Vikings’ blitz gets best of Chargers

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Sunday, Nov 04, 2007
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

When teams choose to blitz on nearly every down in the NFL, there’s a huge risk/reward factor. It’s often feast or famine, and Minnesota’s defensive gambles paid off Sunday afternoon.

The Vikings pressured the Chargers early and often Sunday afternoon and held the Bolts to just 229 yards of total offense.

“They obviously blitzed us an extreme amount,” Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner said. “I thought in the first half there were a number of opportunities to make big plays against the blitz. There were plays where we had protection, plays where we had guys free and for one reason or another we didn’t make those plays. Then it obviously mounts up on you.”

Quarterback Philip Rivers said that from what he’d seen on film, Minnesota hadn’t played as much pressure defense earlier this season. Their decision to blitz left favorable match ups on the outside, but for whatever reason the Chargers were unable to capitalize.

“We were real close to making some big plays, and that’s the difference,” said Rivers, who finished the game 19-of-42 passing for 197 yards. “You hit those plays and maybe the door gets blown down early in the game.”

While Rivers was sacked just once on the afternoon, he was continually pressured and was unable to set his feet on several occasions. Other times the receivers didn’t make plays on their end.

“We had balls that could have been caught,” Turner said. “We had missed throws. We had guys running open at times and we didn’t protect as well as we needed to. When you get that kind of game plan, they make you be exact. We certainly weren’t.”

Minnesota also excelled at limiting the Bolts’ top two offensive weapons. The Vikings entered the game with the NFL’s third-ranked rushing defense, and they held LaDainian Tomlinson to 40 yards on 16 carries.

“It was kind of our strength versus their strength,” Tomlinson said of the running game. “They were just more physical than us. They just whipped us.”

Although the Chargers made every effort to keep him involved, tight end Antonio Gates was held to a season-low one reception for 10 yards.

“Any time you end the game and he has one catch, you wish you would have gotten it to him more. That’s just the way it went today. We just didn’t make enough plays to win. That’s what every game is. We’ve made enough plays to win the last three and we didn’t make enough to win this one. We’ll go in and look at it, regroup and be ready next week.”

Doug Pensinger, Getty Images North America

Constant pressure from Minnesota's defense kept Philip Rivers from getting in a groove Sunday.

	Week 9: Norv Turner Head coach Norv Turner post game press conference. Play
	Week 9: Philip Rivers QB Philip Rivers talks after Sundays loss to the Vikings about some of the teams "missed opportunities." Play
	Week 9: LaDainian Tomlinson RB LaDainian Tomlinson gives the media his reaction from Sundays game and talks about Vikings RB Adrian Peterson. Play
	Week 9: Antonio Cromartie Antonio Cromartie talks after the game about his 109 yard touchdown return. Play
	Week 9: Stephen Cooper LB Stephen Cooper after Sundays game talks about going up against the Vikings offense and RB Adrian Peterson. Play
	Week 9: Antonio Gates After Sundays loss to the Vikings, TE Antonio Gates gives his reaction of the game. Play