Vikings defeat the Pakcers 28 - 27

The Vikings won 28 – 27 over the Green Bay Packers.

I can only think of a handful of things that make me happier than watching the Green Bay Packers lose to the Minnesota Vikings. It was nice to see the Vikings outplay their opponent for the second week in a row. Obviously, there are things that need to be addressed. I’ll start with areas that need improvement before I get to the positives.

Gus Frerotte. I think it’s safe to say that was his worst game as a Viking. However, we need to be careful about how much we pile on him. Yes, he made three very unwise decisions to throw the ball when he shouldn’t have that resulted in interceptions. He also had several throws that went straight into the dirt (or turf I suppose…) not allowing his receivers the opportunity to make a play on the ball. However, he does a good job of seeing the field – which is why he is the starter now over Tarvaris. His throw to Chester Taylor for the touchdown is a great example. It was a simple check down as Gus was getting flushed from the pocket. He got it over to Chester and Chester made a great play out of it that gave the Vikes a touchdown. That’s part of what wins games. You want to not make mistakes, but perhaps more importantly you always want to give players the opportunity to make a play. Gus has some work to do, but I expect him to rebound after this game. Green Bay has arguably the best cover corners in the league. The secondary plays a ton of man and the corners do a nice job of getting physical with any receiver.

Special teams. I was very impressed with the special teams all game long until the end. Kluwe punted really well. Ryan Longwell hit the long field goal missing another. At the time it didn’t seem that missing that field goal would hurt. Of course, losing potential points can always come back to haunt you – as it did with the Vikings on Sunday. The punt coverage team did well until they gave up the punt that was returned for a touchdown. They had many shots to make a tackle on that punt return which is probably the most maddening. Again, they didn’t do as well as we would like, but the consistency is improving – albeit slowly.

Wide Receivers. I mentioned earlier how good the Packers secondary is. I meant every word of it, but at the same time that’s not an excuse for the Vikes wide receivers to get a free pass. Two wide receivers had catches for a whopping total of 4 catches (Bobby Wade had three and Sidney Rice had 1). Bobby Wade also contributed two drops to the effort (or lack thereof). Again, I understand that Gus missed on some plays that could have been. Berrian was wide open on one play and it bounced into Berrian’s hands. I still want to see more consistency from these receivers game in and game out. I should add that Shiancoe did have three receptions as well. Though he is a tight end, they do split him out from time to time. Even with Shiancoe’s yards though, they only had 31 yards receiving from their non-running backs.

Positives.

Everything else.

Offensive Line. If the offensive line continues to play like they did against the Packers, it’s going to be hard for anyone to stop the Vikes from making the playoffs. Gus will play better and with the time that the line is giving him, he will pick apart future opponents. Peterson had 192 yards rushing and most of those yards were not on the big flashy plays. His long was only 29 yards, which means that many of the yards were coming from 3-5 yard gains which is the result of the offensive line constantly pushing the opponent back. My game ball would go to either the offensive line or to the defense.

The defense. I don’t know that I can say enough good things about this unit after this week. This was the most dominant performance from this defense this year. It needs to be noted that they just shut down a very powerful offense from Green Bay. Green Bay’s offensive line is a good unit. They have one of the best receiver combos in the league. Aaron Rodgers is a heck of a quarterback in the making. I now understand why they didn’t want Brett Favre back in Green Bay. They wanted Aaron Rodgers to be the future and they didn’t want to do anything to prevent Rodgers from being the future. I can’t blame them at this point – Aaron is going to be a great quarterback unless something goes horribly wrong. Jared Allen played a very dominant game. The linebackers were everywhere – including two sacks. The backfield did well with the Packers receivers. It was just an overall solid performance from the defense. As mentioned before, these guys would get my game ball unless I gave it to the offensive line.

Running backs. When your backup running back is Chester Taylor, you’re in good shape. A.P. lit it up. It was yet another game where he didn’t have as much flash as he did last year, but he’s playing more consistent football. Chester contributed a touchdown on a catch to help the winning effort. Another solid performance from this talented duo.

