Category Archive: NFC North

Sep
23

Vikings vs 49ers: Shock and Awe on the Field

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September 23, 2012


Ponder looked like a pro against the 49ers.

The expectation of nearly everyone prior to the game today was that the Vikings would have no chance against the 49ers.

In the immortal words of Charlie Sheen… Duh… Winning!

There was tiger blood on the field today as the Vikings started with a very strong first drive. It looked like it might stall in the red zone after 2 consecutive incompletions by Ponder. However, the Vikings managed to get to the 2 yard line on a great catch by Rudolph… and then another stall as Musgrave called 3 running plays up the middle in a row. He’s awesome, isn’t he? Run isn’t working up the middle? Let’s try it again! In a move I did not see coming, the Vikings went for it on 4th and goal and a Ponder to Rudolph connection put 6 points on the board for the Vikings. Wow. I did not anticipate any of our coaching staff actually having the guts to make a bold move. Of course, when you’re playing the team that everyone is talking about (hint: that’s not the Vikings), you either go big or go home.

The first half was a strong showing by the Vikings; however, the defense got progressively worse as the game neared half-time. Poor coverage in the secondary (of course) but also minimal pressure on the quarterback. Allen missed a sack, Randy Moss was wide open – it really looked like the 49ers were going to march right down the field for a touchdown just before the half. Instead, the Vikings D finally held AND Letroy Guion blocked a field goal. I know what you’re thinking – but I’m not even kidding. And then, the Vikings get the ball back, march it downfield and Walsh stuffs a 52 yard field goal. First placekicker in the Vikings’ history to have 3 consecutive games with 50+ yard field goals. So – the Vikings went into the locker room at half-time with a 17-3 lead.

Starting the 2nd half, a Blair Walsh kick off, 9 yards deep in the end zone, resulted in the 49ers returning it 94 yards, nearly for a TD. The Vikings’ D held the Niners to 3, miraculously enough. Unfortunately, the Vikings went 3 and out for their 1st offensive series of the 2nd half. Later in the 3rd, Walsh had another deep kick off that the 49ers again returned, this time for 50 yards. Special teams for the Vikings are decidedly unspecial. Toby Gerhart tried hard to give the game back to the 49ers 3 different times, and the refs gave Harbaugh more challenges and time outs than were legal under game rules. But despite ALL of that, the Vikings managed the biggest upset of the weekend. Kinda makes me wish I had picked them to win, but let’s all be honest: no non-homer Vikings fan thought that they were going to win today, and yet, win they did.

Greenway produced big today!

The Good

Chad Greenway. 8 tackles in the first half alone. He was all over the field. He ended the day with 10 solo tackles, 3 assists and 2 sacks. For those who’ve been saying he needs to earn his contract, I assume he salutes you.

Christian Ponder. He made a lot of good decisions today, not the least of which was his 23 yard run for a TD. He came out strong and stayed focused the entire game. He said during the post game presser that he had prepared differently for this game – as had the whole team. Well, whatever they did, it should be the weekly standard. He ended the day 21/35 for 198 yards and 2 TDs, no interceptions (although one could argue he should have had at least 1).

Adrian Peterson’s productivity may be down, but he’s testing his leg and not getting hurt as he gets back into a rhythm. On the post-game Fan Line show on KFAN, they pointed out that he wasn’t making good decisions about which way to run. I agree with that to an extent, but I think it’s partly still being afraid to really let loose on his leg. I think he needs a little time and he’ll be back.

Antoine Winfield. Not only is he a tremendous player for the Vikings but he also addressed the team this week and I credit him with their new-found sense of purpose.

Kyle Rudolph. That guy can catch anything apparently. 2 TDs on the day.

Toby and AD need to have a heart to heart about how to hang onto the ball.

The Bad

Charlie Johnson. What is that guy still doing on the roster? Watching him play, it’s beginning to make sense that Peyton Manning has a neck issue.

Toby Gerhart making Adrian Peterson look like he really knew how to hang onto the ball in 2009. Frazier and Musgrave made a HUGE error in continuing to give him carries when the on-going fumbles (and the horrid officiating) could have still impacted the game. The coaching staff needs to be willing to bench primary players when their focus isn’t there.

The Ugly

Chris Cook. He’s crappy both on and off the field. He needs to be benched – or, better yet, cut like I wanted him to be last year.

Special teams coverage on kick offs. What a bunch of inept buffoons! 94 yard return, 50 yard return. For Odin’s sake – put Audie Cole in there or someone equally as solid if these starters can’t stop a damn return on balls 9 yards deep in the end zone.

Half-time adjustments. The coaching staff decided to go ahead and demotivate the team back to their usual 50% level of effort entering into the 3rd quarter. Luckily, the team remembered the inspiration provided by Antoine Winfield earlier this week and re-engaged for the win. It’s worth noting that Frazier said in his post-game presser that the coaching staff didn’t prep enough for the Colts and they decided to really focus in on this game. Guess what, Les… you should be doing that EVERY week. You should have been doing it since the day Chilly was shown the door! Frazier, Musgrave and Williams – what we need is for them to be fired and for the little old lady from Poltergeist to come to Winter Park to say “This house is clean.”

I saved most of my ire this week for the replacement officials. I haven’t said much about them to date because I think they are trying very hard in a difficult situation; HOWEVER – to not be able to count the number of time outs a team has. To give a head coach 2 challenges to which he is NOT entitled is unforgivable. Even fans at home have that basic level of ability. Those officials could have really impacted this game and so now, after that kind of absolute ineptitude, I will now officially say: NFL, you need to settle with the real officials. Real officials, you need to get reasonable with your demands and find a way to get back onto the field. Enough is enough.

