Two things should have had Vikings fans steaming by half-time in this one;
-How is Visanthe Shiancoe's catch not a touchdown? He maintains a solid grasp of the football in the air when falling to the ground, never bobbles it, and neither does the ground cause the football to squirm away from him and require an arm to pull it back into his body.
On top of all this, the call on the field was a touchdown and so the officials had to see indisputable evidence that they had made the wrong decision. Where was this evidence?
I'm all for receivers having to make solid catches and maintain a control on the ball, but give the guys a chance. Shiancoe stretched out and grabbed the ball out the air with brilliant control. As Cris Collinsworth said in the booth, what more do you have to do to make that a score?
- Brad Childress not going for a score before the half. If anything, this made me more angry than the Shiancoe call. Officials may beat up on you, but don't beat up on yourself. This kind of play-calling conservatism is infuriating.
OK you've just had a penalty draw the ball back down the field, but that very same penalty-(offensive pass interference overturning a huge reception for Randy Moss), showed that you have a credible deep threat. You've just run the ball with Adrian Peterson for a nice gain, you've got timeouts in the bank. What's there to lose?
Moss was clearly frustrated and Brett Favre showed a smile of disappointed resignation with his coach's decision. All of this coming on the back of an interception where you've stopped Green Bay as they appeared destined to score. A golden rule in football is surely to not kill your own momentum.
As for the overall game, this will be a painful and critical division loss to take for Minnesota. Rodgers looked uncharacteristically inaccurate but was at least able to complete passes when feeling the pressure or going to ground.
Brett Favre was his usual frustrating self, the love-hate relationship with the man continues. On one series he tries to make plays in hopeless situations and gifts the ball to the opposition, displaying as Mike Carlson asserted, a certain arrogance in believing he will always out-think and play the defenders.
And the next series and he's the same 41 year-old with tendonitis, but he's flinging the ball with ease downfield and into the endzone.
It was my opinion that Collinsworth gave Favre too easy a ride on his first two interceptions. (the third was a great defensive play by Woodson) Not least because Favre had also attempted to complete a further pass whilst being tackled by lobbing the ball weakly forward with an underarm throw, another pass that could have easily been picked.
He should be criticised for these mental errors, regardless of his career achievements or impact on the sport. They are basic errors that quarterbacks of his caliber simply shouldn't make. Supporters of Favre will claim that this is what you get with a gunslinging quarterback in his mould; you learn to take the bad with the good. But when the bad is the difference between winning and losing a game, it's difficult to stomach.
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