Coaching. Yes, I am going to say that the coaching was a strength. I know many don’t like Childress, but I’m starting to see better game time coaching. Motivation I’m still not so certain about, but Childress and Darrell Bevell made some wise decisions on play calling. Leslie Frazier did well with the defense. The Packers had problems picking up blitzes and recognizing coverages. The only call I didn’t understand was when Childress called a timeout before halftime with about 1:18 on the clock and it was 2^nd and 7. I was confused why you don’t run the clock down. If you get the first down, you still have three timeouts to work with. They were on their 40. There was enough time to run a play and see what happens for 3^rd down. That timeout left time on the clock and gave the Packers the chance to get the field goal after the interception. On the other side of the ball, Green Bay made the worst call of the game by challenging the touchdown for Adrian Peterson. I don’t understand what he thought he could gain from challenging that. If you don’t get it, you lose a timeout which would have been helpful for them at the end of the game. If you do get it, you force Minnesota to lineup on the ½ yard line with a 1^st down. That allows the Vikings to run time off the clock and still almost assures the Vikes of a touchdown. I just don’t know what he was thinking in that situation.

That’s all for this week. It was a good victory for the Vikings. It’s good to see the team coming together. They now find themselves tied for 1^st place in the NFC North with the Bears. Next up is @ Tampa Bay.

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m back now. The timing couldn’t be better. The Vikings won yesterday in a way I have been longing for all season. They won a game they should have one. They beat a team that they outplayed. They didn’t require the other team making stupid mistakes, the ref blowing a call, or even dumb luck to squeak away with a win in the final seconds.

I thought the offense looked good. The offensive line played well (for the second game in a row). The receivers caught the ball when they should have. Gus did well minus the one interception (hey, it happens to everyone). Peterson did his thing and Taylor did his. The play calling was decent and they set up some nice plays down the stretch as the game went on. You have to love what Bernard Berrian was able to do in the game. He is really starting to make some plays.

Perhaps the best thing in this game was the special teams. Kluwe had some great punts. Longwell was consistent like he always is. There were no miffed punts, blocked kicks, botched punt returns, etc. Everyone played solid football on the special teams side of the ball. Even the coverage units did a solid job.

The defense was what ultimately put this game away for the Vikes. Jared Allen recorded a couple more sacks to officially put this one in the books. Houston found only marginal running room. They did throw for a lot of yards though – which is definitely an area the Vikings will look to improve. Normally you hear offenses preaching about taking what the defense gives you. I felt that the defense did a good job of taking what the offense gave them. They played good solid defense – keeping the ball in front of them each play. Houston was forced to make good plays with smart, accurate throws to move the ball because the Vikings were never really caught out of position. The times when the ball wasn’t as on target as it needed to be or they tried to throw when they should have just let the play pass, the Vikings were able to capitalize.

Probably the best thing to take from this game is that there are things to take a look at and things to fix, but overall the Vikes played a solid football game. Hopefully they can continue that for next week against Green Bay…

Side notes:

There has been talk about Jared Allen’s sack total being too low. I wish people would forget the stupid stats. He is a great player and regardless what his sack total at the end of the year, he was worth what we gave up for him. He makes plays, forces fumbles, and just disrupts offenses. Not only does he play the pass well, but he’s an asset in the run game too.

In the football world, the thing that makes me the happiest is to see the Vikings win. However, second to that is watching the Packers lose. Both happened this weekend so it was a great weekend for me. Hopefully the same will happen next weekend too.

Cincinnati got their first win. This leaves Detroit as the only team without a win. Don’t you just feel bad for Detroit? If you sign with Detroit, you must REALLY want the money – or perhaps you want a chance to start? The way they go through personnel it seems everyone in Motown gets a shot at playing at some point or another.

Just last week I was writing that the Vikings got away with a win. Unfortunately, I have to write the same thing again this week. Childress has alluded to numerous times (and the players too) that any win is a good win. I couldn’t agree more over the course of the season. However, when you win two games back to back that both had questionable calls allowing you to win those games, it has to feel a bit underwhelming. In the end, I believe what the fans are looking for is a solid win. The defense doesn’t have to shut anybody out and the offense doesn’t need to score on every drive – just a solid win where both sides of the ball play consistent football for four quarters.

