Vikings vs. Giants 2013, Week 7: New York gets 1st win over awful Josh Freeman, Minnesota offense

On Monday, David Roth and the internet’s Jeff Johnson attended what was possibly the worst Monday Night Football game in history. This is their story.

David: As a New Jersey Cultural Ambassador -- any past or present resident of the state can get a certificate if you mail a pack of Premio sweet Italian sausage to the Governor’s office -- I was excited to guide you and your son through the Giants Tailgate Experience at MetLife Stadium. But there wasn’t a lot going on. We saw some Vikings fans politely drinking beers in Jerome Simpson jerseys.

That discussion continued during the postgame show with Steve Young criticizing the decision.

“It was brutal to try and watch him run a professional offense,” Young said. “In the end, Leslie Frazier decided, ‘I’m going to play him’ -- maybe because my job is on the line and I want to get lightning in a bottle. But it was so obvious before the game that he was not going to be able to call the plays to get the job done.”

The teams traded punts early in the second half and Sherels had a chance to put Minnesota up 14-10, but dropped a potential pix-six interception. Instead, the Giants were forced to punt, but Sherels fumbled the punt, giving New York the ball back at the Minnesota 3-yardline. The Giants scored two plays later and the Vikings were unable to do anything offensively to challenge New York.

The teams combined for 463 total yards with ESPN play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico saying the contest resembled a preseason game.

Go Vikings!

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The Giants were mildly effective on offense early on, but the Vikings have been brutal throughout. They’re averaging just 3.3 yards per play, and their special teams have kept it a game against a winless and equally terrible Giants team.

Peterson gained just 9 yards on his first eight carries, with the Giants stuffing the line of scrimmage. It likely won’t be Peterson’s worst day as a pro, but it could be his least productive day since 2010. He added to the 9-yard total slightly in the third quarter to get into double digits, but he’s still averaging just 2.2 yards per carry after a limited 12 attempts.

Sometimes, you try as hard as you can, but you just can’t beat somebody.

Will Beatty blocked Jared Allen. He used his arms to keep one of the league’s most vicious defensive ends in front of him. He did not commit holding.

Still in search of their first win of the season, the New York Giants lead Minnesota, 10-7, at halftime on Monday Night Football.

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Giants fans facetiously exhaled when Eli Manning and the offense got through their first series of the game without an interception. But after a lengthy drive into Minnesota territory, Manning almost added another chapter to the 2013 misery narrative when tight end Larry Donnell slipped and fell going down the seam. Manning’s pass sailed right for the arms of defender Andrew Sendejo, but the Vikings safety could not convert what would have been another crushing pick.

They may have avoided the turnover, but another failure by a Giants pass-catcher to stay on route resulted in this shot of double...something -- anger? exasperation? frustration?

The stature of Monday Night Football has certainly dropped over the past decade, and the Week 7 matchup between the Vikings and Giants won’t do much to revive things for one night.

It’s hard to picture ESPN executives looking at the schedule and expecting the Week 7 game for their most prized and valuable franchise would feature a displaced Josh Freeman leading a last place Vikings team against a winless Giants team with players off the street filling in at key spots.

The Giants will have a brand new running back on Monday night against the Vikings. New York plans to start rookie Michael Cox at running back, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. Cox will take the place of Brandon Jacobs after the veteran suffered a hamstring injury while filling in for fallen starter David Wilson.

Cox is a seventh-round pick out of the University of Massachusetts and played as an undergraduate at Michigan. He has appeared in four games but has yet to have carry on the season. His role has mostly been on special teams.

Here is a complete look at the inactive lists for both teams.

Giants inactives:

Game Date/Time and Location: Monday, 8:40 p.m. ET at Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.

TV schedule and distribution map: ESPN Monday Night Football; The506.com

As of Monday morning, more than 63 per cent of the betting consensus was on the Giants and almost the same percentage was betting OVER 47.5. On the season, these teams have combined for a 9-2 record favoring the OVER, which makes it very curious why the picks computer is predicting a low-scoring game (19-9 Vikes).

While New York has struggled on both sides of the ball, the defense has been consistently bad, allowing a league-worst 34.8 points per game. [ Full MNF matchup stats, trends and live odds ]

The defense, the league’s worst in terms of points allowed, also played much better against the Bears. While the Giants still allowed 372 yards of offense, the 27 points was actually the first time they’d held an opponent under 30 this season -- baby steps, y’all -- and more importantly, they played well enough to give the offense a chance. If Eli can stop spewing turnovers like a faulty vending machine, the Giants may finally notch a few in the win column.

With any real postseason aspirations dashed just six games into the season, Ed Valentine of Big Blue View writes that the Giants’ focus from here on out should be evaluating the talent on their roster in preparation for a reshuffling this offseason.

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