Steven Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give the Minnesota Vikings a 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, moving the Vikes to 6-0. As usual, Minnesota was led by Brett Favre, who threw three touchdown passes, and Adrian Petersen, who turned in a 143-yard performance after a couple of subpar games from a yardage standpoint, though most of his yards came on two big runs.

Even though the win kept Minnesota undefeated, there were plenty of things that this team needs to improve the rest of the way. Most glaring on Sunday was of the six trips to the red zone, the Vikings settled for field goals on half of them. This came into play in the second half as the Ravens turned subsequent drives into touchdowns, eventually giving them the lead on Ray Rice’s 33-yard run late. And unfortunately, play calling has to be blamed for some part of this. On one red zone drive, Minnesota didn’t give the ball to Peterson on any of its three plays, and settling for a Ryan Longwell field goal. Then, on their final two trips, AP was given on nearly every play, and the Ravens were waiting for him, keeping him out of the end zone. Against top teams like Baltimore, settling for field goals instead of touchdowns can come back to haunt you.
Fortunately, Favre was able to keep the Ravens off-balance with long throws, including a 58-yard bomb to Sidney Rice, setting the game-winning field goal by Longwell. Rice easily had his best game as a pro, catching six passes for a career-high 176 yards. Without Favre’s heroics, Minnesota could very easily be 4-2.

Another thing that stood out, in my mind, was that the normally dominating Viking defense looked tired and worn down in the second half. Some of that can be attributed to the offense’s inability to finish drives and Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield going down with a foot injury. But with the game on the line, the defense allowed Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to drive 41 yards in 9 plays to set up Hauschka’s attempt. The lack of pass rush by game’s end was surprising, as was Karl Paymah’s attempt to cover Raven receivers as well.

What seems to jump out is that Minnesota lacked the killer instinct they had the previous week against St. Louis. They have been able to post leads early on in most of their games, but have seen them evaporate in two of those six, only to be bailed out by Favre. There’s going to be a game where he may not be able to pull it off and the Viking D will need to carry the team late to a win. I just hope it doesn’t happen in the playoffs.

Stay tuned for my upcoming preview against the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.