The defense has played well the last couple weeks. Some big numbers were given up to the Saints and some would say that the D gave up more than they should have against a backup quarterback with that little experience. However, there is some impressive talent for the wide outs in Detroit and the running backs aren’t bad. The only concern I have defensively is the loss of E.J. Henderson. There were a couple runs up the middle that went for 5-10 yards. The Williams do their thing week in and week out, but the middle linebacker is usually the most direct beneficiary of a pair of tackles like that. I think David Herron will be fine, but he was a little banged up in the game. E.J. will be hard to replace.

On a separate note, I don’t think Cedric Griffin is as bad as everyone seems to believe. He does reasonably well in coverage (yes, he does get beat from time to time, but what corner doesn’t?) and he tackles well most of the time. He will get picked on because he plays opposite Winfield, who has proven more this year than ever that he is a play waiting to happen.

Jared Allen is taking some criticism too I’ve heard. Everyone needs to calm down about the stats. Jared Allen forced the safety last week, which proved to be the difference in the game. He doesn’t have big sack numbers right now, but that’s not to say he’s not producing. Just hitting the quarterback, even after he has thrown the ball, will have an effect on the way the quarterback plays throughout the game. I believe the numbers will come for Jared. He plays hard every game and he’s bringing the pressure.

The offense is the object of most of the criticism. It’s also the reason that Childress is under fire. The offense has yet to throw for over 300 yards since Childress arrived. Now, in all fairness they did get close against Detroit with 296. It’s just crazy that you’re a vaunted offense guru and you have had two and half years and have yet to get a quarterback with over 300 yards passing!

Back to the Detroit game though, I don’t believe you can pin this on Childress. No one is going to blame Peterson for much of anything in Minnesota, but keep in mind he fumbled the ball two times and lost both of them. Childress wasn’t out there prying the ball out of his hands. In other words, that’s not coaching, that’s just mistakes. One of those fumbles was when the Vikings were putting together a very nice drive in the first half.

Another turnover was the interception by Gus. It was very uncharacteristic of Gus to throw a ball that was that easy for the pick and I wouldn’t expect that to be a new trend.

It was great to see Berrian make some plays. He played well and really helped win that game. His 131 yards receiving this week coupled with over 100 yards receiving last week finally helps his stats catch up to his title of #1 wide receiver . Hopefully he’s gaining more confidence in the system and better chemistry with Gus. The receivers as a whole are still dropping too many balls though.

It’s funny that Peterson was never really able to get going and still had 111 yards. Every fan in Minnesota was just waiting for Peterson to break the big one, which he never did, yet still comes away with over 100 yards rushing. That’s a good day for most backs. We’re spoiled in Minnesota. At this point it’s 300 yards on the ground or bust.

The biggest thing that needs to be realized about the Vikings offense in this game is that they did put up numbers. They had over 400 yards of total offense. That’s good offense. The problem and the reason Childress is in trouble, is because all those yards didn’t turn into very many points. Turnovers hurt, penalties hurt, and inconsistent blocking hurt. The Vikings offense did to the Lions defense exactly what it should have except put up the points.

Next up is the Bears. This will be an interesting game which should feature a lot of defense. Keep in mind though that Peterson had his coming out party against the Bears last season. If the offensively line can pull together better than they have the last couple weeks, we may see some big things from Peterson this weekend.

That’s all for me. I’ll be back later this week with my thoughts on the Bears/Vikes matchup.

Detroit vs. Minnesota pregame

Detroit and Minnesota square off Sunday at the Dome

The Minnesota Vikings will host the Detroit Lions on Sunday at noon. This is a game the Vikings need to win to get back to 500 and this is a game the Vikings should win because their opponent is not playing good football right now - That was the biggest understatement I could possibly make. Detroit is dead last in total defense. They rank 29^th in pass defense and 30^th in rush defense. The Lions are also 31^st in average points given up per game. This is coupled with the Lions offense being 28^th in total yards per game, 19^th in passing yards per game (one spot ahead of the Vikings pass offense, which is a lot like winning the smartest idiot award), and 31^st in yards-per-game rushing.

All of this adds up to the Vikings should win the game. The only statistic that matters which the Vikings trail the Lions is in offensive passing yards which as I mentioned earlier, the Vikings are only one spot behind the behind the Lions.

