Pelissero: Too many mistakes to count in Vikings' second-half debacle
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SAN DIEGO -- The second half of Monday's tape session at Winter Park will be the football equivalent of watching a snuff film.
For 30 minutes, the Minnesota Vikings took incredible pains to choke out a chance they probably didn't deserve in a 24-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers that easily could have been a rout.
They couldn't throw, couldn't protect, couldn't tackle and eventually couldn't even stay on their side of the scrimmage line Sunday afternoon as officials waved the Chargers to a season-opening win, Qualcomm Stadium shaking with equal parts cheers and cackles.
"Slip away?" veteran end Jared Allen said, repeating a reporter's question. "We blew it, man. We gave the game away."
Take out Percy Harvin's 103-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff and Allen's remarkable interception, and there may not have been a game to give.
Not with Donovan McNabb under siege while completing only 7-of-15 passes for 39 yards -- including 1-of-6 for 2 yards as the Vikings were outgained 234-26 after halftime.
"For me, being now in my 13th year, it's embarrassing to sit up here and say we only passed for (39) yards," McNabb said. "I can do that in a series. That's embarrassing to me, with the players that we have."
Where was Bernard Berrian anyway, outside of the deep ball that dropped when right tackle Phil Loadholt yielded one of many body blows on McNabb?
Where were all of the tight ends Bill Musgrave deployed so liberally, yet all but disappeared in pattern?
Where were any of the Vikings' defenders when Philip Rivers was throwing to the flats again and again, racking up almost quadruple the passing yards (144 on 15 completions) to running backs as McNabb had total?
"That's what hurt us," cornerback Antoine Winfield said. "I missed like three or four tackles myself in the flat, which could have held them to minimal gains. But we'll get better."
What's strange is the Vikings looked decidedly competent in the first half, outside of McNabb's interception on a bad-idea option pass and Mike Tolbert sneaking out of the backfield for a 1-yard touchdown moments later.
Rivers was a little off. Fred Pagac's blitzes kept getting home. Left end Brian Robison halted two drives by creating a sack and redirecting a Rivers pass into Winfield's arms for an interception to keep the score 17-7 entering halftime.
"We thought we had some things in the first half that we could build on, and it just didn't materialize in the second half," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "We've got to figure out why, because we've got to be a little bit better."
If Nate Kaeding hadn't blown out a knee trying to tackle Harvin on the touchdown return, of course, the Chargers would have kicked a 43-yard field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-20 in the second quarter.
And if not for Rivers' accuracy issues, a gift-wrapped 42-yard touchdown pass wouldn't have sailed over Vincent Jackson's head after safety Tyrell Johnson blew combination coverage nine plays earlier.
Nine of San Diego's 11 drives reached Vikings territory. The only difference after halftime was the Chargers converted, save for Allen's exceptional pick on a wheel route intended for halfback Ryan Mathews.
"We knew if we could stop the run, we had a chance," Allen said. "I thought we were able to stop the run. Unfortunately, we didn't tackle the greatest on checkdowns and they would turn 5-yard passes into 30-yard gains. That kind of still stings."
Winfield had one of two missed tackles on Mathews' 37-yard catch-and-run, which set up Tolbert's 4-yard touchdown rumble through safety Jamarca Sanford a little more than 4 minutes into the third quarter.
From there, the offense collapsed with such determination hints were dropped in the locker room the Chargers knew what was coming. The Vikings ran on 75% of first and second downs, then kept running into protection issues on third and 6-to-10.
"It was two-deep safety. They rolled a lot," Harvin said. "We've just got to, first and second down, maybe pass the ball a little bit more to keep them off balance so they can't crowd the box and blitz and so A.P., when he runs, he's not looking at 10 people anytime he gets the ball."
Punter Mike Scifres nailed a 40-yard field goal to tie the game with 10:09 to go. Loadholt gave up the hit that yielded the deep incompletion to Berrian a couple minutes later. The Chargers marched 64 yards to the go-ahead score when middle linebacker E.J. Henderson played Rivers' scramble and let Tolbert slip behind him for a 19-yard touchdown.
On the Vikings' final series, McNabb threw a checkdown to Peterson and handed off for a 2-yard loss before backup linebacker Antwan Barnes worked left tackle Charlie Johnson for a sack. They never got the ball back in part because defensive tackles Letroy Guion and Fred Evans combined to jump offsides three times in the final 2:32.
"We just give them the end of the game," Allen said. "We give them 15 yards in penalties. That's not acceptable."
Not much was over the final 30 minutes of a game that hammered home the reasons so many expect the Vikings to kill these types of chances all season.
