Improvements Points at a Time

Little by little the Minnesota Vikings are making improvements.

Their halftime leads have grown in three games, from 10, to 17, to 20; their losses have softened, from seven, to four, to three, in overtime.

Against three quality teams the Vikings are playing good football ... for 30 minutes.

That's not good enough.

If the return on a dollar to LeBron is three good quarters, it's 50 cents to Minnesota.

A franchise beleaguered by back luck, epic meltdowns and questionable personnel decisions, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Something has got to give.

It seems so absurd a team could dominate so consistently for one half, only to fold like a napkin the next.

Studying the statistics and play-calls first half to second for all three games, it doesn't seem like there is a glaringly obvious numerical reason for these losses.

Maybe one. More in a bit.

In general, it stands to reason, the more touches Adrian Peterson receives, the better off Minnesota will be. Donovan McNabb is completing a sub-par 58 percent of his passes -- the majority of which are short tosses in Minnesota's West Coast offense.

In fact, not once has Minnesota gone three-and-out, sans a penalty, when Peterson rushes twice.

Play-calling hasn't been much of an issue. The struggles can be chalked up to lack of execution on both sides of the ball.

There have been poor coaching moments though; coach Leslie Frazier seems to have picked up where predecessor Brad Childress left off, like going for it on fourth-and-1 when the Vikings were in field goal range and up three Sunday against the Lions. He selected to run Toby Gerhart, no less.

Last year Childress cost the team a couple victories (Dolphins game Week 2 comes to mind) by foolishly trying to extend drives and convert fourth downs when field goal tries were readily available.

Minnesota needs to take points when it can.

Mostly, though, the Vikings offense hasn't been able to convert third downs in the second half and the defense has struggled to get off the field in key situations.

Minnesota converted just 28.6 percent of its third downs Sunday and is 36.1 percent on drive extending downs during this young season.

In the second half, the Vikings are as active as a driver on US-101 in rush hour. Their 0-for-6 effort on third downs after intermission Sunday versus the Lions makes them at a paltry 1-for-15 in such situations in 2011.

By comparison, opponents are 20-for-42 on third downs (47.6 percent), including 13-for-21 (61.9 percent!) after intermission.

In order for Minnesota to get where it hopes to be, the coaching staff needs to utilize Peterson and Percy Harvin more. The defense needs to toughen up and remain stout for an entire game. And McNabb needs to hit receivers, not the turf.

Sunday against the Chiefs is another chance to improve, little by little.