Vikings 41, Giants 17: Rough Day for Manning and a Surprising Loss for the Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 25 — Eli Manning wore a look of disgust. He had just thrown an interception, and a Vikings defender had run past him on the way to the end zone. Manning looked as if he could not believe what he had done and what he was seeing. And then it happened two more times. The Vikings arrived to Giants Stadium with the lowest-ranked pass defense in the N.F.L. But it was more than good enough to utterly confuse the Giants and their quarterback, who threw four interceptions, three of them returned for touchdowns, in a 41-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Being on the Left Coast as I am, I was unfortunately denied the opportunity to watch this beauty, in which my consistently inconsistent Minnesota Vikings managed to kick some serious butt. I’d get all weak in the knees over this one, but next week they may well come out looking like Our Lady of Perpetual Motion’s JV team. Just when I think that maybe I can give free reign to my optimism, the Vikings revert to type, looking like the team with the NFL’s worst past defense, one of its’ worst quarterbacks, and a coach who makes Bill O’Reilly look like the very definition of reason and moderation. No, weren’t not exactly talking about the New England Patriots, are we? (And can someone please tell me why Brad Childress still has his job?)
Yeah, this is the same team that almost got embarrassed by Oakland at home last week. Then they go on the road and make the Giants look silly. Even better, the Vikings still have a legitimate shot at a wild-card playoff berth. Go figure….
A closer examination will reveal that I’m not exactly holding my breath over Minnesota’s playoff prospects. For all I know, they’ll lay an egg (kindly refer to their 34-0 shellacking by Green Bay at home) next week when Detroit comes to the Metrodome. Even so, it does give me a warm fuzzy to think that my Vikings left Eli Manning looking like this.
