Stretched too thin

Peterson, Vikings' defense prove to be overwhelming

Minneapolis - Mike McCarthy defended his choice of plays in the last 2 minutes as "smart." Others would say he was too conservative. Others might say he was out of his mind.

Either way, McCarthy's final moves backfired Sunday when Mason Crosby pushed his field-goal attempt from 52 yards agonizingly off line to the right with 26 seconds left, and the Green Bay Packers fell to the Minnesota Vikings, 28-27, in the deafening din of the Metrodome.

"Great to beat those people," said Brad Childress, the Vikings coach who neglected to shake McCarthy's hand after losing the opener at Lambeau Field and then had the brashness to second-guess his counterpart after the rematch.

When exhausted eyewitnesses of another white-hot border rivalry game moved into the pubs and eateries around the Twin Cities, it was left to coaches and players to boil down a helter-skelter affair that ended with the Vikings tied with Chicago atop the NFC North at 5-4 and Green Bay at 4-5.

The Packers find themselves trailing 10 teams, including Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Dallas that all hold the tie-breaking advantage over them, and tied with still another club in the NFC. Six teams will make the playoffs.

"It's not going to be easy," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "Nobody said it would be. But if we continue to lose it's not going to matter."

A 31-yard kickoff return by Will Blackmon enabled the Packers to start from their 41 with 2 minutes 15 seconds left and one timeout. The second timeout had been expended with a fruitless if not pointless challenge by McCarthy seconds earlier on a 29-yard touchdown run by the great Adrian Peterson that was the difference.

"Two things," McCarthy said, explaining why he tossed the red flag. "Where his knee went down, and did the ball come out of the back of the end zone (for a touchback)? In hindsight, I probably wouldn't have challenged it. I'd rather have the second timeout with the 2-minute drill."

The Packers fortuitously gained 19 yards on the first play when a pass from Aaron Rodgers that was batted at the line by Ellis Wyms went straight to Donald Driver amid a flock of defenders.

Mike Stock, the special-teams coach who had witnessed Crosby hit from 60 yards once in each direction during warmups, reminded McCarthy during the lengthy break for the 2-minute warning that the ball already was 2 yards within Crosby's range.

"The two runs we had, we lost up front (on the first) and the second one was a good play call," McCarthy said. "The third-and-6 call was a third-and-6 call that we had in the plan. We were being smart there with our play selection. Still, we attempted to get the first down."

On Ryan Grant's two carries, the Packers used an I-formation with two tight ends and one wide receiver. Although the Packers do pass from it, that personnel grouping is designed to run against a defense that has been almost impervious to the run for 2½ years.

"I guess I was a little surprised maybe that they were in 'U' personnel (two tight ends)," said Childress, now 1-5 against McCarthy. "I like my chances with my run defense when people get in two tight ends and want to pound the ball for positioning. Yeah, I'd rather see that."

One of Childress' veteran players, linebacker Ben Leber, appeared almost stunned.

"I thought they were going to try to get the ball closer," Leber said. "That's what I think most teams would do in that situation. Maybe they thought they were going to catch us off guard."

Yet, it wasn't as if McCarthy had all kinds of good stuff on his play list. Skittish Aaron Rodgers had been sacked four times, knocked down six other times and hurried repeatedly behind an offensive line that just couldn't pass-block.

"Defensively," Leber said, "we didn't feel like they could do anything to hurt us."

Grant lost a yard on an outside zone run to the right when Kevin Williams penetrated through Daryn Colledge and Chad Clifton from the back side.

The Packers came back with an inside zone play off right guard that gained 4 against a defense massing six at the line.

With Green Bay playing close to the vest, Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier went for broke on third and 7 against the Packers' one-back, four-wide receiver set from shotgun formation.

Against an all-out blitz, Rodgers relied on Driver to make a play on safety Madieu Williams. But Williams, substituting in the slot for injured nickel back Charles Gordon, held his ground and smothered Driver after a gain of only 3.

"The ball is on the 40 with 2 minutes left," Rodgers said. "This one is not on Mason at all. You have to be able to give him a better opportunity and execute better than we did."

Thus, the Vikings were able to beat out all the statistical spreadsheets that say you can't win with a 3-0 deficit in turnover differential, especially including a "pick-six" by Nick Collins, as well as giving up a long punt return for another score.

"It's great to be able to win a game like that," Childress said. "I thought our offensive line did a great job of exerting their will on that defensive front. We're not too bad a football team if we cover up people and let (Peterson) do his thing."

Peterson, the division's second-coming of Barry Sanders in the way he is able to control a game, simply wouldn't be denied. On the Vikings' triumphant 69-yard march, he piled up 64 yards when his teammates, as Gus Frerotte described it, "put it all on his back."

"He's that one guy, he wants the contact," Woodson said. "That's the way he plays the game."

Frerotte, 37, is and almost always has been a liability, but on this day his three interceptions were more the result of extraordinary plays by Tramon Williams, Woodson and Collins. Speedster Bernard Berrian was shut out.

In the end, the Packers not only wasted those examples of superior athleticism and cunning but also Blackmon's 65-yard return for a touchdown. Collins and Blackmon exemplify the gifted athletes with non-traditional college careers on whom general manager Ted Thompson likes to take chances.

"Fantastic," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "Those guys did a great job. But this is one of those days offensively we had no rhythm or tempo."

One for 11 on third down. Possession time of 23:55. Just 184 yards. The embarrassment of two safeties when Clifton and Jason Spitz couldn't protect one-on-one.

Until Blackmon's return, the special teams were outplayed by Vikings units ranked 28th in the league. Among Derrick Frost's seven punts, there were awful hang times of 3.09, 3.43, 2.90 and 3.12 seconds.

But, ultimately, it came down to a head coach and a kicker dropping the ball in the clutch.

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