Skol Vikings Nation!

 

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Sep
16

Vikings vs Colts: Discipline Deficiency

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September 16, 2012


The Vikings go down in flames in Indianapolis.

I have been a Vikings fan since I was 5. I have never been angrier with this team than I was today. Before the game, Greg Coleman was talking with Paul Allen about the team’s “swagger” and said they were taking the field with “high energy” after last week’s win. We all know that Coleman and PA are both of a couple of homers – and we also know that I am not – but I was dumb enough to believe them before the game started. You can trust that I will not make that mistake again. It’s worth noting that it’s taken me all afternoon to write this at a glacial pace. I want to be objective – not angry – when I talk about why we lost.

I took a lot of flack on Twitter today for being “negative” and calling for Frazier to be fired. Although, I’m taking less crap than I used to about wanting Frazier gone as more people get on the bandwagon. Let’s be clear on one thing: we lost today because of coaching. Read on and I’ll tell you why.

The Good

The good news about this game is that we never have to see it again. Unless, of course, you have it on DVR and are masochistic enough to want to re-watch it. Also good about this game, for those of you watching for trends, is that it marks the 24th consecutive game that demonstrates Frazier’s inability to motivate and prepare this team prior to the game. While that in itself isn’t good, I like that it’s clearly laying down a trail that anyone can follow to come to the conclusion that Frazier cannot motivate this team.

 

The Secondary: where was it?

The Bad

Christian Ponder. Yeah, his stats look decent on paper. But – he inspired no urgency in the offense. Percy was open several times… and he just plain didn’t see him. He would jack-rabbit out of the pocket instead. He wasn’t going through his reads fast enough during most of the game. And he had not even one pass longer than 20 yards.

A lot of people are going to nay-say me on this because of his performance in the 4th quarters of the last 2 games – but he needs to get serious and start playing like a pro. All 60 minutes. Last week, after the game, he said he needed to come out with urgency and focus. He was right, but for the second week in a row, he did not do it. Why? Because he’s not held accountable for his performance by Leslie Frazier. And how did he explain it during the post-game presser? “That’s life in the NFL.” Way to hold yourself accountable for moseying on the field, Christian. Keep in mind that if the Vikings had played no-huddle or hurry-up offense on that last scoring drive, they likely would have had enough time to tie up the game after the Colts scored the field goal.

The front 4. Just 2 sacks on the day – but none from that front line. Robison missed tackles, Jared Allen made a bad decision along the sidelines and Kevin Williams missed several tackles, too. Jared Allen’s performance for me right now is reminiscent of his 2010 season. I don’t think he’ll be breaking any sack records this year, although I hope he proves me wrong.

Offensive coaching. Musgrave could not be more predictable if he tried. He lacks imagination and he lacks guts. 2 hideous gaps to have in an offensive coördinator.

Defensive coaching. Williams certainly lacks creativity. It’s sad that the fan-base gets excited when the defense manages one blitz in a game. What happened to the smashmouth football of yesteryear? I’m sure we all remember when we had the Williams Wall and a top 5 defense. Frazier is still there. Pagac is still there. You can’t tell me that not having Pat Williams is the difference. So, what is going on other than weak coaching and weak game planning?

This is what a person looks like when they shouldn’t be a head coach in the NFL. Confused & over-matched.

The Ugly

Lack of offensive urgency. Lack of defensive passion and focus. And, again, that speaks to Frazier’s inability to motivate this team to play. We have pro-bowlers on this team, but you can’t tell that by watching them play. Kevin Williams, Percy Harvin, Chris Kluwe, Jared Allen, Antoine Winfield, Adrian Peterson – all pro-bowlers. We can only count on AD, Percy & Kluwe to show up & play with heart. Yeah – I know Kluwe is a punter – he still averaged almost 54 yards per punt.

Horrid tackling errors abounded in the front 4, the back 3 and the secondary. At what point do you pull Jasper Brinkley and give Audie Cole a chance? Since there’s NO WAY we’re winning against the 49ers, I say next week is the time to bench a few starters and develop our young talent. If that defense can’t hit the field with a singular mind & purpose to win games, then they do not deserve to be on the field. End of story.

11 penalties for 105 yards. Due t0 65 yards in penalties, the Vikings only had 23 net yards of offense in the entire 3rd quarter! So many people were making mistakes, I’m not going to take the time to list all of the offenders out – but it was atrocious. And let’s all realize that coaching and a coach’s ability to hold people accountable plays into discipline, which in turn, affects penalties.

This team needs an iron fist – not a supportive buddy – as a coach. They need to stop, collectively, feeling entitled and they need to focus and get serious. I’m not suggesting that they need an immovable Brad Childress who would create a toxic atmosphere in the locker room. I’m saying that they need someone who will not tolerate this mediocre and inconsistent level of play, who has the guts to bench starters and who has a vision that’s more than “We hope to bring a championship to this organization”. Frazier will never lead an NFL team to a Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter if he moves on to another organization. He’s no Tony Dungy. He’s no Brian Billick. And, he’s no Tomlin. He never will be. I don’t care how long we give him to “develop”. The leadership skills are not there and neither is the vision. And those are hard skills to develop without a mentor and active development. Who’s going to develop Frazier? Spielman? The Wilfs? No.

When you think about great coaches… Bud Grant, Vince Lombardi, Bill Belichick to name a few, they did (or do) not stand along the sideline looking flat and emotionless. There was (is) animation, interaction, actual facial expressions! Now, Bud Grant was not overly emotional, but his intensity would radiate out of him. He personified “silent waters run deep”. Frazier doesn’t have intensity. He has a flat aspect that belies what I believe is doubt beneath the surface. I think he knows that he’s in over his head. And I think that’s one of the reasons he brought in his buddy Singletary. However, I don’t think Mike is doing him any favors. Just how long are we going to put up with this? Some suggest 5 years. Personally, I think that’s the wrong answer. If we go 3-13 or 4-12 this year, I think Frazier needs to go.

