TD run by BenJarvis Green-Ellis (112 yds, 2 TD), the defense held the Vikes to 3 and out at the end of the third quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Minnesota would march deep into New England territory facing a 3rd and goal at the Patriots 3 yard line. As Favre dropped back to pass, he was hit hard by an on-rushing Myron Pryor. Pryor’s hit opened up a gash on Favre’s chin and knocked him out of the game. That cut would require 10 stitches to close.

A penalty for illegal contact in the endzone on Jonathan Wilhite gave Minnesota the ball first and goal on the Patriots 1. The Vikes would score when Tavaris Jackson hit Naufahu Tahi for a 1-yard strike. They would also make goos on a 2-point conversion cutting it to a 3-point game 21-18.

But the damage had been done by the Patriots defense. They had knocked Favre out of the game.

The Pats offense responded with a methodical 13-play 84 yard drive that chewed up 5:30 minutes off the clock. Green-Ellis rushed for 62 yards on that drive and capped it off with his second touchdown of the day from 2 yards out making it 28-18, New England.

The Patriots improved to 6-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 at Gillette Stadium. New England now hits the road for their next two games; at Cleveland next Sunday at 1pm and at Pittsburgh the following week for a primetime match-up on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

NOTES:

“F” for FOX: On the final touchdown for BenJarvus Green-Ellis, the Pats RB was flipped around and landed on the goal line which was ruled a touchdown by the officials on the field. There was a booth review because it was unclear if the ball had broken the plain of the goal line before Green-Ellis’ elbow had hit the turf. FOX showed numerous replays of the play in question, many from useless angles which shed no light on whether or not the correct call was made. What they should have done is showed the replay from the side of the goal line and froze it at the exact moment that his elbow hit the ground for viewers to determine what the correct call should have been. Clearly that was what the officials did while watching it under the hood. Give an “F” to the director and producer for not having the brains to show the viewers the most conclusive view of the play possible.

Randy being Randy: Vikings WR Randy Moss held another interesting post game press conference in the bowels of Gillette Stadium. In it, Moss said he’s tired of being fined by the league for not speaking to the media and said from now on he will conduct his own interviews of himself where he asks the questions and gives the answers.

Moss also threw Brad Childress under the bus saying, “I wish we could have had three at the end of the half.” Childress decided to go for it on 4th and goal and Minnesota came up empty.

Moss was also very complimentary to Bill Belichick whom he called the greatest coach ever and he talked about how much he missed, “every last helmet in that locker room.”

Alone On Top: At (6-1), the Pats are a game up on the NY Jets who dropped to (5-2) following a 9-0 loss at home to the Green Bay Packers. Miami improved to (4-3) with a 22-14 win at Cincinnati. The Dolphins are an astounding (4-0) on the road and (0-3) at home. Buffalo dropped to (0-7) after their second consecutive overtime loss. The Bills lost 13-10 at Kansas City.