Tahi the 12th man in Vikings huddle

As many remember, immediately prior to Brett Favre throwing an interception trying to make a play on 3rd and 15 from the Saints' 38, the Vikings were called for 12 men in the huddle, which pushed the Vikings back from long field goal range to marginal field goal range (at least for Longwell). Interestingly enough, Fahu Tahi was the 12th man, because apparently the personnel grouping that was on the field didn't call for a FB.



Around town, I haven't heard anyone blame Tahi, because he more than made up for it with his play on the field throughout the game; to whit, beating out 5 Saints to recover Peterson's billionth fumble of the game. Most don't even blame Favre for his picks, because the fumbles were what really killed the Vikings, two in the red zone I believe. Really, the Vikings should have been up at least a touchdown--it should never have come down to a field goal in the first place.



Here's a link in the local paper:



http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/82754502.html?elr=KArksUUUycaEacyU

He also had a fumble recovery, that's more than enough to make up for it. Tahi didn't throw across his body, a vet who's been playing for 20 years made the worst mistake possible as a Q. I really wanted them to win though since that would've added to the Y super bowl players list.

Good info. Who-da thunk it. I'll bet it's killing him!!

Just as a follow up, the article I linked to was front page of the sports section in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune. In full disclosure, I'm not a Vikings fan, but I was cheering for them because it would be fun to live in a Super Bowl town and because I cheer for BYU players.



You'd think that at such an important juncture, getting the right personnel on the field coming out of a timeout shouldn't be a concern. Imagine if something like this happened to BYU in the Utah game--this board would be going crazy. But alas, it was a night of mistakes all around--poor pass blocking, fumbles, interceptions, coaching brain farts, and less-than-impressive-refereeing. The only consolation is that the defense played pretty well considering who they were up against.

as was pointed out above,if Favre simply trips over his own two feet and falls down,rather than making a terribly boneheaded throw over the middle across his body,trying to make a big play when that was not even called for,then the Vikes are playing in the Superbowl and not home watching.the announcers pointed out that he had a wide open field in front of him,but he did'nt even need that.just fall down Bret,Longwell kicks fieldgoal and you're home.the fact that Favre is not being criticized for emploding to his 'normal self 'is a testament to the almost Godlike status he's afforded in the NFL and it's merchandising machinery.

clemdiggitydog1 wrote:
as was pointed out above,if Favre simply trips over his own two feet and falls down,rather than making a terribly boneheaded throw over the middle across his body,trying to make a big play when that was not even called for,then the Vikes are playing in the Superbowl and not home watching.the announcers pointed out that he had a wide open field in front of him,but he did'nt even need that.just fall down Bret,Longwell kicks fieldgoal and you're home.the fact that Favre is not being criticized for emploding to his 'normal self 'is a testament to the almost Godlike status he's afforded in the NFL and it's merchandising machinery.

Ryan Longwell's 13-year career long is 55 yards. If Brett had simply fallen down at the line of scrimmage, the attempt would have been 55 yards. Despite all the space, I don't think the hobbled Favre would have gotten more than 5 yards on the fast Saints defense. Longwell's longest field goal of the year was 52 yards. Before the penalty, the Vikings were prepared to run the ball in hopes of kicking a 47-50 yard field goal as time expires. The penalty forced the Vikings into a clear passing situation, which in a poor decision by Favre.



What I find troublesome than the penalty or the interception is the fact that the Vikings got down to the 33-yard line with 1 minute left and 2 timeouts and got conservative. New Orleans took a well-timed time out to stop the Vikings momentum and give the D a rest. Given Longwell's history (not a strong leg, moderate percentage in playoffs), I fully expected the Vikings to try for another first down, because a 40-yard field goal much easier to make than a 50-yard field goal.



Unfortunately, they were content to kick a field goal on that series, so I think the Vikings got the result they deserved given the sloppy game they played.

I'm now a Childress fan. He took full responsibility and not even the half-hearted "..OK...it's my fault (wink wink)" kind but the "I messed this up" kind. He then said exactly why it went wrong, and how he needed to change that in the future. That's a good coach right there.