Lastly: The defensive secondary. If other teams don’t just start throwing downfield on us from the start of every game, they’re stupid.

What’s your take?

 

 

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Sep
10

Vikings vs Jaguars: Terror on the Field

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September 10, 2012


You may recall that I was feeling hopeful after pre-season game 2 but terrified after pre-season game 3. During Sunday’s Vikings game, we saw both of the teams we saw during pre-season. The first half was full of the lacklustre play we saw 2 weeks ago and then, during the 2nd half, the Vikings improved (dare we say that they actually made half-time adjustments?) right up until Cook got burned (not for the first time) on a deep ball from Gabbert to Shorts for the go-ahead TD in the last minutes of the game. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The star of the first half, unfortunately, was Chris Kluwe. It’s never a good thing when your punter is making an appearance on the field series after series. It’s a good thing we have a solid punter with as much time as he was spending on the field. Missing this week was his Gangnam Style Celebration. Bring it back, Chris!

Let’s look at some of the stats that concern me. Third down efficiency in this game for the Vikings: 20%. That’s totally unacceptable. You’re not going to win too many games if you can’t convert 3rd downs. Worse, the Jaguars converted 50% of their 4th downs. It’s critical to stop teams when they go for it on 4th down – you cannot let teams convert 50% of their attempts and win a lot of games. The Vikings offense and defense need to clean these stats up. Another concerning stat: Time of Possession. The Jags had the ball 10 minutes and 44 seconds longer than the Vikings. To put that in perspective: the Vikings had possession of the ball for 10:44 during the entire 1st half! That’s ridiculous, but it’s directly related to the team’s inability to convert 3rd downs to prolong drives.

Adrian Peterson’s Return: Triumphant!

The Great

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the impressive return of Adrian Peterson. He said he would play in the first game of the season, and play he did. It was no token start. He rushed for 84 yards and scored both of the touchdowns the Vikings put on the board during the game. As icing on the cake, All-Day is now the all-time rushing leader in the history of the Vikings. With his first TD of the day, Peterson broke Robert Smith’s record. AD now holds both the all-time rushing and all-time rushing TD records for the Vikings. Without a doubt, he will go down as one of the best running backs in the history of the NFL. I didn’t agree with Frazier’s decision to start Peterson initially, and I still have angst about it during what will, undoubtably, not be even a play-off bound season; however, for Adrian’s confidence and for the good of the team, it’s a good thing. Not to be all Martha Stewart about it.

 

The Good

Chad Greenway celebrates breaking up a pass in the 4th quarter.

Percy Harvin. Percy was 7th in the league last year in receptions. Still, he wasn’t happy with the way Musgrave was using him in the offense (and neither was I, as you might remember). Percy made his point in the off-season and Musgrave relented – so we saw Percy in the slot, down the sideline, lined up as a tailback and returning kick offs on Sunday. As I tweeted yesterday: Percy Harvin is the answer to our woes. Keep him on the field and target him often. Chad Greenway had some significant tackles during the game. In many cases it felt like he was our last line of defense after the front 4 failed to stop the run. He had 9 solo tackles and 4 assists on the day. One has to wonder if having Audie Cole on the 53 man roster is a little extra motivation for Greenway to hop in front of passes like he did in Sunday’s game. We hadn’t seen that from him since the 2009 season.

In other “good news”, we have a tremendous new place kicker, without whom we’d be at the bottom of the NFC North (with the Packers!). We also have a spectacular punter (both on and off the field, if I do say so myself). Blair Walsh may be the leading scorer on the team if we keep getting field goals instead of touch downs. Hopefully next week we can celebrate a passing touchdown (not that I begrudge Adrian his 2 rushing TDs).

The Bad

Rotating Jared Allen in and out of the defensive front 4. Stop it, Williams! Jared doesn’t like it (per a post-game interview) and neither do we. Jared is fired up to break the single season sack record he almost shattered last season. He needs to be on the field to do that. Leave him on the field, man! Letroy Guion and his slip-n-slide maneuver when Gabbert was already on the ground, costing the Vikings the sack and 15 yards. Totally idiotic.

Intensity. Urgency. The team lacked both of these early in the game. Ponder rightly took responsibility for this in his post game presser, at least as it pertains to the offense. He needs to be ready to go from the first play of the game.

The Ugly

The Vikings are the proud owners of the longest streak in the NFL (33 consecutive games) with an allowed sack. C’mon o-line! You guys need to step up and protect the QB! Charlie Johnson and our first round draft pick at left tackle better step up on the blind side and Phil Loadholt should put as much effort into being a superior right tackle as he did skipping down the sideline after Sunday’s win.

Coaching. You’ve heard me say it before and I’m going to say it again. The team rallied yesterday to win despite the coaching staff, starting with Frazier. Given their lack of intensity hitting the field during the home opener, the fact that Frazier cannot motivate this team continues to be apparent. It’s by luck and some OT-inspired passion that the Vikings came out with a win. We need a new head coach. If the team continues to find a way to win, Frazier’s tenure will be artificially buoyed. For those of us lucky enough to be around when Bud Grant was the head coach, we know that Bud Grant would never have tolerated the weak offensive display of the 1st half. The Wilfs should be looking around for Frazier’s eventual replacement.

Based on Sunday’s performance, how are you feeling about next week’s game?

 

 

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Sep
04

Week 1 Picks

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September 4, 2012


Week 1 picks are always difficult because I have no real performance to gauge from to date. That being said, let’s give this a whirl!