One of the big differences for this game will be if Jon Kitna can play. Dan Orlovsky will most likely get the start if Kitna can’t play. I was watching a “highlight” real of Dan Orlovsky against the Bears. I wish I was joking but it consisted of one play. Here’s the link: http://www.nfl.com/players/danorlovsky/profile?id=ORL645634. It’s amusing to me that Mike Martz took the fall for that team last season. Jon Kitna was doing a lot better last year with Martz running the offense. Their rushing this year is dreadful even though that is why Martz was run out of town last year – for not running the ball enough. At least they had offensive production last year! The defense is the real liability in Detroit. Even last year the defense was shaky. That unit will need to perform better if this team wants to get out of the proverbial cellar of the NFL. Firing Matt Milen was the right move and everyone knows it. The problem is that it’s going to take years for this team to turn it around. I don’t believe this team is so bad that they won’t win a game this season. At some point the defense will come around enough to give the offense a chance to win and with Jon Kitna, at some point their going to pull through with a victory. I don’t think it’ll be against the Vikes.

If the Vikings are to beat Lions, they just need to play smart football. Don’t turn the ball over, don’t commit penalties, and run the football. If they can do those three things, this game should be well in hand come the fourth quarter. The Vikings simply have more talent on the roster than the Lions do. The Lions will score some points. My guess is between 10-20 points if Kitna plays, but possibly under 10 if Kitna sits.

Well, that’s all for this post. Enjoy the game. I’ll be back early next week.

Vikings Defeat Saints 30-27

Apparently I was locked out of my blog because their auto-detector said that my blog site was spam. I submitted my appeal and the minute that I get my blog back I will be putting this up as my next post.

The Vikings won 30-27 over the Saints. To say the game was crazy is an understatement. As always, my goal with these posts is not to recap a game. I make the assumption that anyone reading this saw at least most of the game or read a recap. If you have haven’t, follow this link for this week’s game. http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29602&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2008&week=REG5&override=true. Nfl.com does a good job of providing a recap for all the games each week, just in case someone is looking to research some other games as well.

First, I must start my analysis with my gut feeling after the game. The Vikings got away with one. Realistically, that game should have been over by the second half. The Vikings defense was getting shredded early on and the offense didn’t look too effective in their first handful of drives. The Vikings offense had 35 net yards in the first quarter (5 yards of which were penalty yards given by a Saints penalty) as compared to the Saint’s 133 Net yards offensively. However, the end of the first quarter had the score tied at 10. The second quarter the Vikings offense had a long drive coupled with more miscues by the Saints. Consider this; the Saints had four drives in the second quarter with the results as follows: fumble, fumble, interception, end of the quarter. The Vikings went into halftime up 20-10.

There is reason to be excited about this win. Obviously, a win is a win and wins don’t come easily in the nfl. Just ask Houston who blew a big lead to Indy late in the game.

Fast-forward to the fourth quarter and Gus did what needed to be done to win the game. He threw for 90 yards in the fourth quarter which doesn’t include the big interference penalty against K. Kaesviharn (Saints) for 42 yards which setup the game winning field goal. Of course, he did all of this with no running game either. That’s big time play by a quarterback.

Negative impressions.

The Vikings have many things to address after this game. First, they need to take a look at the special teams. Two punt returns for touchdowns is unacceptable to say the least. The kickoff coverage wasn’t good for much of the game either. The blocked field goal was a great play. It was extremely heads up by Winfield (who is the MVP of this team thus far in the season). However, don’t expect the Vikings to be blocking too many kicks again as that kick was way too low which is what gave our guys the opportunity to block it. Nonetheless, you have to take what’s given to you. The kick was low, Kevin Williams blocked it, and Winfield returned it all the way.

The offensive line looked surprisingly vulnerable. The return of McKinnie was supposed to make our offensive line more formidable. Unfortunately, they looked more vulnerable than I have ever seen them this season. It wasn’t just McKinnie either. I looked like a team effort to make sure that Adrian had nowhere to run and Gus was would get hit on every play. That’s an area that needs to tighten up again for the upcoming game against Detroit.

