The Baltimore Ravens (3-3) put themselves in a great position to win this game against the Minnesota Vikings (6-0), but kicker Steven Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal attempt with two seconds left to fall short.  The Ravens defense, particularly the secondary, struggled in this one.  Vikings’ quarterback Brett Favre threw three touchdowns and 278 yards on 21/29 attempts.  They also struggled to slow down the Vikings’ running game, with running back Adrian Peterson rushing for 143 yards on 22 carries (6.5).  Peterson is the second straight 100-yard rusher the Ravens have given up after going 39 straight games without giving up 100-yards to one player.

Joe Flacco played great for the Ravens in this one, especially in the fourth quarter.  Ray Rice also had a huge game for the Ravens’ offense.  Rice rushed for 77 yards on 10 carries (7.7 avg) and had two touchdowns while also catching 10 passes for 117 yards (11.7 avg). Rice was a great target for Flacco, who passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns on 28/43 (65%) attempts.  Flacco brought the Ravens back from a 17-point deficit and scored two touchdowns in only 56 seconds to give the Ravens a 31-30 lead with under four minutes to play.  Then Brett Favre came back on the field and with a 58-yard bullet to Sidney Rice, set the Vikings’ kicker Ryan Longwell up for a 31-yard field goal that he easily converted on.  The Vikings still left 1:49 on the clock, which gave Joe Flacco plenty of time to put his team in a position to win the game.  Hauschka choked though, and the Vikings escaped with a 2-point victory to stay undefeated.  This was the Ravens third loss in a row and it was a heartbreaker.  The Ravens usual phenomenal defense has looked average lately and they need to step it up.