Cowboys vs Giants: One of these teams is the defending Super Bowl champ. The other team has a really expensive stadium and a QB that chokes, nearly on command. I have a hard time imagining the Cowboys being able to pull this one off against Eli Manning & friends. Giants 27, Cowboys 17.

Colts vs Bears: Perhaps you were as surprised as I was to see Cutler looking sharp during the 3rd pre-season game. This will be the first real test drive the Colts have with Andrew Luck. With Cutler looking shockingly decent, and this being Luck’s first real NFL showing, I gotta give this one to the Bears. Especially at home. Bears 24, Colts 14.

Eagles vs Browns: This is an interesting match up. The Dog Pound will be there, cheering on the electrifying aerial stylings of… Brandon Weeden, who will be backed up by Colt McCoy (can we call him a draft-bust yet?). Michael Vick better not get hurt because the 2nd QB on the depth chart for the Eagles is… empty air… with Mike Kafka as the 3rd string QB. You know your 3rd string QB is bad when an empty space in the depth chart as 2nd string is a better option. Yikes. Regardless… Vick (of whom I am no fan, as we all know) seems fairly resilient and should make it through the game fine. With Vick’s experience, I’m going to give this one to the Eagles. Eagles 17, Browns 13.

Rams vs Lions: The Rams looked kinda sad during the preseason. Seems Bradford cannot yet find his groove. Matt Stafford, on the other hand, is shaping up as I anticipated he would. And also has Megatron available to catch passes at home on Ford Field. Lions 20, Rams 14.

Dolphins vs Texans: While I think the commentators for the Vikings/Texans game went overboard when they said that we were looking at a potential Super Bowl contender (Really??? In a pre-season game 4?), the Texans are coming off their best season – and first play-off berth - in team history. The Dolphins… they’ve divested themselves of Chads at QB and are now hanging their collective hat on the finesse of…. Ryan Tannehill, an unproven rookie who Mike Mayock thinks isn’t ready. Of course, Mike Mayock can’t pronounce “Aromashodu”, so what does he know? Um… I’m actually with Mayock on this one. Texans 27, Dolphins 10.

Falcons vs Chiefs: Oh, little Matty Ryan. Still hasn’t achieved what everyone thought he would but still out there trying. Matt Cassel is the likely starter for the Chiefs (although they don’t have a depth chart published yet). The Chiefs looked like they might put together a decent 2011 season until the injury bug came for a visit. This game is a tough call, but I’m going to go with the Chiefs at home. Chiefs 19, Falcons 14.

Jaguars vs Vikings: Blaine Gabbert is the #1 QB on the Jaguars’ roster, with Chad Henne backing him up. Gabbert will be showing us if Justin Blackmon was a good pick or not in this year’s draft. The Vikings have cut the only experienced QB on the roster – not that having Rosencopter holding a clip board would necessarily make a difference, but he felt reassuring in some small way. Ponder terrified me in the 3rd pre-season game, and Joe Webb isn’t tearing up the turf… but hey – McLeod Bethel-Thompson is waiting in the wings! I saw enough spark in the 2nd pre-season game to pick my team at home this week – with some trepidation. Vikings 14, Jaguars 10.

Redskins vs Saints: Well – this game is certainly one that many will have their eyes on this weekend. RGIII is taking the field in his first regular season NFL game against a Saints team reeling from actually being punished for their dastardly lack of ethics in BountyGate. The Saints are missing coaches & players (and I can’t think of a more deserving team!) and one has to think that it’ll be a while before they can overcome those obstacles. Or, at least I do. Redskins 17, Saints 13.

Bills vs Jets: Crikey - if this doesn’t scream snooze-fest, I don’t know what does. We have Ryan Fitzpatrick, who leaves us mostly with a feeling of “meh” against a Mark Sanchez who is still trying to find a way to make magic happen as Tebow tebows along the sideline, praying for the success of the Gang Green (or for a hammy-tweak for Sanchez - one of those). As uninspiring as the Jets are (and you know a team is uninspiring when an explanation for Revis Island failure makes it onto the NFL Network), I can’t imagine the Bills securing a win on the road for this one. Jets 20, Bills 14.

Patriots vs Titans: Jake Locker vs Tom Brady. That’s actually kind of funny when I write it out like that. Let’s hope the Titans’ LG, RG and Center don’t all go down at the same time during the game because the Titans’ Kevin Matthews would surely have his hands full (as the 2nd string for all of those positions). Let’s assume that isn’t going to happen and that the Titans will be a full strength… I don’t see that stopping the Patriots from getting their first win on the road. Patriots 28, Titans 13.

Seahawks vs Cardinals: In a fascinating turn of events, the Seahawks are starting unproven rookie Russell Wilson at QB over a Matt Flynn who has done nothing but shine when on the field. I’d be more surprised if Pete Carroll weren’t the same coach who thought Tarvaris Jackson was a good option as a starter. Wilson will be going up against John Skelton, who was average at best last year. Wilson will have Sidney Rice (of the glass shoulder and glass hip variety) to target, while Skelton will have Minnesota’s own LFitz. My money’s on Minnesota. Cardinals 14, Seahawks 10.

49ers vs Packers: The 49ers are going to be a good team this year. The Packers haven’t looked good in the pre-season, but they didn’t look good the last 2 seasons either. As any good Vikings fan knows, no matter what the Packers’ record is, upon review, they still suck! If this were being played at a good stadium, like Candlestick Park, I’d be inclined to choose the 49ers. Instead, it’s being played at that horrible drab green stadium to the east and I can’t quite imagine the puke green & gold dropping the home opener. More’s the pity. Let’s hope I’m wrong! Packers 27, 49ers 21.