The offense had few answers for the Saints defense. I can’t pin this one on coaching either. I saw the play calling trying to use Adrian as the focal point of the offense. Then I saw the play calling try to use Adrian as decoy. None of it was working. I think the offensive line play was a big factor. They would run up the middle with little success. Many plays to the outside went for losses as the Saints defense was able to string the play out all the way to the sideline. The passing game showed signs of improvement when Gus had a chance to throw, but he took some vicious (not dirty though) hits.

Positive impressions.

Gus Frerotte. The man is so old that they didn’t record time when he was born. No fear though, as he hung in there and kept trying to make plays regardless how many shots he took during the game. I do believe that Gus is good enough to make a serious playoff run for the Vikes. The biggest question is can he stay healthy all season long?

Leslie Frazier. The defensive coordinator for the Vikings did a great job of making adjustments. After the defense did little to slow the Saints on the first drive, he made adjustments and started blitzing frequently. He brought everyone from everywhere at some point or another. He allowed his unit to get in the head of Drew Brees. Then the Vikings D took what was given to them; a bunch of turnovers.

Antoine Winfield. I’m saving the best for last. Winfield had a career day against the Saints. As I mentioned earlier, he is the MVP of the Vikings team this year. Both wins have come due to huge momentum shifts that came from Winfield plays. The man plays hard and shows up every game.

Well, that’s all for now. As always, cheer loud and enjoy the game. Detroit is up next.

Titans Defeat the Vikings

The Tennesse Titans defeated the Vikings this past weekend 30-17.

First, I want to go into the main reasons why the Vikings lost before going into secondary arguments that didn't help the Vikings. Turnovers were the biggest killer in this game for the Vikes. The interception at the end of the game was unfortunate, but that wasn't the biggest killer. The worst problem was the three fumbles that happened earlier in the game.

Penalties were the other big contributor to the problem. The Vikings were penalized 7 times for 50 yards. Unfortunately, many of those penalties came on 2nd or 3rd downs which typically resulted in third and long situations.

The Vikings defense didn't show up until the second half. The Titans offense was allowed to score points on their first three drives. If the strength of this team is going to be the defense then that can't happen. Our receivers don't catch the ball consistently enough to play catch up.

One of the biggest things the Vikings needed was something positive to go their way. They got a break when the Titans fumbled the snap right before halftime. However, with only 10 seconds remaining, the only viable option was the long field goal which hit the upright and resulted in no points. The other break they should have had was the Titans second touchdown. The Titans went for it on 4th and 1. The pass was completed to the receiver who was a couple yards shy of the first down marker on the reception. After several attempts to reach the marker, he was eventually dragged down. The play was reviewed, and not overturned (it was originally marked a first down). The problem with this play was two-fold. First, the receiver clearly didn't make the first down marker. Secondly, and more disturbingly, the receiver fumbled the ball away and the Titans were still awarded the ball. The play was blown twice by the officials even after the review and the play should have resulted with the Vikings controlling the ball either way. It's hard enough to play a team like the Titans, but having to play against the refs as well makes it even more difficult.

The play calling is still suspect. I have talked to many people about the play calling and they all seem to agree with me.. It just seems to vanilla. I don't necessarily mean that there needs to be an increase in trick plays, rather just trying to find ways for mismatches. Many teams, even down to the high school level use something as simple as motion to create mismatches. It seems to me that the Vikings rarely do motion. The Vikings most of the time seem to line up and run the play and may the best man win. Unfortunately, NFL teams are just to close in talent for any team to be able to beat another team that way. Defenses will always scheme against A. P. We need to find ways to make the passing game more effective. Gus should be capable of doing more audibles at the line of scrimmage. Something! Anything to make defenses think twice.

I fear the season will only get longer because though the talent on the team is very high, our coaching staff seems incapable of putting the players in the best position possible to succeed. Hopefully the coaches are learning every bit as much as the players right now or a push to try and make the playoffs is doubtful at best. Keep in mind, Even after some very horrible football in the first quarter of the season, we are only one game behind Green Bay and Chicago for the lead in the division. However, I do believe only one team will be going from the NFC North. It looks like the NFC East could take both wild cards.

That's all for now. I'll be back in a day or two for a talk on the upcoming game against New Orleans.

