Oct. 15, 2007
IOWA-ILLINOIS GAME CENTRAL
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IOWA CITY – Oh, sometimes it’s hard to play defense in the National Football League.
Take, for instance, former Iowa Hawkeye Chad Greenway and his pals on the Minnesota Viking defense. Minnesota defeated Chicago yesterday 34-31 in Soldier Field. It was the Vikings’ second win of the season and snapped a three-game losing streak during which the Vikings have been outscored by a mere total of 13 points.
On the surface, it’s all about the offense. Sure, rookie running back Adrian Peterson had a record-setting performance of 224 yards and three touchdowns. And, sure, the victory came as a result of a game-winning and career best 55-yard field goal by Ryan Longwell on the last play of the game.
However, all that goes for naught and the Vikings aren’t one of only five visiting teams to win on the NFL road yesterday if the Minnesota defense doesn’t do its part. The Viking defense limited “Da Bears” to just 83 yards on the ground, caused and recovered two fumbles and forced Chicago quarterback Brian Greise to throw a pair of interceptions.
Toss in the fact that Chicago came up empty on its only visit to the Red Zone and all in all, Greenway and the boys on the Minnesota defense couldn’t be faulted for smiling all the way back to Minneapolis.
Greenway – an all-Big Ten linebacker at Iowa who was a first-round draft selection of the Vikings two years ago – collected six tackles against the Bears and now has 35 for the season. That total ranks second best on the Viking squad as they prepare for a date next Sunday at Dallas.
Greenway was one of five University of Iowa student-athletes selected in the 2006 NFL Draft. The Vermillion, S.D. native was selected in the first round by the Vikings – the 16th first round selection in the history of UI football – and was the 17th overall selection.
Greenway has rebounded nicely from a rocky start to his professional football career. After a solid pre-season camp, the first linebacker in UI history to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft tore the ACL in his left knee on the opening kickoff of the Vikings’ 2006 preseason opener against Oakland. He spent the entire 2006 season on the injured
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