If this was the end of Donovan McNabb’s career as a starting quarterback in the NFL then this, and in fact the entirety of his short stay with the Minnesota Vikings, has been a dreadful way for such a fine career to end.
McNabb was as conservative on Sunday night against his hometown Chicago Bears as he has been all season, with the inevitable pull finally coming in the fourth quarter as his Vikings were already beaten. It leaves Minnesota in a full blown rebuild mode (if they weren’t already), with their 2011 season firmly one of transition as they rebuild under Leslie Frazier.
For Chicago, it’s now off to London with a suitable boost to their confidence on the back of this performance. In a game where the Minnesota defensive line could have caused problems for Jay Cutler, the Bears were able to come out and establish an early lead such that this game never threatened to be the tricky encounter you may have expected after seeing the Lions manhandled Chicago one week earlier. Let’s find out why that was.
Minnesota – Three Performances of Note
Desperately seeking help
There are a number of offenses around the league every season that struggle to make the most of their best players and there may not be two more frustrated skill position players right now than Percy Harvin (+2.1) and Adrian Peterson (+1.0). Whether it’s down to their coaching staff, or their supporting cast, the Vikings simply cannot get the best out of them and this week was no different. Adrian Peterson was able to break two tackles on Sunday night, meaning only two backs (Fred Jackson and Michael Turner) have broken more tackles this season. Unfortunately there comes a time when you have to accept that Peterson cannot do it all, with me left to repeat the all too familiar line of the Vikings offensive line doing very little to help him. Peterson ended the day with 69.2% of his yards coming after contact.
Lack of ambition costs McNabb
Sunday night saw Donovan McNabb (+4.1) pulled from the game in the fourth quarter with the Vikings down four scores, with it announced today that his replacement, first round pick Christian Ponder, will keep that spot to start next week’s game at home to Green Bay. The last two seasons we have not seen the same Donovan McNabb we saw in Philadelphia and again this Sunday we saw McNabb hesitant in attacking the Chicago defense downfield. McNabb completed many passes, 19 of 24, but only five of those were aimed ten or more yards downfield. Even on those short completions McNabb wasn’t helping his receivers to turn those short passes into long gains and on at least one occasion (8:50 left in the second) he forced his receiver to a knee to make a catch, thus preventing any chance of yards after the catch. McNabb was brought in to smooth the transition to Ponder and has failed in that aim, so now Ponder must now show he’s the quarterback of the future, or chatter will get very loud about a certain Stanford Cardinal being a target for Minnesota next spring.
Building consistency
Chris Cook (+1.4) started his second straight game and along with fellow first season starter Erin Henderson (+3.0) is providing one of the positives for the Vikings in a thus far difficult season. Cook has had highlight reel plays breaking up passes to Calvin Johnson, but it is his overall play that has provided a real boost to the Vikings’ secondary, leaving them a trio of corners playing to a high level. Cook continued in that regard against the Bears, allowing only three receptions for 22 yards on five targets, and breaking up one pass intended for Roy Williams. Henderson lost his nickel snaps to his older brother E.J. this week but he didn’t let that disappointment hurt his level of play, as he registered four defensive stops on only 30 snaps. That was Henderson’s highest total since week one. These two defenders are a rare bright spark in this dreary season for the Vikings.
Chicago – Three Performances of Note
Impact on debut
Week six is an unconventional time to be making your NFL debut as a rookie, and Stephen Paea (+3.4) showed that all that waiting did, was make him more hungry to upgrade the Bears’ defensive tackle situation. Paea was able to make immediate impact when, on his second snap at 6.59 in the first, he sacked Donovan McNabb for a safety. In this game the rookie DT showed the sort of up field pressure that the Bears have desperately lacked from their interior defensive line, generating more pressure in his 30 pass rushes (four) than Anthony Adams (three in 81), and the same as Matt Toeiana (four in 111) have registered in the first five weeks of the season. The Bears will look for Paea to build on this debut and provide an inside presence to aid Julius Peppers and Israel Idonije off the edge, preventing quarterbacks stepping up into any sort of safe haven in the middle.
Tough to bring down
Matt Forte (+4.5) didn’t see much of the ball on the ground this week with only 17 carries, but when he got the ball he made it, breaking six Viking tackles on his way to 87 yards. Forte’s ability to be able make players miss is a large difference between his effectiveness and Marion Barber’s (-0.9) lack thereof. Whilst Barber got the score and got to run the game out, he showed why he is such a limited back at this stage as he struggled to make anything happen behind an offensive line that struggled to open anything up against a good Vikings defense. Barber got 91% of his yards after contact but failed to break any tackles and as a consequence averaged less than three yards per carry. By comparison Forte broke six and averaged in excess of five yards per carry, breaking five of those tackles on runs to the left side of the line. Twice (Q1 – 6:50 and Q3 – 14:55) Forte broke two tackles on one run, reinforcing the notion he’s the most valuable player on this Bears team.
Stepping up the pressure ahead of London
Julius Peppers (+1.9) has been quiet the last three weeks, but under the bright lights of Sunday night, and ahead of a trip to London in week 7, he upped his game and harassed Donovan McNabb from the get go. The former Panther not only beat opposing offensive linemen (Charlie Johnson won’t look back fondly on the sack he gave up through his inside shoulder at 10.04 in Q3) but showed great hustle chasing McNabb down and stringing out runs. This is the sort of display that Peppers can deliver every week and, against a big QB like Josh Freeman next week, will need to.
Game Notes
– Husain Abdullah and Cedric Griffin were the only Viking defenders to play all 63 defensive snaps this week.
– By comparison the entire Chicago secondary along with Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher played all 67 defensive snaps for the Bears.
– The Bears had success running left, averaging 6.8 yards per carry on runs off left end, left tackle and left guard.
PFF Game Ball
Stephen Paea was exceptional on his NFL debut causing problems for the Vikings’ interior offensive line. He made an immediate impact for the Bears registering a sack and a safety of Donovan McNabb on his second NFL snap.
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