1st Post Vikings

I love talking Vikings, so I figured I would start a blog. Better late then never huh? So here I go, taking off down a road I have long wanted to travel.

Speaking of travel, our Minnesota Vikings are heading to Tennessee to play the Titans this weekend. But before I get to that, I'm going to do a brief recap of how I see the Vikings getting to this point in the season.

In the first week of the season, the Vikings played Green Bay in Green Bay. I hate the Packers, but they are a heck of a good football team. Aaron Rogers did his part to make the Packers front office look like Geniuni (that's the plural for genius... or at least it's my plural for genius) for letting Brett Favre move to New York. The Vikings got outplayed and out coached in that game. Actually, the score was a lot closer than the game was in my opinion.

In the second week of the season, the Vikings took on the Colts for the first home game of the season. This game was ridiculous. The defense played well... for almost three quarters. Then there was the fourth quarter, which proved to be the difference. The offense moved the ball well until things started to really matter, at which point we sent the field goal unit out. Six field goal attempts with five being converted is not a very good formula to win games in the NFL.

This gets us to the third week when we played the Panthers. The Vikings finally got their first win in this game with a fairly sound beating of a solid football team. Jake Delhomme was frustrated much of the second half as the Vikings provided a good combination of pressure and coverage. The offense ran the ball well enough and threw the ball efficiently.

The biggest news of the season up to this point has been the changing of quarterback from Jackson to Gus. Regardless if you think Jackson is the future or not, the change seems to be positive for the time being. However, I believe that the biggest reason for success is because the coaching staff clearly believes in Gus more than Tarvaris. This has little to do with what they have said, but rather how they came out with their game plan. The Vikings threw the ball early and often against the Panthers. This deviated heavily from the former plan of run the ball on first down, run the ball on second down, and then if it was third down and long, throw the ball and hope for the best from a quarterback that you don't seem to have much confidence in (otherwise maybe they would throw the ball more on first and second down?!?) Now, I need to acknowledge that we have a phenomenal running back situation with Adrian and Chester and we need to make sure they are a heavy part of the game plan, but I would have liked to see less predictable play calling in the first two games to help the offense catch opposing teams off guard.
Obviously that was condensed view of the first three weeks, but I don't want to focus on the past as much in this as much as I would like to get to the upcoming game with the Titans. We are 1-2 and there is nothing we can do except prepare for the upcoming game against the Titans.

The Titans will be an interesting match up for the Vikings in that both teams have a similar philosophy both offensively and defensively. For offense, run the ball effectively and throw the ball enough to keep teams honest. Defensively, stop the run first and then wait for teams to make a bad decision forcing a pass and capitalize with a turnover.

Though I know many are picking the Titans to win this game, there are several reason I think the Vikings should win this game.

1. Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, and the Vikings offesive line. Yes the Titans are good at stopping the run, but unless you've played the Chargers, then you haven't faced a back of the quality that we have here in Minnesota. The three teams that the Titans have played so far this season (Jacksonville, Cincinnati, and Houston) have 1 win combined. Furthermore, none of these teams had a 100 yard rusher until week three. Jacksonville had 2 (Jones-Drew and Taylor) who both rushed for over 100 yard against Indy (whose run defense is poor at best - especially without Bob Sanders) and Houston had Steve Slaton, a rookie who ran for over 100 yards against Tennessee. All of this leads me to believe that perhaps the Titans run defense is not what many think it is. The Vikings will have more success running the ball than many think they will.

2. Gus Frerotte. The Titans force opposing quarterbacks into making mistakes. Gus is a veteran who isn't going to make many mistakes. The interception last week was a dropped pass that was then picked off for an interception. It was a tough pass to catch, but that should be a catch if you can get two hands on the football.

3. Defensive line. This is an obvious strength for the Vikings week in and week out. When your front four can put pressure on a quarterback without blitzing, it opens up so many options. Look for pressure on Kerry Collins early and often and Leslie Frazier will undoubtedly dial in some blitzes to mix things up defensively. Also, this will be a good test for Tennessee to measure just how good their running game is against one of the best rushing defenses in the league.

Alright, that's all for this week. Next week I'll be back with another post to talk about what happened in the Titans-Vikings game and a look ahead at next weekend. Until then, cheer loud and enjoy the game.