Panthers vs Buccaneers: Cam Newton will be flinging the ball all over the half-full stadium in Tampa this weekend. Will that be enough, however, to off-set the newly minted combination of Josh Freeman to Vincent Jackson? The Bucs keep looking like they’re going to do something… but they don’t – at least in seasons past. Will that happen this year, too? It takes a while to get timing down and V-Jack is making the change from the Chargers’ offensive scheme to that of a West Coast offense. I think that bodes will for the Panthers in the short-term. Panthers 20, Bucs 13.

Steelers vs Broncos: Big Ben vs the Six Billion Dollar man Peyton Manning (we can rebuild him with bone grafts & stem cells!). Manning’s arm isn’t quite up to snuff, if pre-season performance is any indicator. Since I’ve had the same surgery that Manning has, I’m guessing nerve damage that might never repair itself (not to be the voice of doom – although I love being the voice of doom…). Even though this game is in Mile High Stadium, I don’t see a rebuilt Manning with a new team, few weapons and a new offensive scheme squashing a Steerlers team led by a stout Ben Roethlisberger. Steelers 21, Broncos 13.

Bengals vs Ravens: Andy Dalton was a bit of a surprise last season while Joe Flacco continues to battle Matt Ryan for QB almost-goodness. There is a bit of a rivalry between these two teams – although it’s not the kind of rivalry worth spending a lot of time talking about for this blog. These teams have a decent amount of potential – in theory. For this particular game, I’m going to go with the home team. Ravens 24, Bengals 14.

Chargers vs Raiders: The Raiders have a fascinating line up at QB this year: Carson Palmer backed up by Matt Leinart. I’ll be interested to see if Palmer is in season-ready shape both physically and mentally. Philip Rivers, my favorite whiner west of the Mississippi, will be at the helm for the Chargers without Vincent Jackson to throw to this season. I can’t quite figure out how this match up got on MNF – although being the late game makes geographical sense, at least. Given the state of the Chargers during the 3rd pre-season game, I’m going with the Raiders in this match up, even though I don’t feel especially good about that choice. Raiders 19, Chargers 14.

These are my picks for Week 1 of the 2012 season. Let’s see if I break .500, which I would consider to be pretty decent sans data!

 

 

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Aug
25

Pre-Season Game 3: Vikings vs Chargers

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August 25, 2012


If you happen to follow me on Twitter, you know I spent much of Friday evening in full aneurysm mode. If you’re not following me on Twitter, you’re either a homer who used to follow me but couldn’t take my honesty, or you just weren’t aware I’m on Twitter. Frankly, the thought of you denying yourself access to my real-time commentary makes me sad. As a hint: you can click “Follow Me on Twitter” and you’ll be all set!

Chris Kluwe is awesome. And, unfortunately, was the only player on his game Friday night.

Like all Vikings fans, I guess I’m a bit masochistic. And what I mean by that is I had to rewatch the first two quarters of the game in order to do this commentary. It was like having hot pokers driven into my eyes the first time. Watching it again was like committing emotional suicide. If I can help you here, take this advice: if the 3rd pre-season game is waiting for you in your DVR but you haven’t watched it yet, don’t. Unless you’re a Chris Kluwe fan. He did a lot of tremendous punting (averaging over 50 yards per punt!) and what he was calling his “Gangnam Style” celebration, which essentially was some enthusiastic air roping. In any case, it was awesome. If anyone has a .gif of Kluwe doing that celebration, let me know, because my friend at Purple Jesus Diaries is looking for one.

If we think back to the first game of the 2011 season, you might recall that our favorite team played the Chargers. And the Vikings dominated them… for 2 whole quarters. And then they uncovered the fact that the shadow of the Purple People Eaters could only play 30 minutes of football. In this pre-season game, the Chargers had many of their starters sitting on the bench (or pacing the sidelines looking petulant… yes, Philip Rivers, I’m talking about you!) so, in theory, we should have been up 28 points at the half. As we all know, however, the Theory of Evolution proves itself out every day while the Theory of Vikings Competence hasn’t proven itself since the Vikings vs Cowboys divisional play-off game in January 2010.

On NFL.com, it looks like Ponder and Whitehurst are having some kind of crazy hair battle. Ponder’s smiling like he’s winning but he doesn’t realize Whitehurst is planning to ambush him with a quasi-mullet.

The problems started immediately. Matt Kalil is not living up to the hype of the draft. Veteran Chad Greenway took atrocious angles. Ponder couldn’t hit a receiver to save his life. Until he was intercepted. That was a perfect pass to the wrong color jersey. Even our beloved Percy Harvin was out-of-sync. The interesting thing about the game stats is that the Vikings were better than the Chargers in nearly every category… but a) lost and b) were apparently deceptively better than they looked. Honestly – if you watched that game, you would never have anticipated that the Vikings had more passing yards than the Chargers.

Vikings’ QBs were sacked 5 times. I was shocked to see that the Vikings sacked the Chargers’ QBs 6 times.  If you’d asked me before I looked at the stats, I would have said we got to the QB 3, potentially 4, times. The Vikings fumbled and lost the ball 3 different times. The offending parties are: Asiata, Coleman & Hilliard. The great news is that Adrian Peterson hasn’t fumbled once on zero carries! Yes, I know he’s improved, but I still blame his fumble in Chicago in December 2009 for our loss of home field advantage for the NFCCG, and ultimately our first Super Bowl appearance in decades. But I digress.

