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Motor City mishap; Vikings give one away

(Sports Network) Detroit snapped a 10-game skid against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday when veteran kicker Jason Hanson was true from 37 yards out in overtime to give the Lions a 20-17 win.

In a bowling shoe-ugly game, the Vikings and Detroit combined for 10 turnovers and 19 penalties, but two mistakes by The Purple stood out and made the difference.

On the game's opening drive, the Vikings were facing a third-and-one opportunity from the Detroit 25. Instead of running star rookie Adrian Peterson behind All-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson, the Vikings put the ball in the hands of unproven second-year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who forced a pass into a well-covered Jim Kleinsasser. The ball deflected off Kleinsasser's hands into the arms of Detroit defensive tackle Shaun Cody for an interception.

That was also the harbinger of an awful day for Jackson, who went on to throw three more ugly interceptions before leaving after the first play in overtime with a groin injury.

Jackson's backup, Brooks Bollinger, then capped the turnover parade with a botched snap in overtime that led to the Lions victory.

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

A lot of NFL coaches are known for their arrogance, and Vikings mentor Brad Childress is no different. To be kind, when the second-year head coach named Jackson his starter, most longtime NFL observers questioned the decision. Jackson wasn't a highly-touted prospect when the Vikings traded up to get him in the 2006 draft, and when the former Alabama State signal-caller got a late season audition last year, he didn't show much.

But, Childress evidently saw something in Jackson the rest of us didn't, and a promised training camp battle for the job never developed when the coach treated Jackson like a vested veteran, pulling him early from preseason games.

Fast forward to 2007 season. Jackson was average in the opener -- a win against Atlanta -- but left a number of big plays on the field and showed poor accuracy on his downfield throws. On the road for the first time in Detroit, Jackson fell apart. The young starter finished the game 17-for-33 for 166 yards with four interceptions and a woeful 26.4 passer rating.

"The defense kept us in the game, even though we had four or five turnovers," Jackson said. "We just have to cut those out. I pride myself on taking care of the football. I didn't do that today."

By the second half, the Lions, who use the Tampa-2 as their base defense, had such little respect for Jackson's playmaking skills that they stacked the line of scrimmage with eight defenders and blitzed time and time again, daring the Vikings quarterback to make a play. He never did.

It seems obvious that the best QB on the Minnesota Vikings is Kelly Holcomb, but the veteran was the emergency option for the second straight week after coming over in a preseason trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Childress has said Holcomb will be the No. 2 guy once he learns the offense, and Bollinger's overtime flub will likely accelerate that process.

Jackson's play will likely elevate Holcomb to the starting spot at some point. But Childress is sticking by his embattled signal-caller for now and said he will remain the starter if deemed healthy.

"I'd be remiss in telling you how he comes day-to-day here," Childress said on Monday. "He's treating today and it will be ongoing tomorrow. I see a lot of things happen on Tuesday. Guys are in a push to get to Wednesday but he's beat up pretty good."

When asked if he miscalculated Jackson's readiness to take over an NFL team, Childress balked. "I feel like he's more than ready (to be a starter). It's just a matter of him taking care of the football," the coach said. "I see him making a lot of good plays out there and I see him see a lot of things and get us into the right plays. But that's part of that learning curve, and you can't do those things with the football to put your team in that situation, and he knows that."

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

It's hard to criticize a defense that has produced three touchdowns in two games and has outscored your offense.

The Vikings "D" has been responsible for 21 points this season, and the Jackson-led offense only 20. But it's the same old story for the Vikings defense. Minnesota was riding high at 4-2 last season when New England and Bill Belichick rode into the Metrodome and gave everyone in the NFL a blueprint on how to beat the Vikings -- spread the defense and pass, pass and pass.

When Lions QB Jon Kitna was in the game, Detroit moved the ball at will against painfully soft coverage in the back end of the Minnesota defense. Kitna, who left the game for two quarters after getting his bell rung, finished 22-of-32 for 245 yards. His lightly-regarded backup, J.T. O'Sullivan, added another 148 yards passing.

All in all, the Lions put the ball in the air 56 times, and the Minnesota defense gave up an ugly 393 gross passing yards. Of course, they also amassed three interceptions and recorded four sacks.

It's feast or famine for this Vikings defense -- nothing in between.

NO HOMECOMING

Detroit native Chester Taylor, who had about 30 friends and family members at Ford Field for Sunday's game, missed the return to his hometown because of a hip injury sustained in week 1.

It was the second straight year Taylor missed the Vikings' visit to Detroit because of injury.

"I usually treat every game the same but it's a little bit more going home and [having] all your family there," Taylor said earlier in the week. "You want to go out there and play."

Despite that warrior mentality, Taylor was held out in an effort to get him closer to 100 percent.

CHILDRESS TRUMPS BELICHICK

Belichick is a heavyweight in the NFL coaching ranks and much has been made of his legendary haughtiness, especially after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell slapped him with a $500,000 fine last week for spying by videotaping the New York Jets' defensive signals.

Brad Childress knows all about Belichick's heavy-handed ways, and while the Vikings coach is certainly still finding his way, Childress got the best of the Patriots mentor on the personnel front last week.

Here's the background: After the final cutdown, Belichick called Childress to warn him that if the Vikings claimed tight end Garrett Mills from New England, a player the Pats wanted to stash on the practice squad, New England would retaliate by claiming a player the Vikings wanted on their practice squad.

The Vikings did claim Mills and Belichick was true to his word and plucked rookie linebacker David Herron from the Vikings. But Herron was waived by the Patriots last week, and is now a member of the Vikings practice squad. Meanwhile, Mills is the Vikings' third-string tight end, behind Visanthe Shiancoe and Jim Kleinsasser, and a player the Vikings think has a big upside.

WAITING

The Vikings felt defensive end Erasmus James was on the verge of becoming an elite edge pass rusher last season. That was before the former first round pick tore his left anterior cruciate ligament and partially tore his left medial collateral ligament in the second game of 2006 season against Carolina. James is practicing but was inactive for the first two games.

"He's obviously back on the field practicing, which obviously is a huge plus, but I just think it's a matter of time of ramping it up to where he was at when he left," Childress said. "We've said what we said about him, when he comes back, he's the starter. But you have to be playing at the level that those guys are playing at right now. When he was playing at that level that he was before he got hurt against Carolina, we saw a steady ascension by him. And believe me, it's not that he's not going full speed. It's just a matter of gaining all his faculties back. His skills and abilities and trusting them I think more than anything."

The Vikings can afford to wait. James' replacement, second-year player Ray Edwards, looks like a future star and tallied 1 1/2 sacks and scored on a nine-yard fumble return against Detroit. Meanwhile, rookie pass rushing specialist Brian Robison had two sacks in the opener. So no time frame has been put on James' return to the field.

"I don't have a time I'm shopping specifically," Childress said. "I tell those guys all the time that I'm from Missouri, you've got to show me. It's on tape. All I'm doing is looking at the tape."

UP NEXT

The Vikings travel to Kansas City this week to face a team they should be able to beat. The obvious strength of the Chiefs is the running game with Larry Johnson, and that plays right into the Vikings' wheelhouse.

Meanwhile, Kansas City just doesn't have the skill position players to spread Minnesota out and take advantage of its soft pass defense. That said, the 0-2 Chiefs are desperate for a win and Kansas City is one of the tougher places to play in the NFL.

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