Vikings lose home opener to Tampa

Talk about it

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — At the far end of an almost silent locker room, Mount Vernon native and Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway sat at his stall, staring into his locker in stunned disbelief after the Minnesota Vikings let a 17-0 halftime lead slip away against Tampa Bay.

“Almost just bewildered to the point where it couldn’t happen again,” Greenway said. “Especially the way we were playing. Everyone was flying around and making plays and getting off the field on third down. Just extremely disappointed in how it all shook out today (Sunday).”

Greenway finished the game with five tackles.

For the second week in a row, the Vikings let a halftime lead get away from them. This time, they wasted a dominating performance in the first two quarters in falling 24-20 to the Buccaneers on Sunday, dropping them to 0-2.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, Percy Harvin had seven catches for 76 yards, and the defense was getting pressure on Josh Freeman throughout the first half. But it all seemed to dry up in the final two quarters as Freeman rallied the Bucs to 14 points in the fourth to steal the victory.

“My first thought that goes through my mind is, ‘Wow, we gave the game away,’” Peterson said.

The star back bulldozed Ronde Barber on a 9-yard scoring run less than a minute before halftime to give the Vikings a 17-0 lead. The Vikings outgained Tampa Bay 284-62 in the first two quarters and looked to be running away with the game.

Then LeGarrette Blount ripped off a 27-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter and Donovan McNabb one-hopped a throw to an open Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone, forcing the Vikings to settle for a field goal.

Freeman threw a 25-yard TD pass to Arrelious Benn with 6:39 to play, then drove the Bucs 61 yards in the final four minutes to cap his eighth career comeback victory. Blount polished off the drive with a 4-yard run with 31 seconds to play.

“When you play as well as we were playing, to have the tide turn as quickly and dramatically as it did, that’s frustrating,” coach Leslie Frazier said.

Tags: mount vernon, chad greenway, sports, updates, vikings, football