Christian Ponder’s QB rating for the evening was 76.2. It’s like T-Jack is still on the field with no jump balls to mock. He and the receiver corp were out of sync all night long. It was painful to watch. It reminded me of the 2010 season when Favre came back (but didn’t really want to) and Berrian and Greg Lewis went off to California to “relax” during our early bye week instead of sticking around to try to fix things. This good news is that, since neither Berrian nor Lewis is still on this team or playing anywhere in the league, I consider things to be “fixed” to a certain degree.

Joe Webb looked better than Ponder while he was on the field. Which destroyed that little seed of hope I had after last week’s game. The saddest thing about last night’s game was that I was looking forward to Rosenfels to take the field. He did and he was solid, scoring the only Vikings TD of the evening. And, let’s be clear, it was only the 2nd offensive TD of the pre-season. My Vikings brethren – I believe we are in for a long season that will do nothing to alleviate the pain of the last 2 seasons. The only bright spot here is that we’re not Packer fans. We do not have to wear moldy cheese wedges on our heads to games and we don’t have to worry about cheddar dust covering our persons.

Leslie Frazier inadvertently reveals he actually possesses emotions.

Let’s get to the real reason I was angry throughout the game. Two words: Leslie Frazier. As I stated back in January of 2011, Leslie Frazier is not head coach material. He cannot motivate a team sufficiently so that they show up and try. This is apparent on multiple levels. Trouble with the law for the players. 30 minutes of football vs 60 minutes of football for most of the 2010 season. Complete lack of passion or engagement during the dress rehearsal game for the regular season. Leslie Frazier is weak and he lacks vision. His coaching bench lacks creativity. No one on that coaching staff is inspiring the players to earn their overblown paychecks. The starters, with the exception of a few of them, feel entitled to their positions because Frazier refuses to create competition and hold people accountable. Frazier will lead us to a lot of mediocrity but he will never lead us to a Super Bowl. It is time for the Wilfs to start interviewing his replacement. If they want to throw away the 2012 season while they identify his successor, I’m ok with that – as long as I know they’re going to act.

Who am I kidding? The Wilfs have money, not football savvy. They confuse feelings of warmth generated out of familiarity and friendship with conviction that Frazier will get the job done. Good leaders know you hire talent – focusing on attitude and aptitude – you don’t hire people you like. If you come to like your talent – great. If not, you have to figure out how to motivate your talent. Likeability is not a reason to hire someone. The fact that Frazier rarely shows emotion, to me, indicates that he cannot feel the depth of passion needed to inspire his staff and his team. Like many things in life, coaching a football team requires aggressiveness and vision and the ability to articulate that and plan around it. Frazier has none of these skills because he’s not a visionary. He’s a great Defensive Coordinator who was always tremendous at reacting, but rarely designed a proactive attack. The last one I remember was the postponed Philadelphia game in 2010 that the Vikings won with Webb at QB and Winfield blitzing Vick like a maniac.

A head coach must have a comprehensive game plan that is proactive and takes advantage of gaps in the other team’s defenses and offenses. Leslie Frazier has shown that his game planning is weak and, as we saw in every single game during the 2011 season, he is completely unable to adjust at half-time. It’s time for him to go. You may not agree with me right now – but you will after another 2 mediocre seasons back to back. Honestly, I hope it doesn’t take the fan base that long to wise up. I’d love to see red Fire Frazier t-shirts well before mid-season.

One thing I’m sure we all agree on is that last night’s most important pre-season game was pathetic. What are your thoughts now about the 2012 season?

 

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Aug
18

Pre-Season Game 2: Vikings vs Bills

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August 18, 2012


I’m getting back into the swing of looking forward to my weekly Vikings game. I don’t know about you, but I have missed football more than I can say. If you’re anything like me, you watch Vikings Game Plan before the game. I’m looking forward to the fall if only just to get Spielman to wear pants during his interviews.

During tonight’s game, the starters played a couple of additional series. Naturally, I know we’re all looking forward to the 3rd pre-season game so we can get a really good look at our team, but we saw some decent first-string action on the field tonight.

I look forward to seeing this in the regular season!

The Starters

The Vikings offense was first up for the night. Per the usual, the first play was a run. A 2-yard run by Gerhart. C’mon Musgrave – try to be slightly less predicatable. The 2nd play was a quick slant to PERCY, who had a great run after the catch and added another 15 yards to that after getting hit late. 3rd play was a sack that lost 3 yards. The 4th play was a quick pass in the flat to Jerome Simpson who leaped over a defender to get extra yards. As a side note – while I love Visanthe Shiancoe… our new 81 does a lot better with the YAC stat. I don’t know if you guys remember this as well as I do, but Shank used to fall down after the catch a lot.

Ponder took another sack before Gerhart busted out a decent run. A couple of plays later, it was a Ponder-Felton connection that gave us our 1st TD of the pre-season. It would also be our ONLY offensive TD of the evening. We’ll get to the implications of that in a bit.

The Vikings first-string defense took the field after the 80 yard scoring drive and they put together a very strong series, featuring Mistral Raymond, who seemed extra motivated. The Bills were forced to punt, giving the Vikings offense another crack at scoring. During this 2nd series, Ponder displayed a lot of composure and was able to go through a progression of reads that led to a nice toss over to Gerhart for several yards after the catch. This was just after Paul Allen was rhapsodizing about Peterson/Gerhart being the best 1-2 RB punch in the league. Paul is such a homer. The Vikings couldn’t seal the deal on a TD after a couple of “interesting” fade attempts by Ponder. Blair Walsh to the rescue with a field goal.

Harrison Smith celebrates after batting down a pass.

During the 2nd defensive series, Harrison Smith demonstrated why the Vikings drafted him by batting down a pass attempt by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Batting a ball down is good. Grabbing it out of the air for a delicious interception is better. Hopefully we’ll see that refined a bit in the regular season.

