Chewing on the Mouthpiece

Well, some intemperate thoughts looking back on a great weekend of college and professional football.

Adrian Peterson 34, Browns 20: There are good players, great players, and once in a generation player. After watching Adrian Peterson rush for 155 second half yards and toss around defensive backs like he was pulling weeds, Peterson, barring injury, will end his career as the greatest running back in NFL history. What he is doing is truly remarkable, and just when I think I've seen an 'Oh my God!' moment, he does something even more incredible. He has the line of scrimmage vision of Barry Sanders, the speed and power of Walter Payton, and the attitude of Jim Brown. He is a wrecking machine, and whenever he gets the ball, you expect something great to happen...and it usually does. Be thankful, Viking fans, that we can cheer a talent of this magnitude. It doesn't come along very often, and leaves far before we're ready for it to.

As for the rest of the Vikings, I like the feel of this team. You know that the offense will go through Peterson, and I think the veteran leadership or calming presence of Brett Favre really hasn't been talked about today. This was a classic 'play down to the level of competition' game for Minnesota. Historically, they're terrible outside on grass, and this had all the earmarks of a nail biter with one screwy play or turnover costing Minnesota the game late. At halftime, it seemed like you could see the game unfolding that way. But the Vikes came out and took their first two drives and shoved the ball right down the throat of the Browns, effectively ending the game. When you have a vet like Favre, who stays calm under early adversity, it allows the rest of the offense to take a deep breath, collect themselves, and go to work. Put in an exciteable or inexperienced guy, doubt creeps in, people start pressing, mistakes are made and then the game is lost.

Favre made a couple of clutch throws on both those drives on either third and long (Shiancoe for a first down) or second and long (Harvin on 2nd and long to set up third and short inside the 10) to keep drives alive and set up a touchdown. Peterson scores a touchdown four plays after the Shiancoe catch, Vikes take a 17-13 lead. Harvin scores the next play after his clutch catch, and then Peterson cuts the heart out of the Browns with his amazing 4th quarter run.

Would Jackson or Rosenfels have made those plays? I'll let you decide.

Percy Harvin had an impressive debut. I liked his ability to catch a ball, sit down in a zone or find a seam. He has a nose for the end zone, and as the season progresses he will really begin to stretch the field.

NFC North Quarterbacks not named Brett Favre: Matthew Stafford was 16-37, 205 yards and three picks as the Lions got drilled by the Saints. Hey, the kid's a rookie making his first start, and the Lions didn't lay down. Interceptions are part of the growing process for a rookie. Let's hope the Vikings secondary helps him grow next week.

Jay Cutler managed to look like every other quarterback that the Bears have employed in the past 25 years. Wow, was he horrid. Occasional good throw, but he also had 4 picks, including two in the red zone and the back breaker to Al Harris to clinch it for the Pack. Brian Urlacher looked like he was ready to kill someone as he was walking off the field. Kyle Orton had a better game than Cutler did, which is saying something. Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, stood tall in the face of a tough defense all night, didn't make any game breaking mistakes, and drove Green Bay to the win with about a minute to go.

USC 18, OSU 15: Damn. Just.....damn it. Terrelle Pryor needs a signature win for OSU to get to the level of national championship contender. Right now, for all his talent, I don't see it. He can run, he's got a strong arm, but he gets rattled and seemingly can't read defenses. It's either that or he's unsure of what he sees and gets tentative. Great defensive effort was wasted, and OSU could, and should have, won that game. If Pryor can learn from this and get better, OSU wins the Big 10 and goes to a BCS game. But I expect at least one more loss, to either Penn State or Michigan.

The Big 10: I think the Big 10 had a good weekend, even with the outcome of the USC game. Michigan won a classic against Notre Dame, and it appears that the demise of Michigan football has been greatly exaggerated. Yeah, Michigan State spit the bit against Central Michigan, but everyone else in the conference won, and Minnesota opened up an outdoor stadium on campus. It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it's great for the Gopher program and the conference. And it makes me yearn for an outdoor Vikings stadium. And they beat a pretty good Air Force team in the process.

Overall, a great weekend of football. Let's hope the Vikes keep it rolling at Detroit and OSU can bounce back against Toledo.