During the 3rd offensive series, Kyle Rudolph got a little dinged up. Later in the broadcast, a dashing Ben Leber, sporting a purple dress shirt with matching tie, would inform us that Kyle had a “little bit of an owie” behind his ear and it was treated with a band-aid. Also during the 3rd offensive series, Ponder went deep to Jenkins and connected along the sideline. Ponder showed a lot of versatility during the game (with the exception of his fades). Post-game commentary revolved around Ponder targeting 8 different receivers and spreading the wealth around. Last time we heard the pundits talking about a Vikings QB “spreading the ball around”, they were talking about Favre during the 2009 season. Now, I’m not comparing Ponder to Favre, but it’s literally been that long since someone said that about one of our QBs.

Everyone Else

Chris Carr hasn’t been doing himself any favors during the preseason. He seems to have been a very dedicated player prior to his injuries. Maybe he can turn things around… but he’s clearly running out of time.

Joe Webb isn’t an NFL QB. He’s made that clear now. I thought we should have run with him at QB instead of bringing in McNugget last year to give him a chance to settle in, but we didn’t and he’s languishing in the 2nd (or 3rd?) QB spot. It’s frankly a waste of incredible athleticism. Let’s get him on the field as a WR or even the 3rd RB. The kid can move – don’t sit him on a bench.

Special teams are looking pretty good. They’re getting downfield and stopping the kick and punt returners. Mistral Raymond and Josh Robinson started laying down some plays that will catch the eyes of the coaches.

Audie celebrates with his team-mates after his 2nd pick-6 in 13 seconds.

The big winner in the “Everyone Else” category has to be Audie Cole. Last week, he got the only sack of the night for the Vikings. Tonight he had 2 INTs. That would be impressive enough, but if you pair that with two TDs and the fact he did it in 13 seconds… WOW! Yes, I’m aware that Tyler Thigpen (who was drafted by the Vikings back in 2007, in the event anyone remembers that) is not a starting QB; however, what I really appreciated about Audie’s performance was that he was looking for the QB to telegraph where he was going with the ball, Audie read it and then jumped the route. I’m positive that a QB like Thigpen is much more obvious about broadcasting his intent than a first string QB in the NFL. The important thing is that Audie Cole is watching and waiting. I think we can all agree that we haven’t seen a lot of that from the Vikings defense in the last few years.

Many times during this game I felt something that felt suspiciously like hope for our season. Because I am, and have only ever been, a Vikings fan, I did everything possible to squash that hope as quickly as possible. I know you all know what I mean. Nevertheless, I saw the one thing I was hoping for tonight: passion. Our favorite team looked engaged and determined and it’s been 2 years since we’ve seen anything like that from them.

Based on Pre-Season Game 2, what do you think the Vikings will do this season? Vote now!

 

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Aug
18

And…. We’re Back!

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August 18, 2012


You may have noticed I’ve been gone for 8 and a half months. Or, maybe you didn’t. Or, maybe you did and celebrated my absence. Regardless, after a delightful off-season, I’m back to critique our favorite professional football team.

If you build it, they will come.

 A lot has happened since January. The state legislature FINALLY voted to fund a new Vikings stadium. It’s too bad that Goodell and the Wilfs had to essentially threaten (without stating it outright) that we would lose the team without a stadium. The “legislators” have known this for years but couldn’t have cared less, apparently. Shout out to John Kriesel for his leadership.

Visanthe Shiancoe is a Patriot. Boo & hiss. Ryan Longwell was place-kicked right out of the state. Our current #4 is a QB named McLeod Bethel-Thompson. My first thought upon seeing that was to wonder if he was of the Clan MacLeod. It would be cool to have a Highlander who was also a Viking. But I digress.

Jimmy K. is retired and so is Ben Leber, who came back to the great state of Minnesota and has joined the Vikings Entertainment Network. Asher Allen retired after an illustrious career chock full of interceptions and big plays. Wait. Wha…?

A quick scan of our Wide Receiver corp elicites a reaction that sounds like: “Oh. Uh… Well, at least Percy’s still here.” Seriously – who ARE those guys? Our MLB is no longer EJ Henderson… it’s Jasper Brinkley. Yeah… I couldn’t believe it when I read it and typing it out didn’t help either.

This isn't Adrian Peterson but I'm pretty sure you like it as much as I do!

There were many other changes during the off-season, but I know the one thing that was always on our minds was the progress Adrian Peterson has been making in his rehabilitation from a torn ACL/MCL. Our favorite Running Back is currently on the active PUP during the pre-season games. He’s trying hard to be ready for the regular season. Personally, I’d rather he take the time to ensure that he’s 100% right than take chances during a season that’s destined to likely not end with our first Super Bowl win.

I’m sure a few of you gasped at my audacity in pointing out that we’re likely not witnessing a championship team. But if you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m a realist – not an optimist and certainly not a homer. I just can’t help being rational about our team’s chances. And let’s face it. We’re coming off 2 of the worst seasons EVER in the history of this team. We’ve turned over 40+% of our starters. If we go 8-8 this season it would be an incredible feat. I put our chances of doing so at about 20%. Disagree with me? You’ll have a chance to vote in a bit.

Let’s talk about what we saw from the team tonight.

Ponder got a grass stain on his hip after 2 series. How is that possible?

Starter Series:

Who didn’t suit up? Kevin Williams, Jared Allen, Antoine Winfield and Percy Harvin. Makes sense – we know those guys can play so why risk injury. Let’s see if we got any bargains in the draft.

Christian Ponder took the field after a Marcus Sherels kick off return of 12 yards. The first play was a hand off to Gerhart for a burly 1 yard advance. Thanks, Patrick Willis, for doing you job. Next play? Huge throw down field to Stephen Burton for a 48 yard completion. That IS what I like. Ponder was at a 100% completion rate until Jerome Simpson dropped a screen pass on the 3rd play. Yeah, there was a joke there. The drive ended with Ponder throwing the ball away, giving us our first look at Ryan Longwell Jr., who nailed a 39 yard field goal with seemingly no effort.

Matt Kalil didn’t quite live up to the hype. Apparently he’s not used to the speed of the game. I suggest he get a handle on that before the regular season starts so Ponder doesn’t pay the price.

 

Better hair than that dude on that team to the east!

The Non-Starters:

In the “good” category, I’d file Audie Cole and Paul Allen’s new BFF, McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson. Audie Cole looks like he can generate some speed on a blitz; caveat that, of course, with the fact that he was playing against 2nd and 3rd stringers. But still – he racked up the one sack of the evening.

Paul Allen was having a general love fest with Bethel-Thompson. I thought he went a little far with the comment about MickyL (too soon for a nickname?) making us almost forget about the last person to wear #4 on this team. Like we could forget about Kluwe’s one-year stint as #4 because good old Donovan McNugget came to town. I’m here to tell you, you had better step off, Paul Allen!

He was referring to Kluwe, right?

I don’t know what Webb was doing in the off-season, but he seems to have regressed instead of progressed at QB. I think it’s time to admit that Webb is super athletic and would make a hell of a receiver, but he just can’t be a QB in the NFL. The same could be said about Tebow – but thankfully, he doesn’t wear purple. Circling back to my comment about the WRs on the current roster, we could really use Joe Webb on the field catching passes. Especially since rumors are heating up again about the Jets wanting Percy Harvin. If that particular rumor is true and Spielman takes it, I believe Vikings Nation would go crazy. Am I wrong?

We’ll see what the second pre-season game brings. I’m hoping for intensity and passion to emerge and a sense that the team is starting to coalesce around Frazier’s vision. Is that what will happen? We’ll see. Use the poll below to indicate how you’re feeling about the season.

 

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Dec
18

Week 15 Picks

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December 18, 2011


Another busy week saw me in Chicago for a couple of days. Picks will again be minus my usual snarkiness. Mostly.

Jaguars vs Falcons
Falcons by 10 via Twitter.

Cowboys vs Buccaneers
Cowboys by 7 via Twitter.

Dolphins vs Bills
Bills by 7.

Seahawks vs Bears
Bears by 7 because there’s no way T-Jack & Co. can beat them at home… right?

Panthers vs Texans
Texans by 10.

Titans vs Colts
Titans by 14.

Packers vs Chiefs
Pukers by 17. Would someone PLEASE beat these jackalopes?

Saints vs Vikings
Aints by 10. I thought we might play spoiler here – until I read that half the defense has been absolutely ignoring Fred Pagac’s defensive calls ALL season. Again – Leslie Frazier should be fired for not sitting those jerks who were disregarding the play calls. Their insubordination is likely going to cost Pagac his job.

Redskins vs Giants
Giants by 10. Don’t piss me off, again, Eli!

Bengals vs Rams
Bengals by 13.

Lions vs Raiders
Lions by 3. This is a tough call – could definitely go either way.

Browns vs Cardinals
Cardinals by 7.

Patriots vs Broncos
Patriots by 10. The non-religious north east will squash the religiosity of Tebow. Go Pats!

Jets vs Eagles
Eagles by 3. Another one that could go either way. I’m counting on Sanchez to melt down a bit.

Ravens vs Chargers
Ravens by 7. Chargers haven’t been mentioned as a Super Bowl contender for a while. Not shocking.

Steelers vs 49ers
49ers  by 3. Big Ben may not play and Candlestick Park is a tough venue.

Those are my picks this week!

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Dec
10

Week 14 Picks

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December 10, 2011


I’ve been really busy so I did my Thursday pick via Twitter. No commentary again this week – just picks.

Steelers vs Browns
24-10, Steelers via Twitter

Colts vs Ravens
Ravens by 14. Flacco should manage to look good from start to finish.

Falcons vs Panthers
Panthers by 7.

Texans vs Bengals
Texans by 3.

Vikings vs Lions
Lions by 10. Ponder may not start. We may get the Joe, Percy, AD show this weekend.

Buccaneers vs Jaguars
Bucs by 7.

Eagles vs Dolphins
Dolphins by 3. Sparano is fighting for his job… and his team is helping him turn things around.

Chiefs vs Jets
Jets by 10. Despite Mark Sanchez.

Saints vs Titans
Saints by 7. Will Chris Johnson post some decent yards? Maybe. But he likely won’t do enough to swing the game in the Titans’ favor.

Patriots vs Redskins
Patriots by 14.

49ers vs Cardinals
49ers by 10.

Bears vs Broncos
Broncos by 3. And no. It’s not because Tebow’s magical sky friend favors his team. It’s because Forte is out for the year and Hanie is no Cutler. Who could have anticipated that Cutler would become a “standard” for this team?

Raiders vs Packers
Packers by 10. Even though I hope they totally fail. Their defense sucks against the pass. Maybe the Raiders can exploit that. If nothing else, I hope to see ARodg with his face in the turf numerous times.

Bills vs Chargers
Remember when it looked like the Bills were going to do something this year? Chargers by 7.

Giants vs Cowboys
Cowboys by 3 at home. If this were in NYC, I’d be tempted to choose the Giants – who disappointed me GREATLY last week.

Rams vs Seahawks
What is THIS game doing on MNF??? Couldn’t someone flex it back to noon where it belongs? Seahawks by 7.

These are my picks this week. Sorry for not having enough time to do a snarky commentary. Game day tomorrow! Skol!

 

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